TACHS: Modifiers: put the description next to what it describes
Keep describing phrases next to the words they describe, so each revision says what the writer means.
How do I choose the revision that makes clear who did what?
Short answer
Find the describing phrase and decide who or what it describes. If it opens the sentence, that person or thing must come right after the comma. A word like only goes right before what it limits.
Know first: Subjects of sentences, Phrases built on *-ing* and *-ed* words
Step 1 of 5
An opening phrase describes the next noun
A modifier is a word or phrase that describes something. It belongs right next to the thing it describes. When it lands in the wrong place, the sentence says something the writer did not mean.
In Running for the bus, my backpack fell open, the sentence says the backpack was running. An opening phrase with no correct noun after it is a dangling modifier.
| Sentence | What it means |
|---|---|
| Only Rosa watered the ferns. | No one else watered them. |
| Rosa watered only the ferns. | She watered the ferns and no other plants. |
| Rosa only watered the ferns. | Unclear: she may have watered them and done nothing else to them. |
Put only right before the exact word it limits.
Step 2 of 5
Find who the phrase describes
Worked example: A heavy box
Intended meaning: Theo was carrying a heavy box when he climbed the stairs. Which revision clearly keeps that meaning?
- ACarrying a heavy box, the stairs seemed endless to Theo.
- BCarrying a heavy box, Theo climbed the stairs slowly.
- CCarrying a heavy box, the stairs were climbed by Theo.
- DThe stairs, carrying a heavy box, were steep for Theo.
- 1
Find the modifier
Carrying a heavy box is the opening phrase.
- 2
Ask who it describes
Theo is the one carrying the box.
- 3
Apply the comma test
Only B puts Theo right after the comma, so B is correct.
- 4
See why the other choices are there
A says the stairs carried the box. C keeps Theo but hides him in by Theo, so the noun after the comma is still the stairs. D wedges the phrase after the stairs, so the stairs carry the box again.
Answer
B. Carrying a heavy box, Theo climbed the stairs slowly.
Wrong: We saw a moose driving through the park.
Right: Driving through the park, we saw a moose.
At the end of the sentence, driving through the park sits next to moose. Moving it to the front, right before we, shows who was driving.
Step 3 of 5
Match each phrase to its noun
Check yourself · Question 1
Intended meaning: The goalie was soaked from the rain. Which revision clearly keeps that meaning?
Answer: A
The goalie was soaked, and in A she is the first noun after the comma.
Trap answer: Soaked from the rain, the gloves were wrung out by the goalie.
The doer hidden in a by-phrase
- Why it looks right
- The goalie is in the sentence, so it seems the phrase can find her.
- Why it's wrong
- The comma test only looks at the noun right after the comma. Here that is the gloves.
- The right answer
- Soaked from the rain, the goalie wrung out her gloves.
Check yourself · Question 2
Intended meaning: Marco read the first chapter and no other chapters. Which revision makes that clearest?
Answer: C
Only right before the first chapter limits which chapters he read.
Common mistake
Accepting a revision because the right person appears somewhere in it.
- Why it's tempting
- The sentence mentions the person who did the action, so the meaning seems to be there.
- Do this instead
- Position decides meaning. Check the noun right after the comma, or the word right after only.
Step 4 of 5
What to remember
Remember
- An opening phrase describes the first noun after its comma.
- A doer tucked into a by phrase does not fix a dangling modifier.
- Put only right before the exact word it limits.
Step 5 of 5
Practice on a real question
Use what you just learned on this question, then check the explanation.
Try another one
In your own words
In the practice question, who consulted the map, and which choice put that person right after the comma?