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 Misplaced
Misplaced Modifiers
Modifiers

Should I put Or would it be

my modifier better in the
at the middle? Or at
beginning of the end?
the sentence?
 This presentation
covers placing
modifiers correctly.
A
A misplaced
misplaced and/or
and/or
inappropriately
inappropriately used used modifier
modifier
item
item on
on an
an objective
objective testtest might
might
look
look like
like this
this ......
 Sample
Sample Item
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
C is
is correct;
correct; the
the
Are
Are the
the
computer
computer — not
—placed
not
modifiers
modifiers placed
Clarence,
Clarence, not the
notatthe
correctly
correctly at A,
A,
garage
garage — — is
is broken
broken
B,
B, or C?
or C?
and dusty.
and dusty.
 Place
Place aa present
present participle
participle phrase
phrase right
right
before
before or
or right
right after
after the
the word
word it
it
describes.
describes.

Present participle: verb + ing

The children
Dripping hot banana
withate fudge andsplits
whipped
dripping withthe
cream, hot
children
fudge andate
whipped
bananacream.
splits.

Well, that sounds as if

Good! Now the banana
the children are
splits are dripping with
dripping with the hot
hot fudge!
fudge!
 Place
Place aa past
past participle
participle phrase
phrase right
right
before
before or
or right
right after
after the
the word
word it
it
describes.
describes.

Past participle: regular = verb + ed; irregular forms

vary.

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

Right!
This sounds
This sounds
as if the
as if
television
Paul is angered
is angered
by theby
football
the footballscore!
score!
 Place
Place an
an adjective
adjective clause
clause right
right after
after
the
the word
word it
it describes.
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 through
that coughed
the longand
grass.
choked.

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
To place
place modifiers
modifiers correctly,
correctly, avoid
avoid
passive
passive voice
voice verbs
verbs..

Passive voice: form of be + past participle

+ by.
Beatrice
Typing furiously, the essayfinished the essay
was finished by by
the 3 p.m.
Beatrice deadline.
just before 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
Quick Test
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
Item 1
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
C. Sitting
Sitting on
onthe
thetop
topshelf
shelf
of of
thethe
refrigerator,
refrigerator,
Mom’s pristine
Mom’s pristinebirthday
birthdaycake
cakecaught
caught
Desmond’s
attention.
Desmond’s attention.
 Item
Item 2
2

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

impolite behavior annoyed the other diner
patrons.
B.
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
Item 3
3

A.
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
Item 4
4

A.
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
Item 5
5

A. Twisting in the strong wind, we knew the

hurricane was close as we watched the trees.
B.
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
Item 6
6

A. Applying red toenail paint, Will asked Rhonda if

she could interrupt her beauty regimen to go to
the mall.
B.
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
Item 7
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
Item 8
8

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

week was that Byron would pass his vocabulary
quiz.
B.
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
Item 9
9

A.
A. Splashing
Splashing ininthe
thepuddles
puddlesleftleft
byby
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
Item 10
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
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handouts and exercises
on misplaced and
dangling modifiers. Go
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The End.