MODIFIERS (ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS) (DANGLING AND MISPLACED) The easiest way to think about modifiers is as words or phrases

(group of words without a subject or verb, acting as a single unit) or clauses (group of words with a subject and verb, acting as a single unit) that describe other words. For example, just the way an adjective and adjective clauses tell you something about a noun or pronoun.

Our next text will be the one about the fat cat. (adjectives) The restaurant down the road serves great food. (adjective prep. phrase) The boy who is sitting in the front seat is my brother. (adj. clause)

Similarly, adverbs and adverb clauses describe verbs, adverbs, or adjectives. Wednesdays, I help fill water bottles for the games. (adverb) I race onto the field when the whistle blows. (adverb clause) A river runs across our campus. (adverb prepositional phrase) Some people find it easier to decide if a word is an adjective or adverb based on what question it answers. Adjectives answer questions about things: which one? What kind? How many? What color/shape/size? Whose? Adverbs answer questions such as how? When? Why? Where? To what extent? Curve ball: modifiers have to modify words that appear in the sentence. Sounds so obvious, but its worth saying. If a modifier doesnt describe something thats in the sentence, its just dangling like this poor little guy hanging from a ledge. Youll see him in your essays when you let your modifiers dangle.

Read these sentences then explain how to put the modifiers back onto solid ground: On entering the room, desserts were being served.

After realizing that the key was still in the ignition of the locked car, there was nothing to do but cry. Pay special attention to sentences that begin with introductory modifying phrases and clauses. What comes right after the comma better be whats being modified? Okay, so what if the word being modified is in your sentence, but not nearby? Thats usually a problem. Modifiers cant just go anywhere in sentences. If you sprinkle them into sentences like pepper in soup, you might end up making no sense. In Spanish, as you may know, adjectives come after the nouns they modify: La sonrisa grande. In English, we usually put adjectives before the nouns they modify, whereas adverbs have more wiggle room. The key is that your sentence sounds good and is clear. Sometimes, a modifier is placed (wrongly) so that it could modify two different words or so that it modifies the wrong word. Remember that clarity is important. Check these out: The girl who had been dancing wildly entered the room. Did she dance wildly or enter wildly? We cant know. Buttercup only loves Westley. Really, she doesnt know him? Care for him? Like him? Where should that only go? Misplaced modifiers are like putting your shirt on your legs it wont make sense or fit and it can look pretty silly. Look for this little guy on your essays.

Just for kicks and totally on purpose, write some sentences with misplaced modifiers. Now, draw the picture of what each sentence really says. Good times with grammar!