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Simmons.
 Misplaced Modifiers

Should I put Or would it be

my modifier better in the
at the middle? Or at
beginning the end?
of the
sentence?
 This presentation
covers placing
modifiers correctly.
A misplaced and/or
inappropriately used modifier
item on an objective test
might look like this ...
 Sample Item

A. Broken and dusty, Clarence found an old

computer in the garage.
B. Broken and dusty, the garage had an old
computer that was found by Clarence.
C. In the
the garage,
garage,Clarence
Clarencefound
foundanan
oldold
computer that
computer thatwas
wasbroken
broken
and
and
dusty.
dusty.
C is correct; the
Are the
computer — not
modifiers placed
Clarence, not the
correctly at A,
garage — is broken
B, or C?
and dusty.
 P l a c e a pr es ent par ti ci pl e
phr as e r i g h t b e fo r e o r r i g h t
a f t e r t h e wo r d i t d e s c r i b e s .

Present participle: verb + ing

The children
Dripping hot banana
withate fudge andsplits
whipped
dripping
cream, thehot
with
children ate banana
fudge and whipped splits.
cream.

Goodthat
Well, ! Now the banana
sounds as if the
splits
children
are dripping
are dripping
with
hothot
with the fudge!
fudge!
 P l a c e a pas t par ti ci pl e phr as e
r i g h t b e fo r e o r r i g h t a f t e r t h e
wo r d i t d e s c r i b e s .

Past participle: regular = verb + ed; irregular

forms vary.

Angered
In the living
by room,
the football
Paul kicked Paul
score, the television
kicked the
angered by
television in the
the football
living room.
score.

Right
This !sounds
This sounds
as if the
as if
Paul
television
is angered
is angered
by the
football
by the football
score
score! !
 P l a c e a n adj ecti ve cl ause
r i g h t a f t e r t h e wo r d i t
describes.

An adjective clause begins with a word such as

that, which, or who.

lawnmower that
The landscaper wrestled the old lawnmower
through the
coughed andlong grass
choked that coughed
through the long and choked.
grass.

I don’t know about you,

That makes sense! An
but I have never heard
old lawn mower can
grass cough and
cough and choke!
choke!
To p l a c e m o d i f i e r s c o r r e c t l y,
avo i d passi ve voi ce verbs .

Passive voice: form of be + past

participle + by.
Beatrice
Typing furiously, the essay finished
was finished
the essay
by
Beatrice
by the 3 p.m.
just before
deadline.
the 3 p.m. deadline.

I wish my essays typed

This is logical! Beatrice
themselves! But that’s
can type an essay!
just not logical!
 Quick Test

Directions: In the items that follow, choose

the sentence in which the modifiers are
correctly placed.

Let’s see
what
you can
do.
 Item 1

A. Sitting on the top shelf of the refrigerator,

Desmond saw Mom’s pristine birthday cake.
B. Desmond, sitting on the top shelf of the
refrigerator, saw Mom’s pristine birthday cake
Sitting on
C. Sitting onthe
thetop
topshelf of of
shelf thethe
refrigerator, Mom’s
refrigerator,
pristine pristine
Mom’s birthday birthday
cake caughtcakeDesmond’s
caught
Desmond’s
attention. attention.
 Item 2

A. Loudly slurping the bowl of hot soup, Derrick’s

impolite behavior annoyed the other diner
patrons.
B. As
As Derrick
Derrickloudly
loudlyslurped
slurped
thethe
bowl
bowl
of hot
of hot
soup,
his impolite
soup, his impolite
behaviorbehavior
annoyedannoyed
the other the
diner
patrons.
other diner patrons.
C. Loudly slurping the hot soup, the other diner
patrons were annoyed by Derrick’s impolite
behavior.
 Item 3

A. Seated
Seated by
by the
thewindow,
window,Barbara
Barbara munched
munched
popcorn on
popcorn onthe
thelong
long
bus
bus
ride
ride
home.
home.
B. Seated by the window, popcorn was munched
by Barbara on the long bus ride home.
C. Barbara munched popcorn seated by the
window on the long bus ride home.
 Item 4

A. Rosalind
Rosalind struggled
struggledupup
the
the
three
threeflights
flights
of stairs
of
in her new
stairs in her
jeans,
newwhich
jeans,were
whichtoowere
tight too
for tight
comfort.
for comfort.
B. Too tight for comfort, Rosalind struggled up the
three flights of stairs in her new jeans.
C. In her new jeans, Rosalind struggled up three
flights of stairs, which were too tight for comfort.
 Item 5

A. Twisting in the strong wind, we knew the

hurricane was close as we watched the trees.
B. We knew
knew the
thehurricane
hurricanewas
wasclose
closeasas
wewe
watched the
watched thetrees
treestwisting
twistingin in
thethe
strong
strong
wind.
C. wind.
We knew the hurricane was close, twisting in
C. We
the wind,
knew as
thewe
hurricane
watchedwas
theclose,
trees. twisting in
the wind, as we watched the trees.
 Item 6

A. Applying red toenail paint, Will asked Rhonda if

she could interrupt her beauty regimen to go to
the mall.
B. Will
Will asked
askedRhonda,
Rhonda,who whowaswas applying
applying
redred
toenail paint,
toenail paint,ififshe
shecould
couldinterrupt
interrupt
herher
beauty
regimenregimen
beauty to go to the
to go
mall.
to the mall.
C. Will asked if Rhonda could interrupt her beauty
regimen to go to the mall, which was applying
red toenail paint.
 Item 7

A. Struggling with the algebra problem, the pencil

tapped nervously on Kenneth’s desk.
B. Struggling with the algebra problem, Kenneth’s
desk was tapped nervously with the pencil.
C. Struggling
Struggling with
withthe
the
algebra
algebra
problem,
problem,
Kenneth
nervouslynervously
Kenneth tapped his tapped
pencil on
his
the
pencil
desk.on the
desk.
 Item 8

A. Marking his score sheet with care, the hope this

week was that Byron would pass his vocabulary
quiz.
B. Marking
Marking hishisscore
scoresheet
sheetwith
with
care,
care,
Byron
Byron
hoped
that thisthat
hoped weekthis
heweek
wouldhe
pass
would
his vocabulary
pass his
quiz.
vocabulary quiz.
C. Hoping that this week he would pass his
vocabulary quiz, the score sheet was marked
carefully by Byron.
 Item 9

A. Splashing
Splashing ininthe
thepuddles
puddlesleftleft
by by
thethe
thunderstorm, Jayanti
thunderstorm, Jayanti
cooled
cooled herher
hothot
feet.
feet.
B. Splashing in the puddles left by the
thunderstorm, the cool water refreshed
Jayanti’s hot feet.
C. Splashing in the puddles, the thunderstorm
cooled Jayanti’s hot feet.
 Item 10

A. Huddled by the door, the rain made the wet

kitten cry to come in.
B. Crying to come in, the door is where the wet
kitten huddled during the rain.
C. Huddled
Huddled bybythe
thedoor,
door,the
the
wet
wet
kitten
kitten
cried
cried
to
come
to come
in from
in from
the rain.
the rain.
 Grammar Bytes!
provides additional
handouts and exercises on
misplaced modifiers.
Go to
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The End.