Avoiding Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

What is a misplaced modifier?  A word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word it modifies/describes  Sentences often sound awkward, ridiculous, or confusing

On her way home, Jan found a gold man’s watch.  Is it a gold man’s watch?  Or is it a man’s gold watch?

How do we correct this?  Correct by moving the modifier to a more sensible place in the sentence.  Usually next to the word it modifies. On her way home, Jan found a man’s gold watch Correctly place modifier Now it is the watch that is gold.

Several kinds of misplaced modifiers  Misplaced adjectives  Placement of adverbs  Misplaced phrases  Misplaced clauses

Misplaced Adjectives  Adjective is incorrectly separated from the nouns  The child ate a cold dish of cereal for breakfast this morning.  The child at a dish of cold cereal for breakfast this morning. Misplaced adjective (modifies dish) Correctly placed adjective (modifies cereal)

Let’s try one  The torn student’s book lay on the desk.  The student’s torn book lay on the desk. Misplaced adjective (modifies student) Correctly placed adjective (modifies book)

Placement of Adverbs  If they are misplaced – can change meaning.  Just John was picked to host the program.  John was just picked to host the program.  John was picked to host just the program.

Placement of Adverbs  If they are misplaced – can change meaning.  Just John was picked to host the program. (Only John was picked, no one else)  John was just picked to host the program. (John was picked now)  John was picked to host just the program. (John hosted only the program, nothing else.)

Misplaced Adverbs  Misplacing an adverb alters the intended meaning also creates a sentence whose meaning is highly unlikely or completely ridiculous We ate the lunch that we had brought slowly. We slowly ate the lunch that we had brought. Did we bring the lunch slowly or did we eat the lunch slowly?

Often misplaced adverbs  Watch out for adverbs such as only, just, nearly, merely, and almost.  I only contributed $10.00 to the fund for orphaned children.  I contributed only $10.00 to the fund for orphaned children.

Let’s give it a try  I nearly made $50.00 this week.  When we opened the leather woman's purse, we found the missing keys.  The job scarcely took an hour to complete.  I only have five minutes to talk with you.  The striking Honda's paint job made everyone gasp.

Misplaced Phrases  May cause a sentence to sound awkward  May create a meaning that does not make sense.  The dealer sold the Cadillac to the buyer with leather seats.  The dealer sold the Cadillac with leather seats to the buyer.

Misplaced Phrases  The dealer sold the Cadillac to the buyer with leather seats.  The dealer sold the Cadillac with leather seats to the buyer. Does the buyer have leather seats? Oh, the Cadillac has leather seats!

Misplaced Phrases  The three bankers talked quietly in the corner smoking pipes  The three bankers smoking pipes talked quietly in the corner Who was smoking the pipes, the corner or the bankers?

Misplaced Phrases  They saw a fence behind the house made of barbed wire.  They saw a fence made of barbed wire behind the house. I’ve never seen a house made out of barbed wire!

Can you do this?  We hiked through the forest wearing only light shirts and shorts.  The salesman sold the picture to the short woman in the silver frame.  Michelle whistled to the dog on the way to the movies.

Misplaced clauses  May cause a sentence to sound awkward  May create a meaning that does not make sense.  The waiter served a dinner roll to the woman that was well buttered.  The waiter served a dinner roll that was well buttered to the woman. To fix this move the clause next to the noun that is supposed to be modified.

Misplaced clauses  Be careful! In correcting a misplaced modifier, don’t create a sentence with two possible meanings.  The teacher said on Monday she would return our essays. Will the essays be returned on Monday or that the teacher spoke on Monday?

Dangling Modifiers  A phrase or clause that is not clearly and logically related to the word or words it modifies  A dangling modifier cannot be corrected by simply moving it to a different place in a sentence.  In most cases, the dangling modifier appears at the beginning of the sentence.

Dangling Modifiers  Looking toward the west, a funnel shaped cloud stirred up dust.  Who is looking toward the west? Since the modifier is close to the funnel shaped cloud, you would assume the cloud is doing the looking. Dangling modifier

Dangling Modifier  What is this sentence saying? When nine years old, my mother enrolled in medical school.  This means that the mother was nine years old when she enrolled. Walking to the movies, the cloudburst drenched Jim. ( Is the cloudburst walking to the movies?) Dangling modifier

How to correct a dangling modifier 1.Leave the modifier as it is. 2.Change the main part of the sentence so that it begins with the term actually modified. 3.This change will put the modifier next to the term it modifies. Looking toward the west, a funnel shaped cloud stirred up dust. Would be fixed to: Looking toward the west, I saw a funnel shaped cloud stir up dust.

Let’s fix this  Walking to the movies, the cloudburst drenched Jim.  Walking to the movies, Jim was drenched by the cloudburst.

Let’s fix this  When nine years old, my mother enrolled in medical school. 1.Change the dangling modifier to a subordinate clause, creating a subject and verb. 2.Leave the rest of the sentence as is.  When I was nine years old, my mother enrolled in medical school.

Activity  Choose a strip with a dangling modifier  Create a picture that reflects the dangling modifier.  Write the dangling modifier at the top of the page, and the corrected sentence at the bottom.  Write your name, and class on the back.

Rubric  Colorful/Neat/No Pencil 10 points  Illustration represents dangling/misplaced modifier 15 points  Corrected sentence 15 points  Punctuation/Spelling 10 points

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