4 Appendix RG – Rhetoric of Grammar

What is a Misplaced Modifier?

A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is incorrectly positioned in a sentence, making the meaning unclear, awkward, or unintentionally humorous. Modifiers should be placed as close as possible to the word or phrase they modify.

10 Examples of Misplaced Modifiers (with Corrections)

1. Adjective Misplacement

❌ Incorrect: She almost failed every exam in her math class.
(Meaning: She “almost failed” all exams, but it sounds like she “almost took” every exam.)

✅ Correct: She failed almost every exam in her math class.
(Now it clearly means she failed most of them.)

2. Adverb Misplacement

❌ Incorrect: She only eats pizza on Fridays.
(Meaning: The only thing she does with pizza is eat it—she doesn’t look at it, smell it, etc.)

✅ Correct: She eats only pizza on Fridays.
(Now it clearly means pizza is the only thing she eats on Fridays.)

3. Dangling Participle (Misplaced Participial Phrase)

❌ Incorrect: Running down the street, the trees looked beautiful.
(Who is running? The sentence makes it seem like the trees are!)

✅ Correct: Running down the street, I noticed the trees looked beautiful.
(Now it’s clear that “I” was running.)

4. Misplaced Prepositional Phrase

❌ Incorrect: She served sandwiches to the children on paper plates.
(Meaning: The children are on paper plates!)

✅ Correct: She served sandwiches on paper plates to the children.
(Now it’s clear that the sandwiches were on the plates, not the children.)

5. Squinting Modifier (Can Modify Two Parts of the Sentence)

❌ Incorrect: Students who study frequently pass their exams.
(Does “frequently” modify “study” or “pass”? Unclear!)

✅ Correct: Students who frequently study pass their exams.
(Clarifies that frequent studying leads to passing.)

6. Ambiguous Time Modifier

❌ Incorrect: She told her brother in the car she would call him later.
(Was her brother in the car, or was she in the car when she told him?)

✅ Correct: While in the car, she told her brother she would call him later.
(Now it’s clear who was in the car.)

7. Unclear Comparison Due to Misplacement

❌ Incorrect: She likes coffee better than her husband.
(Does she like coffee more than she likes her husband, or does she like coffee more than her husband does?)

✅ Correct: She likes coffee better than her husband does.
(Now it’s clear that the husband is the one being compared.)

8. Misplaced Infinitive (“to” + verb)

❌ Incorrect: She decided to quickly leave the party.
(The word “quickly” is misplaced, making it sound awkward.)

✅ Correct: She quickly decided to leave the party.
(Now it’s clear that the decision was quick, not necessarily the leaving.)

9. Placement of “Almost”

❌ Incorrect: We almost ate all the cookies.
(Meaning: You “almost” ate them, but didn’t?)

✅ Correct: We ate almost all the cookies.
(Now it correctly means they ate nearly all of them.)

10. Modifier Confusing Subject-Verb Relationship

❌ Incorrect: Covered in sauce, she handed the baby his spaghetti.
(Meaning: She, not the spaghetti, was covered in sauce!)

✅ Correct: She handed the baby his spaghetti, which was covered in sauce.
(Now it correctly describes the spaghetti.)

*For now, this is all AI generated text. It is only being used now for a placeholder