Misplaced Modifiers: What They Are and How to Fix Them

Imagine you are reading the police-report section of your community newspaper. Someone has been committing a rash of local burglaries. The description in the report says, “The man is identified as being age 20 to 25 and approximately 5’9″ to 6′ tall with shoulder-length blond hair weighing 160 to 170 pounds.”

You furrow your brow and read it again: It still sounds off. This is because it has an issue with a modifier, which is a word, a phrase, or a clause that further explains another sentence part, typically as an adverb or an adjective.

What Is a Misplaced Modifier?

A misplaced modifier is one in an incorrect position to satisfy its descriptive function. In the sentence about the burglar, the participial phrase weighing 160 to 170 pounds describes the word hair, which creates a lively image.

Misplaced modifiers can result in all sorts of ambiguity and misperception:

Raymond awakened to a sky strewn with stars in his sleeping bag.

Luc followed the elephant still wearing his pajamas.

Natalie handed the guitar to the girl that was missing a string.

As precise and eloquent writers, we should keep modifiers as close as possible to the words they modify. In many cases, we will achieve that by placing them right before or right after the elements we are modifying.

Let’s review some of the most common misplacements of modifiers.

Examples of Misplaced Modifiers: Adverbs

When modifying words are misplaced, they’ll often be qualifying adverbs such as simply, almost, even, just, and especially only. With only, our tendency is to place it before the verb. However, our intended meaning can often be something else:

Pietro only went to class four times this semester.

By placing only before the verb, we are emphasizing the verb, and in doing so, we are suggesting that went was the only thing Pietro did during the semester. What we actually mean is that Pietro went to class only four times. The modifier belongs with the noun phrase four times as an adverb describing the adjective four.

Let’s look at a couple more examples of misplaced adverbs.

Misplaced: The tickets are affordable. They just cost twenty dollars each.
Revised: The tickets are affordable. They cost just twenty dollars each. (The word just properly serves to mean “only.”)

Misplaced: Jumaane listened to the man explain safely how to escape a house fire.
Revised: Jumaane listened to the man explain how to escape a house fire safely. (or Jumaane listened to the man explain how to safely escape a house fire. The adverb modifies how to escape the fire; otherwise, it could be mistaken as modifying explain.)

Examples of Misplaced Modifiers: Phrases

Another regular cause of sentence failure is a misplaced prepositional phrase. Whether as an adverb or an adjective, its position should always point clearly to what it modifies.

Misplaced: I saw my friend walking her dog in heels from the yard.
Revised: From the yard [adverb] I saw [modified verb] my friend [object noun] in heels [adjective phrase] walking her dog.

Misplaced: Audrey gave plaques to the students with special engraving on them. (The combined prepositional phrases with special engraving on them modify students.)
Revised: Audrey gave the students plaques with special engraving on them. (The related prepositional phrases properly modify plaques.)

Examples of Misplaced Modifiers: Clauses

Just as a word or a phrase can wander from what it is meant to modify, so can a dependent clause lose its place in the order of meaning.

Misplaced: The gardeners found a gold bucket that they’d been digging in the soil. (They’d been digging the bucket.)
Revised: The gardeners found a gold bucket in the soil that they’d been digging. (They’d been digging the soil.)

Misplaced: Rosetta handed a note to the passenger that was folded. (The passenger was folded.)
Revised: Rosetta handed a note that was folded to the passenger. (The note was folded.)

Examples of Misplaced Modifiers: “Squinting” Constructions

A modifier that “squints” may refer to either a preceding element or a following one. It qualifies as misplaced because its location in the sentence often creates ambiguity. In these cases, the sentence can be fixed by revising and rearranging elements.

Squinting: The Ford Pinto that was sputtering loudly rolled through the neighborhood. (Does loudly modify sputtering or rolled?)
Better: The sputtering Ford Pinto rolled loudly through the neighborhood. (or The loudly sputtering Ford Pinto rolled through the neighborhood. The dependent clause that was sputtered is changed to the participle sputtering, and the relationship of loudly to a specific element is now more clear.)

Squinting: The six songs they play often have been covered by other bands. (Does often modify play or have been covered?)
Better: The six songs they often play have been covered by other bands. (Modifying relationship is clear.)
Better: The six songs they play have been covered often [or have often been covered] by other bands. (Modifying relationship is clear.)

Misplaced modifiers can slip past us simply because we know so well what we mean to express. We can help ourselves avoid them by reviewing our content more than once and, when possible, having someone else read it as well.

Related Topics

What Are Dangling Modifiers?
Dangling Infinitives
What Are Split Infinitives?

Pop Quiz

Identify which of the following sentences has a misplaced modifier. If a sentence has one, revise it. If it does not, leave the sentence as it is.

1. The waiter served a juice to the man that was lukewarm.

2. Judging by the weather, I’d say the ball game might be postponed.

3. Please be sure to add only the right amount of fish food to the tank.

4. Emily walked in and dropped onto the bed still sweating.

5. You cannot serve the cocktails to people in plastic bottles.

 

Pop Quiz Answers

1. The waiter served a juice to the man that was lukewarm.
Revise: The waiter served the man a juice that was lukewarm. (or The waiter served a lukewarm juice to the man.)

2. Judging by the weather, I’d say the ball game might be postponed. Leave as is

3. Please be sure to add only the right amount of fish food to the tank. Leave as is

4. Emily walked in and dropped onto the bed still sweating.
Revise: Still sweating, Emily walked in and dropped onto the bed. (or Emily walked in and, still sweating, dropped onto the bed.)

5. You cannot serve the cocktails to people in plastic bottles.
Revise: You cannot serve the cocktails in plastic bottles to people. (or You cannot serve people the cocktails in plastic bottles.)

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