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Modifiers, and Why You Shouldn't Misplace Them

Misplacing a modifier in a sentence is the single easiest way to confuse your audience. Unlike nigh on everything else we've discussed so far, this lesson transcends the written word and causes all sorts of issues in speech as well. Doubly so if the other person's first language is anything other than English.

So, what is a modifier?

Again, we're not talking cars, although that could arguably be a more interesting topic. In language, a modifier is a word or phrase that gives more information about another word or phrase.

Some can be simple.

° The gold watch.
° Your hair is grey.

Some aren't as obvious.

° That pair of trainers cost £200.
° She made her announcement over the weekend

In the simplest of terms, modifiers are something that just sort of seem like a no-brainer. They describe the thing. But how often do we really speak in four-word sentences? It's when we get more than one subject in a single sentence that modifiers can begin to stray out of place. So, let's add a few more words to the sentences from above.

Correct:

° That shop has a nice men's gold watch.
° Your nose hair, which is grey, is in my eye.*

Incorrect:

° That shop has a nice gold men's watch.

What? Is the watch only intended for men that are gold?

° Your grey nose hair is in my eye.

Is it the nose, or the hair in the nose that's grey?

These examples can be relatively easy to figure out without devoting too much thought. But what if the modifier is more than one word?

Correct:

° I bought a pair of trainers that cost £200 from that shop.
° Over the weekend, Kate told us she married Dan.

Incorrect:

° I bought a pair of trainers from that shop that cost £200.

I'm sorry, what exactly cost £200?

° Kate said over the weekend she married Dan.

Did she say as much over the weekend, or did she actually do the deed?

You can see why this could potentially cause confusion. Think of modifiers as a sort of advanced form of subject/verb agreement. The verb, or in this case, modifier should always be placed near as possible to the corresponding noun or subject. It's quite simple, really, and I'm failing to really come up with anything witty to say about it.

Dangling Modifiers

Not necessarily misplaced, a dangling modifier is one that simply doesn't have a subject to agree with.

Correct:

° Running down the high street, Nicholas slipped on a patch of ice and fell to the ground.
° Having had enough of the arguing, Gus slammed the door so hard that it came off its hinges.

Incorrect:

° Running down the high street, the ice caused Nicholas to slip and fall to the ground.

Uhm... I wasn't aware that ice could run.

° Having had enough of the arguing, the door came off its hinges when Gus slammed it.

I wonder what sorts of arguments a door might have.

It's all exactly the same as the misplaced modifiers; only they don't really have anything to modify. Again, nothing really witty to say, here.

Modifiers vs Qualifiers

It's rather hard to get a qualifier wrong, but I like them, so I'm going to talk about them. Qualifiers are very, very, VERY similar to a modifier, only instead of expanding the idea, the sort of compact it a bit. They work as such:

° This was the coldest winter ever recorded.
vs
° This was the coldest winter ever recorded in Las Vegas.

Both sentences are correct, but they tell vastly different stories. The first suggests that this winter is the coldest winter ever, in the history of everywhere. Must be somewhere near the South Pole.

The second sentence defines the coldest winter ever as being specific to a very small region of southern Nevada. There have been colder winters in other places, possibly even within the same state, but this is the coldest Las Vegas has ever been.

° That's the fastest I've ever run.
vs
° That's the fastest I've ever run without being chased.

Again, vastly different stories being told here. The first person has never run faster, ever, in their entire life. The second person has run faster, but since they weren't being chased, they just couldn't be bothered.

It's very hard to get a qualifier wrong, so I don't really see much of a reason to even try to come up with an example. Again, I just like them, so I stuck them in here.

*Shamelessly lifted from a Dylan Moran routine. Something about old people, or some such. I can't remember.

Description
Modifiers, and Why You Shouldn't Misplace Them

Misplacing a modifier in a sentence is the single easiest way to confuse your audience. Unlike nigh on everything else we've discussed so far, this lesson transcends the written word and causes all sorts of issues in speech as well. Doubly so if the other person's first language is anything other than English.

So, what is a modifier?

Again, we're not talking cars, although that could arguably be a more interesting topic. In language, a modifier is a word or phrase that gives more information about another word or phrase.

Some can be simple.

° The gold watch.
° Your hair is grey.

Some aren't as obvious.

° That pair of trainers cost £200.
° She made her announcement over the weekend

In the simplest of terms, modifiers are something that just sort of seem like a no-brainer. They describe the thing. But how often do we really speak in four-word sentences? It's when we get more than one subject in a single sentence that modifiers can begin to stray out of place. So, let's add a few more words to the sentences from above.

Correct:

° That shop has a nice men's gold watch.
° Your nose hair, which is grey, is in my eye.*

Incorrect:

° That shop has a nice gold men's watch.

What? Is the watch only intended for men that are gold?

° Your grey nose hair is in my eye.

Is it the nose, or the hair in the nose that's grey?

These examples can be relatively easy to figure out without devoting too much thought. But what if the modifier is more than one word?

Correct:

° I bought a pair of trainers that cost £200 from that shop.
° Over the weekend, Kate told us she married Dan.

Incorrect:

° I bought a pair of trainers from that shop that cost £200.

I'm sorry, what exactly cost £200?

° Kate said over the weekend she married Dan.

Did she say as much over the weekend, or did she actually do the deed?

You can see why this could potentially cause confusion. Think of modifiers as a sort of advanced form of subject/verb agreement. The verb, or in this case, modifier should always be placed near as possible to the corresponding noun or subject. It's quite simple, really, and I'm failing to really come up with anything witty to say about it.

Dangling Modifiers

Not necessarily misplaced, a dangling modifier is one that simply doesn't have a subject to agree with.

Correct:

° Running down the high street, Nicholas slipped on a patch of ice and fell to the ground.
° Having had enough of the arguing, Gus slammed the door so hard that it came off its hinges.

Incorrect:

° Running down the high street, the ice caused Nicholas to slip and fall to the ground.

Uhm... I wasn't aware that ice could run.

° Having had enough of the arguing, the door came off its hinges when Gus slammed it.

I wonder what sorts of arguments a door might have.

It's all exactly the same as the misplaced modifiers; only they don't really have anything to modify. Again, nothing really witty to say, here.

Modifiers vs Qualifiers

It's rather hard to get a qualifier wrong, but I like them, so I'm going to talk about them. Qualifiers are very, very, VERY similar to a modifier, only instead of expanding the idea, the sort of compact it a bit. They work as such:

° This was the coldest winter ever recorded.
vs
° This was the coldest winter ever recorded in Las Vegas.

Both sentences are correct, but they tell vastly different stories. The first suggests that this winter is the coldest winter ever, in the history of everywhere. Must be somewhere near the South Pole.

The second sentence defines the coldest winter ever as being specific to a very small region of southern Nevada. There have been colder winters in other places, possibly even within the same state, but this is the coldest Las Vegas has ever been.

° That's the fastest I've ever run.
vs
° That's the fastest I've ever run without being chased.

Again, vastly different stories being told here. The first person has never run faster, ever, in their entire life. The second person has run faster, but since they weren't being chased, they just couldn't be bothered.

It's very hard to get a qualifier wrong, so I don't really see much of a reason to even try to come up with an example. Again, I just like them, so I stuck them in here.

*Shamelessly lifted from a Dylan Moran routine. Something about old people, or some such. I can't remember.