Do you know what a misplaced modifier is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on misplaced modifiers, including the definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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November 22, 2021
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Common Questions
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What is a misplaced modifier?
According to Your Dictionary, a modifier is a word like an adjective or adverb that changes, alters, limits, or adds more information about something. Ideally, this word should come right before or right after the word it modifies. A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word it modifies or describes. This is similar to a dangling modifier examples in that they can cause confusion, create ambiguity, and create a sentence with different meanings than intended if the modifying phrase is attributed to the wrong noun. A modifier can be an adjective or an adverb, as well as a modifying phrase of either of these like an adjective phrase or adverbial phrase. Make sure that your intended meaning of a sentence is clear, and avoid the passive voice and use active voice. Your sentence structure should have the proper subject of the sentence in the right place and have a correct beginning and end of a sentence.Â
What are misplaced modifier examples?
A misplaced modifier can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of misplaced modifiers from Your Dictionary and Scribbr that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at the following examples and note the placement of the modifier in the first sentence and second sentence.
- Â People who laugh rarely are sad.
- Â For the study, Jane only interviewed Japanese speakers.
- Â Tim bought a horse for his sister called Prince.
- Â Iris almost failed every exam she took.
- Â Despite receiving widespread critical acclaim, box office sales of the film were poor.
- Â While hunting in Africa, I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How an elephant got into my pajamas I’ll never know.” (Groucho Marx in Animal Crackers, 1930)
- Â I told John when the seminar was over we should study for the upcoming exam.
- Â Only Pastor Johnson gave me $5 to clean all his sidewalks.
- Â Due to the severe concussion, she lost almost all memory of the accident.
- Â She arrived home and fell onto the sofa covered in sweat.
- Â The couple agreed during the family dinner they would announce their engagement.
- Â He nearly drove the car for six hours a day.
- Â She saw a puppy and a kitten on the way to the store.
- Â Due to the severe concussion, she almost lost all memory of the accident.
- Â Most participants selected a lunch from the menu that was high in sugar.
- Â She served sandwiches to the children on paper plates.
- Â Eagerly awaiting her birthday, Mary’s presents were all picked up and admired by Mary many times throughout the day.
- Â For the study, Jane interviewed only Japanese speakers.
- Â Tired of all of the nights in hotels, delight overcame Mitch when his boss finally said he didn’t have to travel anymore.
- Â The waiter presented a steak to the guest that was medium rare.
- Â Neil Armstrong made history as the first man to step on the moon in 1969.
- Â Three offices were reported robbed by the Atlanta police last week.
What are other grammar terms?
There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.Â
- Â auxiliary verb | auxiliary
- Â optative
- Â appositive
- Â past participle
- Â part of speech
- Â prefix
- Â protasis
- Â participle | past participle | present participle
- Â possessive
- Â conditional
- Â gerund
- Â postmodify | postmodifier
- Â antecedent
- Â modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
- Â construction
- Â indefinite
- Â sentence adverb |sentence adverbial
- Â participial adjective
- Â filler
- Â plural
- Â copular verb | copula
- Â phrase (phr.)
- Â cognate object
- Â prepositional phrase
- Â anticipatory
- Â abstract
- Â positive
- Â collocation | collocate
- Â indirect passive
- Â singular
- Â phrasal verb
- Â stem
- Â gender
- Â double object
- Â proper noun | proper name
- Â apposition
- Â direct object
- Â pro-form
- Â demonstrative
- Â locative
- Â infinitive
- Â transitive
- Â unmarked genitive
- Â past tense
- Â adjective
- Â element
- Â concrete
- Â main clause
- Â complementary
- Â suffix
- Â possessive adjective
- Â agent noun
- Â mass noun
- Â clause
- Â head
- Â prepositional passive
- Â number
- Â third-person
- Â apodosis and protasis
- Â imperative (imper.)
- Â nominal relative | nominal relative clause
- Â morpheme
- Â quasi-
- Â absolute (absol.)
- Â relative
- Â instrumental
- Â pronoun (pron.)
- Â indirect question
- Â parenthetical | parenthetically
- Â bare infinitive
- Â passive
- Â non-finite
- Â agree | agreement
- Â vocative
- Â indirect object
- Â noun phrase
- Â indirect speech
- Â perfect
- Â person
- Â premodify | premodifier
- Â subjective
- Â combination
- Â indicative
- Â that-clause
- Â base form
- Â prepositional object
- Â finite
- Â adverb (adv.)
- Â anaphoric
- Â declarative
- Â accusative
- Â passive infinitive
- Â superlative
- Â intensifier
- Â inflection | inflected | inflectional
- Â cataphoric
- Â neuter
- Â subject
- Â tense
- Â genitive
- Â complement
- Â compound | compounding
- Â subjunctive
- Â common noun
- Â adverbial | adverbially
- Â collective noun
- Â present participle
- Â active
- Â verbal noun
- Â comparative
- Â simple
- Â interjection
- Â masculine
- Â direct question
- Â article
- Â periphrasis | periphrastic
- Â personal pronoun
- Â special use
- Â non-referential
- Â causative
- Â interrogative
- Â progressive
- Â determiner
- Â verb (v.)
- Â noun (n.)
- Â impersonal (impers.)
- Â direct speech
- Â mood
- Â predicative
- Â similative
- Â definite article
- Â case
- Â combining form (comb. form)
- Â main verb
- Â ellipsis | elliptical
- Â parasynthetic
- Â zero
- Â present tense
- Â subordinate clause
- Â construed (const., constr.)
- Â intransitive
- Â reflexive
- Â suffix
- Â to-infinitive
- Â conjunction (conj.)
- Â attributive
- Â feminine
- Â second person
- Â preposition (prep.)
- Â dual
- Â nominative
- Â possessive pronoun
- Â modify | modifier
- Â object | direct object | indirect object
- Â objective
- Â pleonasm | pleonastic
- Â count noun
- Â first person
- Â dative
In summary, a misplaced modifier is a modifier that is in the wrong place in a sentence.
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