The modifier in a sentence can make things as clear as mud, if used incorrectly. They can also provide some amusement.
Putting a modifier in the wrong place in a sentence can be confusing. It makes the meaning muddied and garbled and can have some hilarious results by mistake. These modifier mistakes have created some funny ads that have been passed all over the internet and email. By now everyone’s read the classified ad, “Mixing bowl set designed to please a cook with a round bottom for efficient beating.” That’s one of my personal favorites.
First we must define the word modifier. While the meaning may be obvious to some, I guarantee that it’s not to others. From the American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition, as shown on dictionary.com, a modifier is “(a) word or group of words that describes or limits a verb, noun, adjective, or adverb. Modifiers applied to nouns are adjectives. Modifiers applied to verbs or adjectives are adverbs. Those that are applied to adverbs themselves are also called adverbs.”
Now that we all know what a modifier is, in the grammatical sense, it is time to learn how to use one properly.
Correctly Using Noun Modifiers
Modifiers have their place either immediately before or after the noun. If you put it in the wrong place things can get real confusing. Either the wrong noun gets the modifier attached or there is no clear noun that is modified.
This is an example of how confusing it can be –
She finally got the car to start by pumping the gas pedal, which had been stuck for days.
What was stuck? Was it the gas pedal? That’s possible, but it was the car that was stuck. So if we moved the modifier to make the sentence clearer, it would look like this –
By pumping the gas pedal, she finally got the car to start, which had been stuck for days,.
Correctly Using Verb Modifiers
For verbs, modifiers aren’t as confusing. Technically, they don’t have to be as close as they do for noun modifiers. It does help with clarity, though, so it is safest when the verb modifiers are as close as possible to the verb.
You can basically tell the meaning of this sentence –
Stephanie threatened to leave him often.
That’s not horrible but if the modifier was put right before the verb, it would leave no doubt. This would be a bit clearer –
Stephanie often threatened to leave him.
Correctly Using Adverb Modifiers aka Adverbs
For those of us that are middle-aged, the word “adverb” may automatically start the song “Lollie, Lollie, Lollie, Get Your Adverbs Here” from School House Rock. Without getting into the depth the song goes into, we will be focused on their placement in a sentence.
Adverbs are not nearly as picky as to their location. Generally when they are in a sentence you can easily figure out what they are referring to. The following sentence is easy to follow, even though the adverb isn’t right next to the word it’s modifying –
Bob only had his hat, not his gloves.
That sentence is easy to follow, but it is formally not correct. The following sentence, while not any easier to follow, is correct –
Bob had only his hat, not his gloves.
Modifiers Help Clarity
While using modifiers correctly does help the clarity, it can lead to some amusing mess-ups. Here’s another one supposedly from a church bulletin, “For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.”
