Are you misplacing modifiers? 10 examples and their easy fixes
Situating a participle or locating a clarifying phrase within a sentence can be tricky, even for seasoned communicators. To avoid prompting confusion—or, worse, derision—follow these tips.
A misplaced modifier can muddle a sentence’s overall meaning.
It’s the syntactical error of putting supplemental information—a single word or a lengthy phrase—in the wrong spot within a sentence.
Such errors are common among even professional writers, as well as those for whom writing is not a primary responsibility.
It’s therefore easy to find multiple examples during even casual reading of news articles.
The examples below are followed by discussion of the error and one or more revisions:
1. Smith said his company won’t tolerate hate groups during his congressional testimony earlier this week.
The implication is that the company will limit its intolerance to the duration of the session in which he gives testimony. Here, the sentence is rephrased to clarify that the intolerance is ongoing:
Smith said during his congressional testimony earlier this week that his company won’t tolerate hate groups.
2. That’s how many would be needed to reach a two-thirds majority of 288 votes, assuming all Democrats vote “yes,” the margin required for a veto override.
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