The proper use of Modifiers

Modifiers are words or phrases that qualify the sense or meaning of other words.  In other words, they modify the meaning of words.

How about some examples.

Check out the following sentence.

 

Michael burst into tears.

 

This is a rather straight forward sentence with a straight forward meaning. Michael, the subject of this sentence, burst into tears.

Now, I will add a phrase at the beginning. See how it reads now:

 

Running after Carol, Michael burst into tears.

 

Notice what this does. It adds further information about the subject, in this case, Michael. We now know that Michael was running after Carol when he burst into tears.

Therefore, the phrase, ‘Running after Carol’ is a modifier. Yes, it modifiers the word Michael, describing it further.

A modifier, as I have already stated, can also be a single word. For example:

 

The huge man was flying the plane.

 

The word huge in the sentence above is a modifier because it describes or limits the meaning of the word ‘man’.

Having discussed this, let us look at three areas in which we should pay attention to the use of modifiers:

Absolute Modifiers

These modifiers describe qualities that are complete, or qualities that are absolute and whose sense cannot be limited or described any further than they are.  

One example of such is the word perfect. Check out the sentence below:

 

Mr. Smith is a perfect gentleman.

 

There is no way we can say that Mr. Smith is a very perfect gentleman. This quality of perfection is absolute and cannot be modified by the word ‘very’. ]

It follows therefore that comparative  and superlative modifiers such as ‘very’, ‘more’, ‘most’ cannot be used to modify these absolute words.

However, take note of the following sentences:

 

Mr. Smith is a nearly perfect gentleman.

Mr. Smith is almost a perfect gentleman.  

If you asked me about Mr. Smith, I would say he is scarcely perfect.

 

See how the absolute modifier perfect has itself been modified by the words nearly, almost and scarcely? Do you suppose that this usage is correct?

If you said yes, you are correct. These words slightly modify not the absolute quality itself, but the extent to which it is present or not present. It is either he is perfect or not; nearly perfect or quite perfect; but never very perfect or half-perfect.

 

Dangling Modifiers

When the word which a modifier is supposed to modify is either missing or not clearly defined, the modifier is said to be dangling.

For example:

 

Climbing the mango tree, a mosquito bit Melody.

 

In the sentence above, what is the meaning conveyed?

Why, isn’t it that it was the mosquito that was climbing the tree that bit Melody? Exactly.

But common sense tells us that obviously a mosquito cannot climb a tree. Therefore, the word which is supposed to be modified by the modifying phrase ‘climbing the mango tree’ is missing. Hence the modifier in this case is dangling.

Let us correct this, shall we?

 

While Melody was climbing the mango tree, she was bit by the mosquito.

 

See what we have done? Yes, we have supplied the missing word, and placed it just before the modifying phrase. This is a good way of solving problems with dangling modifiers.

 

Misplaced Modifiers

A modifier should always be placed as close as possible to the word it modifies. If it is placed too far, the meaning of the whole sentence my change. Notice that the modifier in this case does not dangle because the modified word is missing. Rather, it is simply put in the wrong place.  

Let us use a previous example to illustrate this. Remember this sentence?

 

 While Melody was climbing the mango tree, she was bit by the mosquito.

 

Now let us rewrite it like this:

 

Melody was bit by the mosquito climbing the mango tree.

 

The question now is who was climbing the mango tree? See how misplacing a modifier can alter the sense of a sentence?

Repositioning the modifier, we get the correct meaning:

 

Climbing the mango tree, Melody was bit by a mosquito.

 

Here is another one:

 

I tell you today I will pay you a visit.

 

The question is when will he pay you a visit? Today or sometime in future? It is hard to tell. But positioning the modifier ‘today’ in the right place, you can convey the exact meaning you want to:

Today, I tell you, I will pay you a visit.

Or

I tell you, I will pay you a visit today.

 

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Irksome stuff, modifiers, huh?

Don’t you worry an ounce. If you follow the basic rules I have outlined above, you will hardly misuse them.

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