Modifiers
From TechWriter Wiki
Modifiers are words or phrases that describe or otherwise relate to other words or phrases in a sentence. They can be adjectives, adverbs, or prepositional phrases. This is best explained by way of some examples, where the modifier is shown in italics, and the phrase being modified is underlined:
- The user manual is of an excellent quality (adjective)
- The Board eventually came to a decision (adverb)
- Loosen the retaining bolt to the left of the access hatch (prepositional phrase)
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Dangling modifiers
A modifier is said to 'dangle' if the thing being modified is either missing from the sentence, or of the modifier is not close enough to the thing being modified to be immediately related to it.
Examples:
| Incorrect | Correct |
|---|---|
| After investigating the issue, the decision was made to replace the main circuit board. (Who investigated the issue?) | After investigating the issue, the engineer decided to replace the main circuit board. |
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Misplaced modifiers
A modifier is considered to be 'misplaced' if it does not appear in the correct place in a sentence. This can cause the sentence to be misinterpreted.
Examples:
| Incorrect | Correct |
|---|---|
| A program for automatically checking packets has been written by the development team for the inbound interface. (Implies that there is a development team specifically for the inbound interface, or that all (inbound and outbound) packets are checked by the program.) | A program for automatically checking packets received by the inbound interface has been written by the development team. |
| More grease should be applied to the left side than the right side of the spin-wheel. | More grease should be applied to the left side of the spin-wheel than the right side. (If a modifier refers to two nouns it should be placed closest to the first noun.) |
