Misplaced Modifiers

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The word modify means to change or improve, and modifiers in a sentence do just that by adding details or explanations. Modifiers can be words, phrases, or clauses.

A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of a sentence that DOES NOT correctly modify the adjacent noun. The ACT frequently asks questions that test your knowledge of sentence structure and focus on misplaced modifiers. There are a few common types you should be familiar with.

 Participle Phrases

A participle is a verb ending in -ing (present tense) or -ed (past tense) that acts like an adjective or adverb. (Gerunds also end in -ing, but they act like nouns)

A participle phrase is a phrase that describes or modifies a subject and starts with a participle.

Take, for example, the following sentence:

🚫 While walking down the road, the big red truck caught the boy’s eye.  

At first glance, it may not seem like this sentence contains an error. In fact, you probably hear several dangling participles like this in normal conversation every day. Remember, though, conversational English is not the same as written English. Let’s take a closer look:

Example	Explanation
While walking down the road,	This is a participle phrase A participle phrase should modify/describe the VERY NEXT noun. In this case, ask yourself:  Who is walking down the road?
the big red truck caught the boy’s eye.	The VERY NEXT noun is truck.  We know that trucks don’t walk, but the boy can! This sentence must be revised.

Now, let’s look at a revised version of this sentence.

Example	Explanation
✅ While walking down the road, the boy saw the big red truck.	The participle phrase is:  While walking down the road The subject is: the boy The participle modifies the correct subject!

  Prepositional Phrases

A preposition is a word that helps specify/describe when something happens, where something is, or how something happens.
A prepositional phrase is a phrase that modifies where, when, or how a subject does something. It consists of a preposition, its object, and whatever word or words modify the object. Misplaced prepositional phrases often lead to a lack of clarity in writing. For example:

🚫 Sophia reminded me about soccer practice on the bus. 

As with the previous example, you might not immediately notice anything wrong with this sentence. However, when we look closely, we can see the error.

Example	Explanation
Sophia reminded me about soccer practice	This is the part of the sentence that will be modified by the prepositional phrase.
on the bus.	This is the prepositional phrase. The placement of this phrase leads to two possible meanings: Soccer practice is taking place on the bus. Sophia reminded me when we were on the bus.

Obviously, the first possibility seems ridiculous. However, the sentence needs to be revised to avoid confusion.

Example	Explanation
✅ On the bus, Sophia reminded me about soccer practice.	Moving the prepositional phrase to the beginning of the sentence clearly indicates that it is not modifying “soccer practice” but is specifying when/where Sophia reminded me.

  Infinitives

An infinitive is the basic form of the verb and almost always has to in front of it.

• to sleep
• to eat

An infinitive phrase is a phrase that modifies/describes a subject and starts with an infinitive. Here is an example:

🚫 To write a good paper, research is essential. 

Again, if you heard someone say this, you might not be confused, but let’s take a closer look.

Example	Explanation
To write a good paper,	An infinitive phrase should modify/describe the correct noun or action.  In this case, ask yourself: Who is writing the paper?
research is essential.	This clause makes it sound like research is writing the paper.  This sentence MUST be revised.

The sentence will need to be revised, as in the following.

Example	Explanation
✅ To write a good paper, one must do research.	The infinitive phrase is: To write a good paper The subject is: one The infinitive phrase modifies the correct subject.

How Will the Test Try to Trick You?
The test will attach a variety of misplaced modifiers to a variety of subjects.	Incorrect 🚫	Correct  ✅
	In the following sentence, At the age of two is a prepositional phrase that modifies the subject father. At the age of two, his father took him to the US.   The modifier and subject DON’T match because no one can be a father at the age of two!	The modifier needs to be reworded so it is clear what noun is being modified.  At the age of two, the child was taken to the US by his father.   The sentence could also be corrected by changing the subject and rewording the second clause. When the child was two, his father took him to the US.

Tips and Strategies

Identify the modifier (participle, prepositional, or infinitive phrase) and the subject it modifies in the given sentence (underlining or circling them might help). Ask yourself if the modifier is describing the correct subject (the adjacent noun).  If not, determine how to best fix the sentence.