Modifiers
A modifier changes the meaning of another word or word group in a sentence.
- Example: The dog slept.
- Example: The brown dog slept peacefully.
In the above example, the adjective brown modifies the noun dog, and the adverb peacefully modifies the verb slept.
Misplaced Modifiers
When a modifier is placed incorrectly or awkwardly in a sentence, it may cause the sentence to have an unclear meaning. This sort of error is called a misplaced modifier.
- Incorrect: Jen saw a police officer on her way to work.
In the above example, it is unclear if Jen was on her way to work or if the police officer was on her way to work. From a grammatical standpoint, the sentence could have either meaning.
- Correct: On her way to work, Jen saw a police officer.
- Correct: Jen saw a police officer who was on her way to work.
Adverb placement
In many situations, adverb placement does not affect the meaning of a sentence.
- Example: I ran quickly.
- Example: I quickly ran.
However, there are situations where adverb placement can significantly affect the meaning of a sentence. This is especially true for adverbs that place limits on the words they modify, such as only, solely, or just.
- Example: The nanny just fed the toddler.
The above example implies that the nanny recently fed the toddler.
- Example: The nanny fed just the toddler.
The above example implies that the toddler was the only person the nanny fed.
Squinting modifiers
A squinting modifier could possibly be modifying the words on either side of it. This causes the sentence to be awkward and have an unclear meaning.
- Incorrect: Driving slowly makes me tired.
In the above example, the word slowly could modify either driving or makes. Rephrase the sentence to provide clarity.
- Example: Slowly driving makes me tired.
- Example: Driving makes me slowly become tired.
Dangling Modifiers
A dangling modifier modifies a word or phrase that does not actually appear in the sentence.
- Incorrect: After a dip in the ocean, the burgers and watermelon tasted delicious.
In the above example, the prepositional phrase After a dip in the ocean does not clearly have anything it is modifying. Because of this, the sentence seems to take on a bizarre meaning: the burgers and watermelon tasted delicious after they were dipped in the ocean.
- Correct: After James took a dip in the ocean, the burgers and watermelon tasted delicious.
In the above example, James is clearly the one who took a dip in the ocean.
