MISPLACED MODIFIERS

By Ranjana S.

Why can't you say: When only three, my mother taught me to read.

The reason is, ofcourse, that you aren't saying what you mean to say. Your mother didn't teach you to read when she was only three, yet that's what the statement means to say.

The following sentences will make you pull your hair: 

1. The educator only knows the square root of 81.
2. The boy who had been slapped quickly left.
3. While sitting comfortably indoors, the storm blew up.
4. Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address while riding through Pennisylvania on the back of an envelope.

Look at the aforementioned cases:

1. It is unlikely that the educator knows only the square root of 81and nothing else, who the hell employed her?  :)
2. The boy left because he was slapped quickly and the rest were facing the aftermath of burning cheeks so did not budge from their places. :)
3. The storm was comfortably ensconced indoors and suddenly decided to blow. :)
4. The funniest- Lincoln got his Eureka moment while riding on the envelope; hence, penned down the Gettysburg Address afloat in the serene sky. :) 

Yet that is how the sentences can be interpreted. In each case the misinterpretation is due to the fact that an important word or group of words has been put in the wrong place, so that this important word or groups of words seems to describe( or modify) the wrong thing.

Note how simple it is to rearrange the words, or to add a word or two, so as to resolve all doubts about meanings:

1. Only the educator knows the square root of 81.
2. The boy who had been slapped left quickly.
3. While we were sitting comfortably indoors, a storm blew up.
4. While riding through Pennsylvania, Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope.

It is because the precise placement of words can make or break the meaning of a sentence that the error of misplaced modifiers is so grave. If you don't want exemplary writers vying for your blood for writing such bewildering sentences, remember the following facts:

A word or phrase that modifies something in a sentence changes the meaning of the word or phrase it modifies-usually by describing it in more detail. Hence, an only child is not just any child; he is a child who doesn't have any brothers and sisters. The modifier must be kept as close as possible to the part of the sentence that it modifies, and it must not be placed in a position where it seems to modify some other word instead of the right one.

It is essential that you place these descriptive words-or modifiers-where they belonged. To see just how much difference in meaning results from a different placement, let us deal with the phrase-an only child. In it, only clearly modifies(changes the meaning of) child. But suppose you shift the order of the words so that the phrase reads 'only a child.' Instantly, the meaning again changes. Or try shifting the words once more: a child only. Here are three sentences containing those three words in the three arrangements. Note the difference in meanings.

1. An only child, having no brothers or sisters, is sometimes spoiled.
2. Only a child, not a grown person, could enjoy the puppet show.
3. In their family, a parent gives order; a child only listens and obeys.

Unless you put the modifiers in the right position, no one can be sure of what you are implying to say.

Businesses have been ruined and empires lost because of misplaced, misleading modifiers.

Sometimes modifiers aren't merely misplaced; they dangle. A dangling modifier is one that refers to something brewing in the writer's mind-but something he forgets to include in the sentence. Dangling modifiers are generally group of words that just float at the beginning of a sentence, with nothing to anchor on to, as if the writer starts off to discuss one idea and ends up talking about another. This mistake can make you sound ludicrous. Look at the following sentences:

1. While asleep in the garden, somebody stole her purse.
2. When only three, my mother taught me to read.
3. On his first safari, a lion was killed.
4. After brushing his teeth, the tea tasted better.
5. Walking across the field, a light appeared in the distance.

 All of these sentences strip your sanity, because they seem to suggest that;

1. somebody while asleep had the audacity to steal.
2. My super mom was three when she already gave birth to me and to top it all, she started teaching me. :)
3. Lions enjoy the prospect of going on safaris.
4. Tea love brushing teeth.
5. Light walks in the field and appears in the diatance; simultaneously.

Let's correct them:

1. When she was asleep in the garden, somebody stole her purse.
2. When I was only three, my mother taught me to read.
3. On his first safari, Peter killed a tiger.
4. After he had brushed his teeth, the tea tasted better.
5. As I walked across the field, I saw a light in the distance.

Remember, when you start a sentence with a phrase that begins with such words as after, before, on, when, or while, or with a verb form ending in -ing, don't forget to provide the modifying phrase with something to modify.