Misplaced Modifiers Practice Worksheet

Explanation:
We are given 20 sentences and asked to label each as C (correctly placed modifier) or MM (misplaced modifier). A misplaced modifier is a word or phrase that doesn’t clearly connect to the word it’s supposed to describe — making the sentence confusing or illogical.

Let’s go one by one:

1. *The man was stopped for speeding in the blue sweater.*
→ “in the blue sweater” seems to modify “speeding”, but you don’t speed *in* a sweater — you wear the sweater. It should modify “the man”. So it’s misplaced. → MM

2. *I almost saw the whole movie, but I fell asleep around midnight.*
→ “almost” modifies “saw”, meaning you didn’t quite see the whole movie — which makes sense with falling asleep. Correct placement. → C

3. *Joe promised to mow the lawn running out the door.*
→ “running out the door” sounds like Joe mowed the lawn *while* running out the door — impossible. Should be “as he ran out the door” or similar. Misplaced. → MM

4. *The initials were those of the lovers carved on the tree.*
→ “carved on the tree” should modify “initials”, not “lovers”. As written, it sounds like the *lovers* were carved on the tree. Misplaced. → MM

5. *There are only two parking spaces left in the lot.*
→ “in the lot” correctly modifies “parking spaces”. Clear and logical. → C

6. *Every four hours the doctor told him to take a pill.*
→ “Every four hours” modifies “told”, suggesting the doctor tells him every 4 hours — but the intended meaning is he should *take* the pill every 4 hours. Misplaced. Better: “The doctor told him to take a pill every four hours.” → MM

7. *Sitting on the porch, I smoked my last cigarette.*
→ “Sitting on the porch” correctly modifies “I” — *I* was sitting. Logical. → C

8. *The woman walked toward us wearing the feather hat.*
→ “wearing the feather hat” modifies “the woman” — she’s the one wearing it. Correct. → C

9. *The jet crashed into a cliff carrying 155 passengers.*
→ “carrying 155 passengers” seems to modify “cliff” — cliffs don’t carry passengers! Should modify “jet”. Misplaced. → MM

10. *I hardly ate any breakfast.*
→ “hardly” modifies “ate” — meaning I ate almost nothing. Correct. → C

11. *I watched the mechanic fix the car with admiration.*
→ “with admiration” could be misread as the mechanic fixing *with admiration*, but context suggests *I* watched with admiration. Still, it's ambiguous — technically a misplaced modifier because it’s closer to “fix the car”. Standard grammar rule: place modifiers next to what they modify; here, it should be “I, with admiration, watched…” or “I watched… admiringly.” So considered MM in strict grammar exercises.

12. *I earn fifty dollars a week scarcely.*
→ “scarcely” should modify “earn”, but it’s at the end — sounds like “fifty dollars a week” is scarce, not the earning. Better: “I scarcely earn fifty dollars a week.” So misplaced. → MM

13. *Reaching into the cupboard, I found the bag of cookies.*
→ “Reaching into the cupboard” modifies “I” — I was reaching when I found them. Correct. → C

14. *We borrowed a mower from a neighbour that was broken.*
→ “that was broken” seems to modify “neighbour” — implying the neighbour was broken! Should modify “mower: “a broken mower” or “a mower that was broken”. Misplaced. → MM**

15. *Climbing up the telephone pole, we saw a squirrel.*
→ Sounds like *the squirrel* was climbing — but it’s *we* who climbed? Unlikely. Usually, this is a classic misplaced modifier: “we” didn’t climb the pole; the squirrel did (or maybe no one climbed). Ambiguous, but standard teaching says this is MM — should be “As we watched, a squirrel climbed…” or “We saw a squirrel climbing…” → MM

16. *Mel, running rapidly, disappeared around the bend.*
→ “running rapidly” modifies “Mel” — clear and correct. → C

17. *The cat was rescued after the building had been set on fire by a fireman.*
→ “by a fireman” seems to modify “set on fire”, which is okay — but the sentence structure makes it sound like the fireman set the building on fire (not rescued the cat). Actually, the rescue was done *by* the fireman, but the phrase “by a fireman” is attached to “set on fire”, creating ambiguity. Better: “The cat was rescued by a fireman after the building had been set on fire.” So as written, it’s misplaced. → MM

18. *We've almost found all the pieces to the puzzle.*
→ “almost” modifies “found”, meaning we’re close to finding all — makes sense. Correct. → C

19. *She vowed on her birthday to go on a diet.*
→ “on her birthday” modifies “vowed” — she made the vow *on* her birthday. That’s fine. Not modifying “go on a diet” (she didn’t go on the diet *on* her birthday necessarily — but the vow happened then). Acceptable and common usage. → C

20. *We need gas badly.*
→ “badly” modifies “need” — we need gas *badly* (urgently). Correct adverb placement. → C

Now let’s list all answers in order:

1. MM
2. C
3. MM
4. MM
5. C
6. MM
7. C
8. C
9. MM
10. C
11. MM
12. MM
13. C
14. MM
15. MM
16. C
17. MM
18. C
19. C
20. C

Double-check #11: Many style guides consider “I watched the mechanic fix the car with admiration” ambiguous, and in standardized grammar tests, this is marked MM because the modifier is too far from its noun and could attach to “fix the car”.

#15 is a classic MM example taught in schools.

All others seem solid.

Final Answer:
MM, C, MM, MM, C, MM, C, C, MM, C, MM, MM, C, MM, MM, C, MM, C, C, C