Grammar: Modifier

Revised as of
11 Feb 2023

Ooh, baby, you can really have a ball with modifiers — and take your writing from the dreaded tell to the feeling show. Can you imagine reading a story without adjectives or adverbs!? How incredibly dull life would be!

Check out this sentence example as it goes from blah to ROFLMAO from Grammar Bytes! . . .

Stephen dropped his fork.

Now, check this one out . . . does the picture change for you, *she asks, laughing* . . .?

Poor Stephen, who just wanted a quick meal  to get through his three-hour biology lab, quickly dropped his fork on the cafeteria tray, gagging with disgust  as a tarantula wiggled out of his cheese omelet, a sight requiring a year of therapy before Stephen could eat eggs again.

As you can see — at least from the legend(!) — modifiers can be adjectives, adverbs, nouns, phrases, and clauses in any combination. And they’re the writer’s best friend when it comes to show!

Modifiers are words, phrases, or clauses that breathe life into sentences. They allow writers to take the picture that they have in their heads and transfer it accurately to the heads of their readers.

Grammar Explanations is . . .

. . . an evolving list of the structural rules and principles that determines where words are placed in phrases or sentences as well as how the language is spoken. Sometimes I run across an example that helps explain better or another “also known as”. Heck, there’s always a better way to explain it, so if it makes quicker and/or better sense, I would appreciate suggestions and comments from anyone on an area of grammar with which you struggle or on which you can contribute more understanding.

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Modifier
Definition: Any word, phrase, or clause which functions as an adjective or an adverb to describe a word or make its meaning more specific. POST CONTENTS: Premodifier Postmodifier Types of Modifiers: Adjective Modifier Adjective Phrase Adverb Modifier Submodifier Noun Modifier Misplaced Modifiers Awkward Separation Dangling Modifier Dangling Elliptical Clause Dangling Gerund Dangling Infinitive Dangling Participle Squinting Modifier
Premodifier	Definition: A modifier that comes before what it’s modifying.
Return to top or post contents	beautifully painted movie projector tall glass wool blanket
Postmodifier	Definition: A modifier that comes after what it’s modifying.
Return to top or post contents	glass of water house on the corner salesman on the right sea of glass
Types of Modifiers:
Adjective Modifier	Rule: Adjectives used as a modifier affect a noun or a pronoun. Articles can also be considered adjectives.
Return to top or post contents	Legend: Green indicates the modifying adjective Blue indicates the modifying article Orange indicates the noun modifier Coral indicates the pronoun modifier Mary threw the large beach ball. George set another one on the grill.
Adjective Phrase	Definition: Tells something about the noun it is modifying. The head (principal) word in an adjective phrase will be an adjective. Rule: An adjective phrase can be a premodifier or a postmodifier.
Return to top or post contents	Legend: Green indicates the head adjective Italics indicate the phrase That dress is one divine shade of red! Karen is an unbelievably boring woman. Can you believe how incredibly stupid Chad was? This store sells cheap but well-made shoes.
Adverb Modifier	Definition: Adverbs used as modifiers heighten the meaning by providing information about the place, time, manner, certainty, frequency, or other circumstances of activity. They are used in front of adjectives, other adverbs, or verbs.
Return to top or post contents	Legend: Green indicates the modifying adverb Yellow indicates the adjective modifier Orange indicates the adverb modifier Coral indicates the verb modifier Brrr she thought. It’s even colder inside the house. Wow, this is an unusually large house. She is an amazingly pretty girl, Hank. That puts an entirely different meaning on this article. You’re saying that Henry accidentally chopped down the tree? Hey, c’mon, I warned you it was a nearly monthly event!
Submodifier	Definition: Used in front of an adjective or another adverb to modify its meaning. NOTE: It cannot be used to modify a verb.
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	Examples:
	Legend: Green indicates the submodifier Yellow indicates the adjective The weather had turned very cold. Wow, it was an unusually large house. Now that is very unusual. She was quite extraordinarily evil.
Noun Modifier	Definition: Two nouns used together show that one thing is a part of something else; it modifies the meaning of the primary noun (Noun)¸ A.k.a. attributive noun, noun adjunct, noun premodifier For more details see the entry on noun modifiers in the “Noun” post.
Return to top or post contents	high school ice cream full moon high tea office worker car door library book vegetable garden
Misplaced Modifiers
Definition: A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word it describes. Sentences with misplaced modifiers often sound awkward, confusing, or downright illogical (Benner). It usually occurs when the writer gets ahead of him/herself. Legend: Green will indicate the modifier Examples include: Awkward Separation Dangling Modifier Dangling Elliptical Clause Dangling Gerund Dangling Infinitive Dangling Participle Squinting Modifier
List of Frequently Misplaced Single Words
almost even exactly hardly just merely nearly only scarcely simply
Misplaced		Fixed
Sentences courtesy of Towson.edu
The vendor almost sold all of her pottery at the crafts fair.		The vendor sold almost all of her pottery at the crafts fair.
She sold hamburgers to the children on paper plates. So, what were the children who weren’t on paper plates going to eat?		She sold hamburgers on paper plates to the children.
The man walked toward the car carrying a briefcase. Now THAT I want to see . . . a car carrying a briefcase . . .		The man carrying a briefcase walked toward the car. Carrying a briefcase, the man walked toward the car.
We returned the toy to the store that was broken. Whoa! How did the store get broken?		We returned the broken toy to the store.
Awkward Separation	Definition: An awkward separation creates a confusing meaning.
Return to top or post contents	Misplaced Fixed Many children have, by the time they are six, lost a tooth. By the time they are six, many children have lost a tooth. Many children have lost a tooth by the time they are six.
Dangling Modifier	Definition: A modifier that is in the wrong place in a sentence leaving the reader confused as to what, exactly, is being modified and a sentence that often sounds awkward, confusing, or downright illogical. And it can frequently leave the reader laughing — and not what you may have intended!
Return to top or post contents	Dangling Fixed Fresh out of school, finding a job was impossible. Finding a job is not fresh out of school. Finding a job is impossible when you’re fresh out of school. Doctors see babies once they finish their residency. No, babies don’t actually have to go through a residency. A childhood . . . Once doctors finish their residency, they see babies. They visited the lions at the zoo after they ate a zebra. Who ate the zebra? At the zoo, they visited the lions who had just eaten a zebra. They are writing a newsletter for parents of teens who take drugs. Are the parents or the teens taking the drugs? They are writing a newsletter for parents whose teens are taking drugs. This is a novel of betrayal by a famous author. Wait, is this a novel in which a famous author betrays someone? Or is it a novel about betrayal which is written by a famous author? This is a novel written by a famous author about betrayal. This is a novel written by a famous author who betrayed someone. This is a novel written about a famous author who betrayed someone.
Dangling Elliptical Clause	Definition: An elliptical clause that does not refer clearly and logically to the subject of the sentence.
Return to top or post contents	Dangling Fixed When just six years old, my grandmother tried to teach me ballet. Um, when her grandmother was six years old she tried to teach her granddaughter ballet? I’m really impressed. When I was just six years old, my grandmother tried to teach me ballet.
Dangling Gerund	Rule: A gerund that does not refer clearly and logically to the subject of the sentence.
Return to top or post contents	Dangling Fixed After roasting for three hours, we turned the oven off. Ouch, must be kinda stupid if it took them three hours to realize they were cookin’. After we roasted the turkey for three hours, we turned the oven off. While drinking coffee, the lions approached our camp. I’m impressed. Lions are drinking coffee. While we were drinking coffee, the lions approached out camp.
Dangling Infinitive	Rule: An infinitive that does not refer clearly and logically to the subject of the sentence.
Return to top or post contents	Dangling Fixed To walk a high wire, a pole is needed for balance. Dang, that is one impressive pole if it can walk a high wire! A pole is needed for balance to walk a high wire. To walk a high wire, an acrobat needs a pole for balance.
Dangling Participle	Rule: A dangling participle that does not refer clearly and logically to the subject of the sentence.
Return to top or post contents	Dangling Fixed Passing the building, the broken window was clearly visible. Sounds like the broken window is passing the building. The broken window was clearly visible when we were passing the building. Once revised and corrected, I got an A. Hmmm, does that revised and corrected mean that I am fixed now? Once my paper was revised and corrected, I got an A.
Squinting Modifier	Definition: A misplaced modifier that may describe two situations.
	Misplaced Fixed I told my son when the game was over I would play with him. When the game was over, I told my son I would play with him. I told my son I would play with him when the game was over.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Grammar Explanations by exploring its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Modifiers

Benner, Margaret L. “Self Teaching Unit: Avoiding Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers.” Towson University. n.d. Web. n.d. <https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/moduleDangling.htm>.

“Dangling Modifier.” Towson.edu. n.d. Web. n.d. <a href=”http://www.towson.edu/ows/dangmod.htm>.

Lakin, C.S. “More Dangling Things.” Live Write Thrive. 25 May 2012. Web. n.d. <http://www.livewritethrive.com/2012/05/25/more-dangling-things/>.

“Misplaced Modifiers.” Modifier Problems. Towson University. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.towson.edu/ows/dangmod.aspx>.

“The Modifier.” Grammar Bytes! n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/modifier.htm>.

“Noun Modifiers.” Learn English. British Council. n.d. Web. n.d. <https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/adjectives/noun-modifiers#sthash.Iqwkki6P.dpuf>.

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Pinterest Photo Credits:

1957 VW T1 Van by Andrew Bone is under the CC BY 2.0 license while VW Bus T1 in Hippie Colors by Marshall Astor is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license. Both images are from Wikimedia Commons.