MISPLACED MODIFIERS
“Understanding Space”
Activator
What’s wrong with this picture?
Guided Questions
1. What’s wrong
with this
picture?
2. What’s wrong
with this
sentence?
3. How can we rewrite it
correctly?
Activator
What’s wrong with this picture?
ANSWER
Guided Questions
Q: What’s wrong with this
picture?
A: The bushes aren’t actually
running around, frightening
the person…the person was
actually frightened.
Q: What’s wrong with this
sentence?
A: The sentence has a a
misplaced modifier
Q: How can we re-write it
correctly?
A: Place the subject closer to
its modifier: “As I was
walking down the moonlit
path, the bushes were
WORK
SESSION
Mini-lesson
RULES OF THUMB FOR
DANGLING AND
MISPLACED MODIFIERS
Dangling Modifiers



are words or phrases which
“dangle” because they have
no word in the sentence to
describe:
While taking a shower, the
doorbell rang.
The doorbell was taking a
shower?
CHECKING FOR
UNDERSTANDING

What are dangling
modifiers?

Words or phrases
that dangle
because they have
no word in the
sentence to
describe
A Misplaced Modifier



is placed too close to
some other word that it
does not intend to modify:
I only speak one
language.
All you ever do is speak
one language?
Revise misplaced modifiers


by placing the modifier next to its
headword:
I speak only one language.
Misplaced/Dangling Modifier Organizer
Directions: revise the misplaced modifiers on the left side of the organizer by first
identifying the subject and its modifier (in red) then placing both next to each other in
the sentence.
Misplaced/Danglin Modifier (phrase
g Modifier
doing the
Sentence
describing)
Ex: “Covered in
onions and relish,
I ate my favorite
sandwich.”
The dog ate the
food with the
brown fur.
The woman
driving the car
wearing a bikini
sped through
town.
“Covered in
onions…”
Noun (the correct
person, place, or
thing being
described)
sandwich
“…with the brown
fur.”
dog
____________
____________
Revised Sentence
Covered in onions
and relish, the
sandwich I ate was
my favorite.
____________
____________
Work Period
Funny Misplaced Modifiers
Directions: Choose one sentence below to illustrate in
the form of a 1-scene comic strip.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
He served pancakes to the children on paper plates.
I saw a rabbit and a raccoon on the way to the airport.
He nearly brushed his teeth for ten minutes every night.
Having been thrown in the air, the dog caught the stick.
Smashed flat by a passing truck, Big Dog sniffed at what was left of a half-eaten
hamburger.
Sam screamed at the barking dog in his underwear.
Jeff bought an old jeep from a crooked dealer with a faulty transmission.
You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian composers, artists, and
writers are buried daily, except on Thursdays.
For those who have children and don’t know it, there is a daycare on the first floor.
Pizza was given to the teenagers that had pepperoni and olives on them.
Misplaced Modifier Comic Strip
Directions: choose one of the following examples of misplaced modifiers provided and illustrate it
in the box below. In the last box you will revise your sentence and draw an arrow from the modifier
to the subject it describes.
Funny Illustration (include dialogue bubbles)
“Sam screamed at the barking dog in his underwear.”
Revise Misplaced Modifier
In his underwear, Sam screamed at the barking dog.
Ticket Out the
Door
Answer today’s
Essential Question:
Where do we
typically find
modifiers in a
sentence?