Misplaced modifiers

1. Misplaced modifiers By joseph pasley

2. What is a misplaced modifier? • A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word it modifies / describes. • You should place the misplaced modifier as close as possible to what it describes. • That means that you should try to do a good job to describe or it might not make sense.

3. Examples of misplaced modifiers. • Ex. The torn student’s book lay on the desk. • The misplaced modifier is torn and it modifies students. This sentence is incorrect • The student’s torn book lay on the desk. • The correctly modified adjective is torn and it modifies book. This sentence is correct.

4. small quiz • Which sentence is correct? • 1. We ate the lunch that we had brought slowly. • We slowly ate the lunch that we had brought. • 2. On his way home, Jake found a gold man’s watch. • On his way home, Jake found a man’s gold watch. • 3. Ryan p. ate a cold dish of cereal for breakfast this morning. • Ryan p. ate a dish of cold cereal for breakfast this morning. • quiz

5. How to avoid a misplaced modifier. • Place the modifier as close as possible to the word (or words) being modified. • Place adjectives that modify nouns in front of the word (or words) being modified.

6. VIDEO!! • http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HPJ7eyTZKuE