English Tutorial Page

Created by: Janel Summers

To enjoy this lesson, you will need to be familiar with adjectives, adverbs, clauses, and phrases before going on to modifiers. Basic knowledge of grammar is important to be able to understand how modifiers work in a sentence and what words they modify. Modifiers describe a word, words, or a phrase in a sentence.

Modifiers

Modifiers are words that describe other words in sentences. They may be single words, phrases, or clauses; they may come before the word they modify, or they may follow it. In either case, a modifier should appear near the word it modifies, and the reader should not be confused about which word it modifies. Modifiers simply describe the word they are modifying.

Examples of Modifiers

Look at the examples below and see if you can identify the modifier? The answers will be given in a link at the bottom of the page.

1. The blue ball bounced sporadically down the street.

2. The red car drove recklessly down the road.

There are 4 Basic Types of Modifiers

Misplaced Modifier

A misplaced modifier is one that is not close to the word it modifies, and as a result it modifies the wrong word. Sentences with misplaced modifiers are usually confusing and often humourous because of the unintended meaning. However, by placing the modifier next to the word it modifies or by rewording the sentence, we can make the meaning of such sentences clear.

Examples of Misplaced Modifiers

Look at the examples below and see if you can identify the misplace modifier? The answers will be given in a link at the bottom of the page.

1. Two cars were reported stolen by the Midvale police yesterday.

2. For sale: Mixing bowl set designed to please a cook with round bottom for efficient beating.

Squinting Modifiers

A variation of the misplaced modifer is the squinting modifier, it is a modifier that usually appears in the middle of a sentence so that it can modify either the word that precedes it or the one that follows it. As a result, the squinting modifier makes the sentence ambiguous.

Examples of Squinting Modifiers

Look at the examples below and see if you can identify the squinting modifer? The answers will be given in a link at the bottom of the page.

1. Applicants who can already dance normally are placed in an advanced class.

2. Senator Warner decided during the Christmas holiday to announce her opposition to the bill.

Dangling Modifier

A dangling modifier is a modifier that has no word in the sentence for it to modify. It is left dangling and, as a result, it ends up accidentally modifying an unintended word.

Examples of Dangling Modifiers

Look at the examples below and see if you can identify the dangling modifier? The answers will be given in a link at the bottom of the page.

1. After reviewing my lecture notes and rereading the summaries of each chapter, the final examination was easier than I had thought.