Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021
Place phrases and clauses so that readers can see what they modify
Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers
Clarity
Although phrases and clauses can appear at some distance from the words they modify, make sure your meaning is clear. When phrases or clauses are oddly placed, absurd misreadings can result.
MISPLACED |
The soccer player returned to the clinic where he had undergone emergency surgery in 2019 in a limousine sent by Adidas. |
REVISED |
Traveling in a limousine sent by Adidas, the soccer player returned to the clinic where he had undergone emergency surgery in 2019. |
The revision corrects the false impression that the soccer player underwent emergency surgery in a limousine.
Occasionally the placement of a modifier leads to an ambiguity — a squinting modifier. In such a case, two revisions will be possible, depending on the writer’s intended meaning.
AMBIGUOUS |
The animal shelter at which we volunteered occasionally held adoption events on Saturdays. |
It’s not clear what happened occasionally, the volunteering or the adoption events. Both revisions eliminate the ambiguity.
CLEAR |
The animal shelter at which we occasionally volunteered held adoption events on Saturdays. |
CLEAR |
The animal shelter at which we volunteered held adoption events occasionally on Saturdays. |