What is a modifier?
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that functions as an adjective or adverb to provide additional information about another word or word group. They will add more emphasis, explanation, or detail to whatever is described in a sentence.
In the following sentences, you will find the modifiers in bold.
The Professor carefully proofread her draft.
Mary heard Peter clearly when he whispered.
Hercule Poirot is a brilliant detective.
Many sentences have more than one modifier. In the examples below, the words in bold modify the words 'detective' and 'box', adding more information about the two nouns.
Hercule Poirot is the famous detective created by the English mystery writer Agatha Christie.
Dad lifted the heavy box containing the food supplies.
Where you place the modifier can sometimes affect the meaning of a sentence. What are the differences in meaning between these three sentence?
The teacher just nodded to Mary when she came in.
The teacher nodded just to Mary when she came in.
The teacher nodded to Mary just when she came in.
Common errors with modifiers
Sometimes we use modifiers incorrectly, and that leads to strange and awkward sentence structures and often unintentionally humorous sentences. Incorrect uses of modifiers make it difficult to read smoothly, and you need time to decode the sentence.
Two errors are common when using modifiers: misplaced modifiers and dangling modifiers.
Misplaced modifiers
A misplaced modifier is a modifier that is placed too far away from the word or words it is meant to modify. If they are located too far from the word that is being modified, it might look like they’re modifying something else entirely.
Take a look at these sentences:
She wore a bicycle helmet on her head that was too large.
She saw a puppy and a kitten on the way to the store.
They bought a hamster for my brother they called Shallow.
The patient was referred to the physician with stomach pains.
In these sentences, the modifiers have been placed at the end of the sentence and too far away from the words they are modifying. They all seem a bit awkward, and they can easily be misunderstood. But the sentences can easily be fixed:
She wore a bicycle helmet that was too large on her head
On the way to the store, she saw a puppy and a kitten.
They bought a hamster they called Shadow for my brother.
The patient with stomach pains was referred to the physician.
Pay attention to modifiers like only, just, almost, nearly and barely. They are often placed in the wrong place. This sentence is a bit confusing:
John found fifty dollars almost in his pocket.
Here the modifier must be placed in front of the phrase it is modifying:
John found almost fifty dollars in his pocket.
Dangling modifiers:
Sometimes the sentence doesn’t include a logical subject to modify, and this can also make it very confusing for the reader. When a modifier is not modifying a specific word, we call it a dangling modifier. Take a look at the following sentence:
Walking home at night, the trees looked like spooky aliens.
Again, you will find the modifier in bold, but what is it modifying? Who or what is walking home at night? The trees? In this sentence something is missing.
These sentences make more sense:
As Jonas was walking home at night, the trees looked like spooky aliens.
The trees looked like spooky aliens as Jonas was walking home at night.
Here are a few other examples of dangling modifiers. Below each, you will find the correct version with the missing word in bold.
Incorrect: Peering out of the bush, a glint caught his eye.
Correct: Peering out of the bush, John noticed a glint.
Incorrect: Riding in the sports car, the world whizzed by rapidly.
Correct: As Jane was riding in the sports car, the world whizzed by rapidly.
Incorrect: Having injured his hand, it was difficult to finish the exam.
Correct: Since John had injured his hand, it was difficult to finish the exam.
Incorrect: Having read the book, the film will be a hit.
Correct: Having read the book, I think the film will be a hit.
Now it's your turn. Move on to the tasks and see if you are able to solve them.