Choose the correct sentence.

1. A. because of your vigilance, lives were saved.

B. because vigilant, lives were saved.
C. because of your vigilant, lives were saved.
2. A. people who under stress tending to act irrationally.
B. people under stress tend to act irrationally.
C. people under stress tending to act irrationally.
3. A. to know her is to love her.
B. to know her to love her.
C. to know her is love her.
4. A. we made her to blush by lavishing praise on her.
B. we made her blush by we lavished praise on her.
C. we made her blush by lavishing praise on her.
5. A. I secretly admired his bravery when loudly deplored his
impulsiveness.
B. While loudly deploring his impulsiveness, I secretly admired his bravery.
C. I secretly admired his bravery while loudly deplored his impulsiveness.
6. A. He apologized to Macy in order to end the quarrel.
B. He apologized to Macy to in order to end the quarrel.
C. He apologized to Macy in order that to end the quarrel.

7. A. Give feedback needs both honesty and tact.

B. Giving feedback needs both honesty and tact.
C. Giving feedback needing honesty and tact.

8. A. Her main aim is earn enough to pay for her son’s college education.
B. Her main aim to earn enough paying for her son’s college education.
C. Her main aim is earning enough to pay for her son’s college education.

9. A. I spoke frankly not to upset you but help you.

B. I spoke frankly not to upset you but to help you.
C. I spoke frankly not to upset you to help you.

10. A. The library stayed open till 9 pm every day so enable working adults to
enjoy its facilities.
B. The library stayed open till 9 pm every day so that enable working
adults to enjoy its facilities.
C. The library stayed open till 9 pm every day so as to enable working
adults to enjoy its facilities.
 MODIFIERS
• A word, phrase, or clause that functions
as an adjective or adverb to limit or
qualify the meaning of another word or
word group (called the head).

• Modifiers that appear before the head are

called premodifiers. Modifiers that appear
after the head are called postmodifiers.
 Examples

• This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

• I am an influential and respected man.

• They saw a fence made of barbed wire behind

the house.
 Topped with hot fudge sauce, my friend could
not believe that I ate the whole apple pie.

My friend could not believe that I ate the whole

apple pie topped with hot fudge sauce.
Driving on the Park Road at dusk, grizzly bears
are foraging for food.

Driving on the Park Road at dusk, we saw grizzly

bears foraging for food.
 Dangling Modifiers
• A dangling modifier is a phrase or clause that
is not clearly and logically related to the word or
words it modifies (i.e. is placed next to).
Two notes about dangling modifiers:
• Unlike a misplaced modifier, 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, although it can
also come at the end.
Since having been fixed the night before is placed
next to Priscilla, the sentence means that Priscilla was
fixed the night before.
 DANGLING MODIFIERS
From the following pairs of sentences, select the one which is correct.
Piled up next to the washer, I began doing the laundry.
I began doing the laundry piled up next to the washer.
_____
While John was talking on the phone, the doorbell rang.
While talking on the phone, the doorbell rang.
_____
Standing on the balcony, the ocean view was magnificent.
Standing on the balcony, we had a magnificent ocean view.
_____
As I was running across the floor, the rug slipped and I lost my
balance,
Running across the floor, the rug slipped and I lost my balance.
_____
While taking out the trash, the sack broke.
While Jamie was taking out the trash, the sack broke.
Every Friday, the cafeteria serves pizza to
students on paper plates.

Every Friday, the cafeteria serves pizza on

paper plates to students.
 I placed the chair in the corner of the room
that I had recently purchased.

I placed the chair that I had recently purchased

in the corner of the room.
 Misplaced Modifiers

• A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or

clause that is improperly separated from
the word it modifies / describes.
• Because of the separation, sentences with
this error often sound awkward,
ridiculous, or confusing. Furthermore,
they can be downright illogical.
The example above suggests that a gold
man owns a watch.
 MISPLACED MODIFIERS
From the following pairs of sentences, select the one which is correct.
I almost listened to the whole album.
I listened to almost the whole album.
______
He was staring at the girl wearing dark glasses by the vending
machine.
He was staring at the girl by the vending machine wearing dark
glasses.
_____
We read that Janet was married in her last letter.
In her last letter, we read that Janet was married.
______
The faulty alarm system nearly sounded five times yesterday.
The faulty alarm system sounded nearly five times yesterday.
______
On the evening news, I heard that there was a revolution.
I heard that there was a revolution on the evening news.
 Exercise: Misplaced modifiers: Unclear placement

1.John almost wore his favorite shoes until he had worn out the
soles.
John wore his favorite shoes until he had almost worn out the soles.

2.This morning the brothers returned on the train from their trip to
Disney World.
This morning the brothers returned from their trip to Disney
World on the train.

3.At the carnival, clowns were handing out toys to children in

colorful paper bags.
At the carnival, clowns were handing out toys in colorful paper
bags to children.
4.I received a letter in the mail from my Brazilian pen-pal.
I received a letter from my Brazilian pen-pal in the mail.

5.I agreed to visit him the next day in his factory.

I agreed to visit him in his factory the next day.

6.Candidates who run negative ads against their

opponents often get elected.
Candidates who run negative ads against their opponents get
elected often.

7. Shannon only played center during her last game.

Shannon played center only during her last game.
8. Rodrigo swam only with the team during his senior
year.
Rodrigo swam with the team only during his senior year.

9. When I got home, I placed the colorful painting on the

wall in the kitchen that I had just purchased
When I got home, I placed the colorful painting that I had
just purchased on the wall in the kitchen.

10. He realized he suddenly didn't understand the

question.
Suddenly he realized he didn't understand the question.
Revision
 Rules
For Fixing Misplaced and Dangling
Modifiers
 Understand the problem.
• Think of modifiers as arrows shot from a bow and the
words they describe as bull's-eyes. For clear, logical
sentences, writers aim modifiers so that they strike as
close to the intended targets as possible.
• Sneering with superiority, Roland drank iced tea from
a crystal glass which sparkled in the afternoon sun.
• Sneering with superiority, a participle phrase,
describes Roland, the noun right after it. Which
sparkled in the afternoon sun, an adjective clause,
describes glass, the word in front.
• When a writer's aim is off and too much distance
separates the modifier from its target, the result is
a misplaced modifier.
• Drinking warm water from a rubber hose, envious
looks were shot Roland's way as the other picnickers
quenched their own thirst.
Drinking warm water from a rubber hose, a participle
phrase, should describe picnickers, but since
that noun is so far away, the phrase seems to be
modifying envious looks, which don't have mouths
that can drink water!
• If the sentence fails to include a target, the modifier
is dangling.
• With a sigh of pleasure, consumption of cucumber
sandwiches commenced.
• We assume that Roland is the one sighing with
pleasure and eating cucumber sandwiches, but notice
that he's not in the sentence, so we can't tell for sure!
 Know the solution
Misplaced and dangling modifiers make
sentences awkward and inelegant. They keep
sentences from expressing clear,
straightforward ideas. When you discover a
misplaced or dangling modifier in a sentence,
you will need to rearrange and/or revise the
sentence parts to untangle the idea the
sentence wants to express.
How to Fix a Misplaced Modifier
Rearranging sentence parts will often fix a
misplaced modifier. Remember that most
modifiers come as close to their targets as
possible:
Drinking warm water from a rubber hose, the
other picnickers quenched their own thirst as
they shot envious looks Roland's way.
Now we have picnickers drinking from the
rubber hose, which is clear and logical!
 How to Fix a Dangling Modifier
• To fix a dangling modifier, you will need to add
a target to the sentence and then adjust the
remaining words to make sense:
– With a sigh of pleasure, Roland began to consume
cucumber sandwiches.
– After Roland sighed with pleasure, he began to
consume cucumber sandwiches.
 Determine whether the sentences below contain
misplaced or dangling modifiers. Fix any problems
that you find.
1. Emma Sue was delighted when Mr. Nguyen returned her
perfect calculus test with an ear-to-ear grin.

2. Scrubbing the tile grout with bleach and an old toothbrush, the
mildew stains began to fade.

3. To finish by the 3 p.m. deadline, the computer keyboard sang

with Sylvia's flying fingers.

4. Sheila watched Desmond stuff his mouth with a cupcake

frosted with vanilla icing.

5. Perched on the curtain rod, the parakeet watched Rocky the

cat slink behind the living room sofa.
6. Groaning on rusty springs, the trampoline tossed the
children like clothes in a dryer.

7. Rapping the pencil on the edge of the desk, the fourth

cause of the French Revolution would not come to
mind.

8. Slathering the popcorn with melted butter, the calorie

count skyrocketed.

9. Attached to the email, Charlotte sent her boyfriend

Byron another photographic self-portrait with eerie red
eyes.

10. Hungry for dinner, the surface is where Gert the

goldfish waited in anticipation of food flakes.
11. After the rainstorm, Jeremy walked his dachshund on a
sidewalk covered in wet leaves.

12. Lying under the dining room table, Noodle the poodle
waited for bites of roast beef that Rosie sneaked off her
plate.

13. Tonya made the mistake of walking her boisterous

bulldog Billy in high heels.

14. Too hungry to wait for Brenda's return from the

restroom, the bowl of egg drop soup quickly
disappeared.

15. Struggling with the tight jeans, the zipper would not
budge.
16. Closing the hotel room door and pulling the heavy suitcase
to the elevator, the relaxing beach vacation came to an end.

17. Whispering into Valerie's ear, Rafael shared the gossip

which had shocked and dismayed everyone in the cafeteria.

18. Starving but broke, Rhonda called Aunt Martha, whose

generous nature and well-stocked cupboards would provide
Rhonda with enough food until payday.

19. Eric's foot indicated his nervousness during the interview,

which jiggled wildly.

20. Sneezing from the high pollen count, a clean handkerchief

would come in handy.
 References
• http://www.chompchomp.com/rules/modifier
rules.htm
• http://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/modter
m.htm
• http://www.towson.edu/ows/moduledangling
.htm