Misplaced Modifiers - English Grammar with Jennifer

Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with  Jennifer. Have you ever made a silly mistake?  

I think we all make mistakes when we're  tired. One morning, I had my breakfast,  

and then I put the box of cereal in the fridge and  the cold milk in a cabinet. Luckily, I realized my  

mistake and I fixed it. Mistakes can happen when  you're tired, when you're simply not careful,  

and when you're not aware of a certain way things  should be done. A misplaced modifier results  

when we put a word, a phrase, or even a  clause in the wrong place -- an awkward place.  

Misplacing even a single word can  sometimes create a weird situation,  

kind of like the mistake I made with the  cereal and the milk. But fortunately for me,  

no one was around to see my silly mistake. With  a misplaced modifier, the mistake can create  

confusion for other people. Misplaced  modifiers can cause misunderstanding.  

In this lesson, let's practice identifying  and fixing misplaced modifiers.

Imagine an older woman looking at a baby photo.  

Looking at the baby without her glasses,  the woman didn't recognize her grandchild.

Does that sound weird...odd even  just a little? It does to me.  

Who should be wearing the  glasses, the woman or the baby?

A general guideline is to place a modifier next  to the word it's modifying. It would be better to  

say, "Without her glasses, the woman looked at  the baby and didn't recognize her grandchild."

Or possibly: Looking at the baby,  

the woman didn't recognize her grandchild  because she wasn't wearing her glasses.

Or to be very clear, we could  say, "The woman wasn't wearing  

her glasses when she looked at the baby,  so she didn't recognize her grandchild."

Consider this example. The first class was over,  

and the second would start soon. The teacher  cleaned up the mess the children had made quickly.

Look for an adverb of manner. Do you see it?

Quickly. What happened quickly?  Cleaning up or making the mess?

It would be more logical to say, "The first  class was over, and the second would start  

soon. The art teacher quickly cleaned  up the mess the children had made."

So, whether it's a single-word  adverb or a prepositional phrase  

functioning like an adverb, be sure to  place it next to the word you're modifying.

Spot the misplaced modifier. They told me  in the evening I would have better luck.

Is the meaning completely clear?

I think it could be understood two  different ways. Which way is more logical?

Perhaps with more context this would make sense.  

Maybe this is the situation: I went to  a phone store, and it was really busy. A  

sales rep suggested that I return later in the  evening because there would be fewer customers.  

So, "in the evening" is not about when they told  me, but more about when I should return. It would  

be more logical, it would be clearer to say, "They  told me I would have better luck in the evening."

Okay. Let's consider the placement of adjectives.  

Every morning, I check my  important list of reminders.

Maybe the sentence makes sense already. It's not  totally confusing, but it could be more accurate.  

What is really important, the list or the  reminders? The reminders have importance. I think  

it would be more logical to say, "Every morning,  I check my list of important reminders." Get it?

Here's a similar sentence. Every morning,  I give my dog a nutritious bowl of food.

Where is the misplaced modifier?

What exactly is nutritious, the bowl -- the  metal bowl -- or what is inside the bowl?

Wouldn't it be more logical to say, "Every  morning, I give my dog a bowl of nutritious food"?

Okay. Time for a practice task. Fix the  misplaced modifiers. It could be an adjective  

or an adverb or a prepositional phrase  functioning like an adjective or an adverb.

A. My brother has a new and old  collection of movie posters.

Hint: What's new and old?

Move the modifier next to the word it's modifying.  

Answer: My brother has a collection  of new and old movie posters.

B. Our teacher explained in 1803 the U.S.  acquired the territory of Louisiana from France.

Hint: What happened in 1803?

Put the prepositional phrase of  time in the most logical position.

Answer: Our teacher explained that the U.S.  

acquired the territory of  Louisiana from France in 1803.

C. The sales lady showed  me a denim woman's jacket.

Hint: What is made of denim?

Well, certainly not the woman. Answer: The  sales lady showed me a woman's denim jacket.

D. The winner was announced after the  students were seated by the school director.

Hint: What did the school director do?

Answer: The winner was announced by the school  director after the students were seated.

E. The mother in her high  chair fed the little baby.

Hint: Who was in the high chair?

Answer: The mother fed the  little baby in her high chair.

Let's look at confusing uses of adjective  clauses and reduced adjective clauses. I  

have a whole playlist on adjective clauses, and  I go over clauses with the relative pronouns  

who, which, and that. I also go over the  relative adverbs where, when, and why.  

Remember that adjective clauses  (relative clauses), reduced or not,  

follow the head noun -- the noun they modify.  Here are some correct examples to look at first.

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Do you see the adjective clauses?

Do you see the head nouns that they follow?

Okay. Now try to spot the mistakes in  these sentences with adjective clauses.

We need to make the wording clear.  Let's fix the word order. First,  

find the adjective clause or the  adjective phrase in each sentence.

Now find each head noun.

Do you see how the word order needs to change?

The cake that I bought from my  daughter's birthday is in the fridge.

At the bakery, she chose a round  cake that had flowers on top.

The guests put the gifts wrapped  in pretty paper on the table.

The many colorful balloons floating  near the ceiling created a festive mood.

Okay. Ready for another practice task? Make the  sentences clearer. Fix those misplaced modifiers.

The aquarium, filled with salt water, had  Clownfish and several other marine fish.

We admired the ballerinas dancing on stage.

The birds circling up in the sky must  have had a wingspan larger than my arm.

The flight attendant gave a blanket to the  passenger who had complained about the cold air.

My neighbor recommended a massage  therapist, a woman trained in reflexology.

This last group of commonly misplaced modifiers  are adverbs that focus on another word or restrict  

the meaning of another word. Be careful with the  adverbs "only" and "just." Place them before the  

word they modify. I'm sorry I wanted to help  only you. I didn't mean to make things worse.

Hint: Was I trying to help just one person  or was I trying to do just one thing?  

Move "only" to another position.

Here's the correction. I'm sorry. I only wanted  to help you. I didn't mean to make things worse.

Unclear wording can also happen with adverbs like  

"almost" and "nearly" or adverbs  of frequency like "rarely."

We failed to make the deadline nearly  because the internet connection was slow.

Hint: What almost happened, us failing to  make the deadline or the internet being slow?

Correction: We nearly failed to make the deadline  because the internet connection was slow.

Here's the final practice task. Be sure to  place the adverbs in the most logical position.  

A. Use "just" to emphasize that the  announcement took place only minutes ago.

The administration has just announced  that our budget will increase next year.

B. Use "almost" to limit the  number of jobs that have dangers.

There are certain dangers in almost every job.

C. Use "rarely" to explain that  riding your bike is convenient.

I'm rarely late when I ride my bike to work.

That's all for now. Please remember to like and  share the video if you found the lesson useful.  

And if you'd like to take learning beyond  my videos, consider joining me on Patreon,  

where I have an ongoing study program for high  intermediate and advanced students. As always,  

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