Mangling Modifiers

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Mangling Modifiers

1. Misplaced Modifiers
2. Dangling Modifiers

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Examples

• From Mary Poppins
• Bert I know a man with a wooden leg named
  Smith.
• Albert Whats the name of the other leg?
• -Examples provided by Richard Lederer.

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Examples

• Yoko Ono will talk about her husband, John
  Lennon, who was killed in an interview with
  Barbara Walters.
• She watched as her father returned home with
  horses all dressed in cowboy attire.

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More Examples

• It is time to renew your Denver city license for
  your pet, which expires in a month.
• An oil spill was first reported to the Coast
  Guard in early May by a person who saw
  oil-covered rocks walking along the shore.

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More Examples

• Hunters have gained the right to hunt deer in the
  Illinois Supreme Court.
• We saw many bears driving through Yellowstone
  Park.

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More Examples

• A new security device can detect a person
  approaching your home right through the walls.
• A flight attendant announced, I have a pearl
  earring from a passenger I found on the floor.

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What is a modifier anyway?

• A MODIFIER is a word or phrase which describes
  another word or phrase (acts as an adjective or
  adverb would).

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Examples of Modifiers

• Single word modifier (adjective or adverb)
• Participle Phrase
• Prepositional Phrase
• Adjective Clause
• Adverb Clause

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Misplaced Modifiers

• A modifier functions to clarify or make more
  definite the word it modifies.
• Place modifiers as closely as possible to the
  words they modify. Otherwise, the sentence
  becomes more confusing (rememberyou are trying
  to clarify, not to confuse).

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Misplaced modifiers confuse readers.

• Confusing
• I bought a small computer for the staff, which
  gave everyone a great deal of trouble.
• Clear
• I bought the staff a small computer, which gave
  everyone a great deal of trouble.

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Misplaced ModifiersRecap

• If a sentence has a misplaced modifier, then a
  modifier is present in the sentence, its just in
  the wrong place.
• To correct a sentence with a misplaced modifier,
  just move the modifying word or phrase as close
  as possible to the word it modifies.

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Misplaced ModifiersPractice

• Correct the following sentence
• Yoko Ono will talk about her husband, John
  Lennon, who was killed in an interview with
  Barbara Walters.

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Correction

• In an interview with Barbara Walters, Yoko Ono
  will talk about her husband, John Lennon, who was
  killed.

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Misplaced ModifiersPractice

• Correct the following sentence
• We saw many bears driving through Yellowstone
  Park.

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Correction

• Driving through Yellowstone Park, we saw many
  bears.
• While we were driving through Yellowstone Park,
  we saw many bears.
• In the first correction, the participle phrase is
  merely moved. In the second, the participle
  phrase is changed to a dependent clause, a DC, IC
  sentence.

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Dangling Modifiers

• Dangling modifiers are modifiers that appear in
  sentences but have no words in the sentence to
  sensibly modify.

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Dangling Modifiers

• Dangling modifier
• Carrying a heavy pile of books, her foot caught
  on the step.
• Correction
• Carrying a heavy pile of books, she caught her
  foot on the step.

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Dangling Modifiers

• Dangling modifier
• Representing the conservative point of view, the
  liberals rebutted her.
• Correction
• Representing the conservative point of view, she
  was rebutted by the liberals.

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Dangling ModifiersRecap

• If a sentence has a dangling modifier, then the
  modifier is present in the sentence, but the noun
  or pronoun it modifies is not present.
• To correct a sentence with a dangling modifier,
  just add the noun or pronoun thats being
  modified.
• Place the noun or pronoun as closely as possible
  to the dangling modifier.

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Dangling ModifiersPractice

• Correct the following sentence
• To win the baseball championship this year, Luis
  and Oscar should join our team.
• Who is trying to win the baseball championship?
  Add that noun to the sentence.

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Correction

• To win the baseball championship this year, we
  should get Luis and Oscar to join our team.
• If we want to win the baseball championship this
  year, Louis and Oscar should join our team.

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Dangling ModifiersPractice

• Correct the following sentence
• Left alone in the house, the thunderstorm
  terrified him.
• Who was left alone in the house? You have to add
  the person into the sentence.

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Correction

• Left alone in the house, he was terrified by the
  thunderstorm.
• When he was left alone in the house, the
  thunderstorm terrified him.
• In the first correction, the word he is added
  next to the participle phrase. In the second
  sentence, the participle phrase is changed to a
  dependent clause to form a DC,IC sentence.

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Review

• A MODIFIER is a word or phrase which describes
  another word or phrase.
• Types of modifiers include
• Adjective or adverb
• Participle phrase
• Prepositional phrase
• Adjective clause
• Adverb clause

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Review

• A misplaced modifier occurs when
• A modifier is present in the sentence
• The noun it modifies is also present
• The modifier is in the wrong place because it is
  not next to the noun it modifies

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Review

• To correct a misplaced modifier
• Simply move the modifier in the sentence so that
  it is next to the word it modifies.
• Or, change the sentence into a DC,IC sentence
  that makes sense.

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Review

• A dangling modifier occurs when
• A modifier is present in the sentence
• The word the modifier describes is not present in
  the sentence

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Review

• To correct a dangling modifier
• Simply add to the sentence a word which the
  modifier should sensibly describe.
• Or, change the sentence into a DC,IC sentence
  that makes sense.

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The End

• Created by Sarah Fergusson
• 2005