Test Yourself

Modification Problems

[Harbrace 1d, 1e, & 5]

Review

See Introduction to Modification Problems below 

Practice Exercises

• Selecting Sentences with Modification Problems

Introduction

Modifiers expand sentences by describing, emphasizing, or qualifying.

Modifiers should be placed so that they clearly refer to the word(s) they modify. Usually modifiers should be placed before or after the words to which they refer.

A squinting modifier is confusing because it might refer to the word(s) directly before or after it. [Harbrace 5a]

Move such a modifier to clarify its meaning. 

EXAMPLE:
To be complimented often pleases a performer. 

REVISED:
It pleases a performer to be complimented often.
It often pleases a performer to be complimented. 

A dangling modifier is a phrase or clause that "dangles," modifying no word or the wrong word in a sentence. Change a dangling modifier into a clause that specifies the word being modified, or reword the sentence to specify the word being modified. [Harbrace 5b, 1d, & 1e]

Look for a dangling modifier by asking what the modifier describes or to whom it refers. 

EXAMPLE:
After filling my tooth, my cavity stopped aching. (Who filled my tooth? NOT my cavity but my dentist.) 

REVISED:
After the dentist filled my tooth, my cavity stopped aching. 

Note: Absolute phrases modify the whole main clause, not just part of it. The following examples are not dangling and do not need any correction. 

CORRECT:
His clothes shed in a phone booth, Superman sprang into the sky. 

The air being hot and humid, we went swimming. 

A misplaced modifier does not point clearly and directly to what it modifies.

Consider the following guidelines when using modifiers in your writing. [Harbrace 5a] 

• Move the modifier to the correct place. Watch out for such frequently misplaced words as almost, nearly, even, just, merely, only, scarcely, and hardly. 

EXAMPLE:
She only liked her English class. 

REVISED:
She liked only her English class. 

• Avoid placing a modifier in the middle of a verb phrase. 

EXAMPLE:
Dr. Blake will, if I keep my appointment, repair the tooth. 

REVISED:
If I keep my appointment, Dr. Blake will repair the tooth. 

• Avoid placing a modifier in the middle of an infinitive phrase. 

EXAMPLE:
Dr. Blake promised to, painlessly, repair the tooth. 

REVISED:
Dr. Blake promised to repair the tooth painlessly.