Modifiers

What is a modifier?

• A very confusing phrase

• A word, phrase, or clause that adds in extra information about another part of the sentence

• A grammatical mistake

• A misleading sentence

Which sentence contains a misplaced modifier?

• The Los Angeles police regretfully reported last month that three buildings had been robbed.

• According to news reports by the Los Angeles police last month, three buildings were robbed.

• Last month, the Los Angeles police reported that three buildings had been robbed.

• Three buildings were reported robbed by the Los Angeles police last month.

Which word is being modified?

• costume

• large

• cardboard

• original

Which word is being modified?
Linguistics, as I learned recently, is the study of languages.

• languages

• study

• learned

• linguistics

What type of modifier is the selected word in the following sentence? The huge turtle with the green shell blinked sleepily.

• adjective

• adverb

• prepositional phrase (adjective)

• prepositional phrase (adverb)

A(n) ___ is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies (or describes) another word and adds detail to a sentence.

• verb

• modifier

• adjective

• adverb

Is the prepositional phrase in the sentence an adjective or an adverb phrase?

Do you like swimming in the ocean?

• adjective

• adverb

Is the prepositional phrase in the sentence an adjective or an adverb phrase?

See the beach ball by the umbrella.

• adjective

• adverb

What is a dangling modifier?

• A) A modifier that is not clearly and logically related to the word it modifies

• B) A modifier that is placed at the end of a sentence

• C) A modifier that modifies two words simultaneously

• D) A modifier that is used in poetry

Identify the sentence with a dangling modifier.

• A) Running quickly, the finish line was crossed by John.

• B) The finish line was crossed by John running quickly.

• C) John, running quickly, crossed the finish line.

• D) Quickly running, John crossed the finish line.