Mastering stacked, misplaced and dangling modifiers is essential for clear sentence structure, precise syntax, and error-free English grammar writing. Modifiers are words, phrases, or clauses that expand, limit, or make otherwise more specific the meaning of other elements in a sentence. Although we can create sentences without modifiers, we often need the details and clarification they provide.
Without Modifiers: Production decreased.
With Modifiers: Automobile production decreased rapidly.
Most modifiers function as adjectives or adverbs. Adjectives describe qualities or impose boundaries on the words they modify: noisy machinery, ten automobiles, this printer, an animal, etc. An adverb modifies an adjective, another adverb, a verb, or an entire clause:
The brake pad showed much less wear under test conditions.
The redesigned brake pad lasted much longer.
The wrecking ball hit the wall of the building hard.
Surprisingly the motor failed even after all the durability and performance tests it had passed. Adverbs are intensifiers when they increase the impact of adjectives (very fine, too high) or adverbs (very slowly, rather quickly). Be cautious of using intensifiers; their overuse can lead to vagueness and hence to inaccuracy.
What Are Stacked Modifiers?
Stacked (or Jammed) modifiers are strings of modifiers preceding nouns that make writing unclear or difficult to read.
Stacked modifiers: Your staffing-level authorization reassessment plan should result in a major improvement.
The noun plan is preceded by three long modifiers, a string that forces the reader to slow down to interpret its meaning. Stacked modifiers are often the result of an overuse of buzzwords or jargon. See how breaking up the stacked modifiers makes the example easier to read.
Revised: Your plan for reassessing the staffing-level authorization should result in a major improvement.
Avoid long strings of modifiers or nouns, which can be hard to read and sometimes create ambiguity. Add a few words (especially prepositions and conjunctions) or rearrange the word order to make the relationships between nouns clear.
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| non-computer background personnel | personnel without backgrounds in computers |
| ad hoc reporting capability | ability to generate ad hoc reports |
| typical user interface problem | areas in which users typically have problems with the interface |
| long-range failure prevention program | long-range program for preventing failures |
| obsolete operator’s manual | operator’s manual that is obsolete/ manual for obsolete operators |
Be careful of stacked modifiers. When two or more modifiers appear before the same noun, the meaning of the phrase is usually clear only to the writer. Be especially careful of cases in which the first descriptor could modify either the second descriptor or the noun. For example, what exactly is a buried cable engineer?
Sometimes, these phrases are made clearer with hyphens that consolidate the modifiers into units. So, more-effective reports eliminates the ambiguity in more effective reports. More often, though, hyphens do not solve the problem.
What Is a Misplaced Modifier?
A misplaced modifier is a word or word group whose placement suggests that it modifies one word (phrase or clause) when it is intended to modify another.
Misplaced：George couldn’t drive to work in his small sports car with a broken leg. (The sports car had a broken leg?)
Correct：With a broken leg, George couldn’t drive to work in his small sports car. (George, not the sports car, had a broken leg.)
There are some tips to avoid misplaced modifiers.
1. Placing modifying words precisely
Limiting modifiers — such as almost, only, even, hardly, merely, nearly, exactly, scarcely, simply, and just — should always immediately precede the words they modify. A different placement will change the meaning of the sentence.
Nick just set up camp at the edge of town. (He did it just now.)
Just Nick set up camp at the edge of town. (He did it alone.)
Nick set up camp just at the edge of town. (His camp was precisely at the edge.)
When a limiting modifier is placed so that it is not clear whether it modifies a word before it or the one after it, it is called a squinting modifier.
Squinting Modifier: The life that everyone thought would fulfill her totally bored her.
To correct a squinting modifier, place the modifier so that it is clear which word it modifies.
Revised: The life that everyone thought would totally fulfill her bored her.
(Everyone expected her to be totally fulfilled.)
Revised: The life that everyone thought would fulfill her bored her totally.
(She was totally bored.)
2. Relocating misplaced phrases
Placing a modifying phrase incorrectly can change the meaning of a sentence or create an unclear or confusing (or even unintentionally humorous) construction. To avoid ambiguity, place phrases as close as possible to the words they modify.
Confusing: The woman picked up a heavy frying pan with arthritis（关节炎）.
Revised: The woman with arthritis picked up a heavy frying pan.
3. Revising intrusive modifiers
An intrusive modifier awkwardly interrupts a sentence, making it difficult to understand.
Revise when a long modifying phrase comes between an auxiliary verb and a main verb.
Confusing: She had, without giving it a second thought or considering the consequences, planned to enlist（参军）.
Revised: Without giving it a second thought or considering the consequences, she had planned to enlist.
Revise when an adverb phrase or clause comes between a subject and a verb (or between a verb and its object or complement).
Confusing: The election because officials discovered that some people had voted more than once, was contested.
Revised: The election was contested because officials discovered that some people had voted more than once.
Revise when a modifier creates an awkward split infinitive — that is, when a modifier comes between the word to and the base form of the verb.
Confusing: He hoped to quickly and easily defeat his opponent.
Revised: He hoped to defeat his opponent quickly and easily.
NOTE: A split infinitive is acceptable when the intervening modifier is short, especially if the alternative would be awkward or ambiguous: She expected to almost beat her previous record.
What Is a Dangling Modifier?
A modifier that opens a sentence must be followed immediately by the word it is meant to describe. Otherwise, the modifier is said to be dangling, and the sentence takes on an unintended meaning.
Dangling: While reading the newspaper, my dog sat with me on the front steps.
(Who is reading the newspaper?)
Revised: While reading the newspaper, I sat with my dog on the front steps.
Revised: While I was reading the newspaper, my dog sat with me on the front steps.
Dangling modifiers can be avoided by creating either a new subject or a dependent clause.
1. Creating a new subject
Dangling: While turning over the bacon, hot grease splashed my arm.
Revised: While turning over the bacon, I was splashed by hot grease.
Dangling: To impress the interviewer, punctuality is essential.
Revised: To impress the interviewer, you must be punctual.
2. Creating a dependent clause
Dangling: Escorted by dozens of police motorcycles, I knew the limousine carried someone important.
Revised: Because the limousine was escorted by dozens of police motorcycles, I knew it carried someone important.
Dangling: To implement a plus/ minus grading system, all students were polled.
Revised: Before a plus/ minus grading system was implemented, all the students were polled.
Key Takeaways
- Modifiers expand, limit, or clarify the meaning of other elements in a sentence as adjectives or adverbs.
- Stacked modifiers create long strings of words or nouns before a noun, causing confusion and ambiguity.
- Misplaced modifiers are placed incorrectly, making it seem like they modify the wrong word or phrase.
- Dangling modifiers open a sentence without immediately preceding the word they are meant to describe.
- Avoid errors by rearranging word order, creating new subjects, or writing clear dependent clauses.
Quick Practice
Test your understanding of stacked, misplaced, and dangling modifiers by rewriting this sentence correctly in the comments below: "Walking to the store, the rain started to fall heavily."
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a stacked modifier?
Stacked or jammed modifiers are strings of descriptive words or nouns preceding a noun that make writing unclear, confusing, or difficult to read.
How do you fix a misplaced modifier?
You fix a misplaced modifier by placing the modifying word, phrase, or clause as close as possible to the exact word it is intended to modify.
What is the difference between a misplaced modifier and a dangling modifier?
A misplaced modifier is in the wrong place within the sentence, while a dangling modifier fails to describe any logical subject in the sentence at all.