| A modifier is a word or a phrase that describes or "modifies" another word or phrase. |
| Limiting Modifiers |
| A limiting modifier such as only, even, almost, hardly, nearly, and just should be placed in front of the word or words they modify. |
| Incorrect: Jason only wants to take one class this semester. |
| Correct: Jason wants to take only one class this semester. |
| Incorrect: The students almost spent two hours taking the test. |
| Correct: The students spent almost two hours taking the test. |
| Misplaced Modifier |
| A misplaced modifier is a modifier is separated from the word or words it modifies. |
| Incorrect: She took a walk on the pier wearing her new shoes. |
| Correct: Wearing her new shoes, she took a walk on the pier. |
| Dangling Modifier |
| A dangling modifier is a modifier that "dangles" from the beginning or the end of a sentence because the word it modifies does not appear in the sentence. |
| Incorrect: Diving in the ocean in search of dinner, we saw the pelican. |
| Correct: We saw the pelican diving in the ocean in search of dinner. |
| Modifier Quiz |