What are Misplaced Modifiers in Phrases?
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that changes or “modifies” the meaning of something in a sentence. When a modifier is placed incorrectly in a sentence and modifies the wrong object, we call it a misplaced modifier.
Examples of Misplaced Modifiers in Phrases
Some examples of misplaced modifiers in phrases would be the following:
Jamie built a sand castle with her sister covered in seashells. (sister = covered in seashells)
Correction: Jamie built a sand castle covered in seashells with her sister. (sand castle = covered in seashells)
Waiting impatiently, the line Cody was standing in trailed around the block. (line = waiting impatiently)
Correction: Cody, waiting impatiently, was standing in a line that trailed around the block. (Cody = waiting impatiently)
Kathy brought a donut to her teacher from the café. (teacher = from the café)
Correction: Kathy brought a donut from the café to her teacher. (donut = from the café)
How to Avoid Using Misplaced Modifiers in Your Writing
Misplaced modifiers can cause a lot of confusion in your writing by unintentionally altering the meaning of a sentence. To avoid using misplaced modifiers, ensure that the modifier is placed directly before or after the word it is intended to describe. Doing this helps to avoid ambiguity. Take the following sentence as an example:
Jogging down the road, the backpack was heavy on his shoulders.
– It sounds like the backpack was jogging down the road in this sentence.
Jogging down the road, he felt the backpack heavy on his shoulders.
– In this sentence, notice the word “he” is directly next to “jogging down the road” which clears up any ambiguity as to who or what was jogging down the road.
Now that you have an understanding of misplaced modifiers in phrases, be sure to learn about misplaced modifiers in clauses!
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