Good grammar and spelling can make or break an otherwise wonderful piece of writing. One common mistake is to misplace modifiers. What is a misplaced modifier? Simply put, it’s a word or phrase put in the wrong place in a sentence. It will make a sentence confusing and illogical. Take for example, this converstion:
Me: “This morning, I passed a horse on the way to work.”
You: “Where does the horse work?”
Me: “No, the horse wasn’t going to work, I was. A policeman was riding the horse directing cars.”
You: “So the horse was directing cars?”
Me: “No! The policeman was directing the cars on the horse.”
You: “How were the cars on the horse?”
Ridiculous, right? The modifiers should be placed as close to whatever they describe or give information about. Like this: “This morning, on my way to work, I passed a horse.” And so forth. Notice, too, how the modifying phrase is set apart by commas.
A good way to avoid this mistake is to read your sentences aloud before pressing that post button. It becomes apparent when our modifiers are misplaced and gives us the opportunity to restructure the sentence properly. Happy writing, and productive editing, my friends.
My friend yesterday was describing how he passed a kidney stone … I was wondering how you passed a horse … There was an old lady … who swallowed a fly … love it … so much potential …
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Right? The absurd! I left a comment on The Fall earlier, has it landed in your spam folder by chance? it would not be a surprise!
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I’m not sure. I’ll check it out. But I don’t remember seeing anything.
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I don’t have a comment from you on The Fall, Meg. I checked Spam, too. Nothing here. My IMac is in the computer hospital … and I’m working on the PC. Things have been going bump in the night on my computer!
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Oh dear! More mucking about with WordPress. They must be tweaking the software again.
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I think I have tweaked my IMac into Apple Heaven (or Hell). They are keeping it until Monday. I guess I’m going to need a new computer.
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I write on an iMac, too, can’t imagine switching to PC. Hope they can fix it!
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I am torn between buying a new IMac, converting to a Mac notebook, and going PC. I did all my multi media certificate work on a Mac, but used PC at the university in my working life. I prefer the Mac for art work, videos, and photos … but if nobody can see / access them anymore???
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Have you been using iCloud? All your photos and documents can be stored there and accessed via an device including the new iMac
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I haven’t, but I will be from now on. I have a back up hard drive (double, actually) plus most of my content is on USBs. I had lunch with an IT specialist from my writing group and when we get the lowdown on the Mac (due Monday) we’ll lay plans and he’ll help me set up my at home network.
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Perfect. Its nice to have friends with a particular set of skills!
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Yes indeed: the group shares many interests an skills and we all complement each other. We have great fun at our meetings.
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Grammar lessons with good Doctor, who is not nearly as dubious as the Divine Marquis, that other teacher in your school of creative writing. Thank you, though I always forget the very important rules and yet remember such crap as connect John Dee to Henry Green by five degrees of separation.
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Right. Only slightly dubious. Ha. the devil, however, is in the details and I believe the Divine Marquis would agree. I smack myself in the forehead sometimes, and tell myself to step back and look at the universe instead of the petri dish….
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The devil is the details.
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Yes.
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A very helpful grammar lesson. Thanks Meg.
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You are welcome, Deb! Glad you enjoyed!
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Upstate, in a few places here and there, the Pennsylvania Germans (often mistakenly referred to as “Dutch”) twist the language into quite delicious knots. “Up he called me and said…” George Lucas must have created Yoda after visiting Emmaus. “Advice you are giving today? Much needed it is.”
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Oh I hear ya! 😀 Thank you!
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These are easy to miss because we know what we mean! Grammarly does a decent job checking for misplaced modifiers. 🙂
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I had a free trial of Grammarly for a while but never purchased the full subscription. I should give it a go!
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I purchased the full version, Meg. But I think the free version is all most people will need. The add-ons didn’t add much and I probably won’t renew.
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Good to know! Thanks Diana!
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I’m certainly glad I can ply you with alcohol. You’d be smacking my knuckles all day long. 😊
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Hahaha! These are hard to miss unless you read out loud. I do it myself all the time. 😀
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Great pointers, Meg.
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Thanks, Daisy!
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Just this morning, my dad and I were talking about exactly this. 😀 Here’s one that made me fall off the chair laughing: She handed out brownies to children from the tupperware.
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Ah! That’s funny! It pays to read out loud!
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Great information! I know I am guilty of this at times, but it’s good to see something about it. Maybe now it will be at the front of my mind ..
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Thank you!
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Great tips (and quite entertaining too) ☺
Happy a Friday. Hope you’re well. 🌷
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Thanks, A! I’m doing well and hope you are, too!
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I’m well. I’ve been in great spirits today. After all it’s Friday! Whoohoo!!!! 😀
Hugs 🌷
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Maybe I’m a bitch, but grammar errors irk the hell out of me. I usually bail on a story/article/post if I start seeing grammar errors. Again, me = bitch, but I feel the same way about repeated spelling errors or incorrect words — loose when they mean lose… I see that all the time and I cringe… and move on.
I proofread my stuff so many times that by the final read-through, I’m sick of myself.
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I do the same thing. But I feel the same way about errors. Although, the longer I write the more forgiving I’m becoming (at least with blogging not so with publishing) especially if it’s the kind of typo that auto correct makes!
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Oh autocorrect is a whole different thing. I excuse that… You have to, really, because we gave no ducking control. 😉
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😂😂😂
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Funny and extremely succinct piece on misplaced modifiers. I’m planning on sharing on my site, ProofPerfectly.
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Thank you!
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Reblogged this on Proof Perfectly and commented:
Funny and pithy little blog on misplaced modifiers. Definitely worth a share–and a read.
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Seems like the horse has a stable career.
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Funny! Thanks!
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Reblogged this on Sheet & Ink and commented:
learning grammar is really very important. 🙂
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Thank you so much for reblogging. Glad you enjoyed!
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