Modifiers

A word or phrase that adds detail or description to a sentence.

Chelsea Moyer Malcolm Cottle

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/index.php?category_id=2&sub_category_id=1&article_id=36

Basic Example of Modifiers

• Joe lifted the heavy desk containing files.

Heavy and containing files modifies the desk.

Limiting Modifiers

• Limiting Modifiers include words like: not, only, even, almost, nearly, and just.

• Limiting modifiers should be placed in front of the verbs they modify.

Examples

I only go to the movies on Saturdays.

I go to the movies only on Saturdays.

In a psychology experiment, all subjects were not surveyed.

In a psychology experiment, not all subjects were surveyed.

Misplaced Phrases and Clauses

• Making sure phrases and clauses are correctly placed in a sentence is crucial.

• Readers should be able to grasp what’s being modified at a glance.

• When phrases and clauses are misplaced sentence is unclear.

ExamplesThe man can’t keep up with the children at age 80.

At age 80, the man can’t keep up with the children.

She served hamburgers to the children on paper plates.

She served hamburgers on paper plates to the children.

Awkwardly Placed Modifiers

• Where the logic of the sentence is correct, however, the modifier is awkwardly place so that the sentence is jumbled.

Examples

Many children have, by the time they are six lost a tooth.

By the time they are six, many children have lost a tooth.

This now, does not separate the auxiliary and main verb, and the sentence has a better flow.

Dangling Modifiers

• A dangling modifier fails to refer logically to any word in the sentence.

Examples

Shooting the ball into the net, the crowd went wild.

When the player shot the ball into the net, the crowd went wild.

Picking up the phone, she called my dad.

When my mom picked up the phone, she called my dad.

Jeopardy

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All people, when they turn sixteen, have a big party.

True or False

When I was young, like everyone, I had lot’s of fun with my dolls.

All my friends, who play sports, like to watch the Olympics.

When I walked in, I nodded only to my friends.

True or False

We almost ate all the turkey at Thanksgiving.

Taking a trip to Spain, everyone was not polite to me.

The dog played outside, releasing energy.

True or False

Talking to the professor, he walked by making silly faces.

Enjoying the scenery, they lost track of time.

I heard my family was going to throw a party for me when I was mowing the grass.

True or False

The man walked to his car with a briefcase.

After a horrible day at work, the man walked back to his house in disgust.