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Chapter 3 of 10All chapters

Chapter 3 of 10

Modifiers

Next to what they describe.

Dangling and misplaced

An opening phrase attaches to the subject that follows. Walking to the station, the rain started makes the rain do the walking. The fix is naming the right subject.

  • Check that any -ing opening matches the subject of the main clause.
  • Only, just, almost and even should sit beside what they limit.

Squinting modifiers

A word placed between two things it could modify creates ambiguity: reading quickly improves comprehension. Move it, or restructure.