Misplaced Modifiers

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A Guide to Preventing Misplaced Modifiers in Your Writing

What is a Modifier?

A modifier is a word, a phrase, or a dependent clause functioning either as an adjective or as an adverb. Misplaced modifiers are words or phrases that are not positioned correctly in a sentence, leading to confusion or ambiguity regarding the word or phrase they are intended to modify. This can result in a sentence that conveys a meaning different from what the writer intended.

Modifiers are like teenagers: they fall in love with whatever they're next to. Make sure they're next to something they ought to modify!

Modifiers must be clearly linked to what they modify.

Linking a modifier to the wrong word or phrase in a sentence changes the meaning.

Modifier Placement and Associated Meaning

Observe and compare the following expressions:

1. Sentence I	Only Kyle ordered cornflakes for breakfast.
   Meaning	Kyle was the one person to order cornflakes.

2. Sentence II	Kyle ordered only cornflakes for breakfast.
   Meaning	Kyle ordered cornflakes and nothing else.

3. Sentence III	Kyle ordered cornflakes only for breakfast.
   Meaning	Kyle ordered cornflakes at breakfast but not at other meals.

The issue of the proper placement of only has long been argued among grammarians. Many careful writers will insist that only be placed immediately before the word or phrase it modifies. Thus:

• I only gave him three dollars.

Would be rewritten as:

• “I gave him only three dollars.”

Some grammarians have argued that such precision is not really necessary, that there is no danger of misreading:

• “I only gave him three dollars”

And that only can safely and naturally be placed between the subject and the verb. The argument has been going on for two hundred years (and still counting).

If modifiers are not clearly linked to what they modify, sentences become ambiguous and confusing:

• She wore a ribbon in her hair, which was red.

[What was red? The ribbon or her hair?]

• The waiter served ice cream to the wedding guests covered in chocolate sauce.

[What was covered in chocolate sauce? The wedding guests or the ice cream?]

To write effectively and state your ideas clearly, avoid dangling and misplaced modifiers.

Repositioning Misplaced Modifiers

What this means—is that, the modifier has not been placed in the appropriate position in the sentence.

To correct a sentence with a misplaced modifier, one can either:

• remove the misplaced modifier from its inappropriate position and put it where it belongs
• or rephrase the entire sentence.

Preventing Misplaced Modifiers

Pay careful attention to limiting modifiers because they are subtle, and the potential confusion associated with them often escapes notice.

Some modifiers, especially simple modifiers— only, just, nearly, barely—have a bad habit of slipping into the wrong place in a sentence. (In the sentence below)

Notice how changing the position of the modifier changes the meaning of the following sentences:

1. Confusion	He barely kicked that ball twenty yards. [what does it mean to “barely kick” something?]
   Revised	He kicked that ball barely twenty yards.

2. Confusion	We just found one victim. [meaning: We found a victim just now.]
   Revised	We found just one victim. [meaning: We found only one victim.]

Observe also the following expressions:

3. Confusion	To help his family in the middle of the night Antonio flew home. [Did Antonio want to help his family in the middle of the night?]
   Revised	To help his family, Antonio flew home in the middle of the night.

4. Confusion	She spoke about global warming in Chicago before a panel of scientists. [Is global warming occurring only in Chicago?]
   Revised	In Chicago, she spoke about global warming before a panel of scientists.

In each revised sentence, the modifier is placed closer to the word or phrase it is intended to modify, resulting in a clearer and more accurate meaning. When dealing with misplaced modifiers, it's essential to ensure that the modifier is positioned in a way that clearly indicates the word or phrase it is meant to modify, avoiding any potential confusion.