What Are Sentence Modifiers?

A modifier is a word or group of words that describes something else in a sentence. It modifies another word, phrase or clause by adding more information and details. Modifiers add the information that answers how much, what kind, where, when, how often, why and how in sentences 

Learn about sentence modifiers including types of modifiers and their placement in this guide.

Then, conveniently review your grammar and spelling with the Originality.ai Grammar Checker.

What Does a Modifier Do in a Sentence?

Without modifiers, there would be very few details in writing, and it would be difficult to tell things apart. While one person might have a fast, blue car, and another might have a red car with a sun roof, without modifiers, both people would just have a car. 

Modifiers aren’t necessary in sentences. The only things needed for a complete sentence are a subject, a verb, and the expression of a complete thought. Yet, modifiers are essential in most types of writing because they enhance sentences with detail, add depth and clarity, and make writing more engaging. 

Sometimes, adjectives help define the exact meaning of a sentence. When they are removed, the meaning is changed or even lost. 

Removing the words that contribute to the specificity of a writer’s thought or expression can take away the intended meaning of a sentence — and its ability to engage a reader. 

Types of Modifiers

Modifiers are typically adjectives, adverbs, or other forms of speech acting as adjectives or adverbs. 

Adjectives

Adjectives describe, define, or qualify nouns (persons, places, or things). By modifying the nouns in a sentence, adjectives add layers of meaning. They might appear before or after the noun they are modifying.

• Quantitative adjectives: Add the “How many?” or “How Much?”
  
  • The car has four doors. 
• Qualitative adjectives: Add the details about “What kind?” 
  
  • The sports car has four doors.
• Possessive adjectives: Tell the reader, “Whose?”
  
  • His sports car has four doors. 
• Proper adjectives: When a proper noun is used as an adjective.
  
  • His Italian sports car has four doors. 
• Comparative and superlative: Describe the differences between two or more entities.
  
  • His sports car is faster than hers. 
  • Her sports car is the fastest of them all.

Some adjective types are specific words that modify a noun:

• Demonstrative adjectives: Answer “Which one? (this, that, these, those) 
• Interrogative adjectives: Ask a question (what, which, whose)
• Articles: Point out specificity (a, an, the)

When several modifiers are used to describe one noun, there is a specific order in which they should appear, according to what aspect of the noun they describe: quantity, quality, size, age, shape/color, origin, material, and purpose. 

Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and whole clauses. Most adverbs end in -ly. 

• They typically tell the reader more about the action in a sentence:
  
  • The coffee brewed quickly.
• They can modify other adverbs, too:
  
  • The coffee brewed unusually slowly. 
• Or they can modify adjectives:
  
  • That coffee tastes unusually bitter. 
• They can also form a phrase, an adverbial phrase, to modify a verb, adjective or adverb:
  
  • The coffee spilled with a great splash. 

In each of these examples, an adverb modifies an action (brewed, spilled) or an adjective (bitter).

Prepositional Phrases as Modifiers

Prepositional phrases can modify a noun or noun phrase by acting as an adjective: The coffee on the table is cold. 

“On the table” is a prepositional phrase, and it’s not necessary for the complete sentence, but it does add specificity. Which coffee is cold? The coffee on the table.

Prepositional phrases can also act as adverbs: The coffee dripped into the cup. “Into the cup” modifies the action and tells the reader how the coffee dripped.

Modifiers Must Be Placed Near What They Modify

The placement of a modifier is key to a reader’s understanding. When the modifier is too far from the entity it is describing or in a position that makes the relationship unclear, it causes confusion. 

When a reader is confused, or a message is unclear, reader engagement suffers. There are specific grammatical terms for these mistakes and strategies for avoiding them.

Misplaced modifier

When a modifier seems to relate to the wrong element in a sentence or is too far from what it describes, it is said to be misplaced. 

• Incorrect: Covered in maple syrup, the restaurant served pancakes for breakfast.
• Correct: The restaurant served pancakes for breakfast covered in maple syrup.

With the strange placement of the modifier, it sounds like the restaurant is covered in syrup, instead of the pancakes. To avoid this error, ensure the modifier and modified element have a clear relationship.

Dangling modifier

When a modifier isn’t modifying anything nearby, it’s said to be dangling. It’s not just modifying the wrong thing; it has nothing to modify.

• Incorrect: Having finished my coffee, my cup was empty.
• Correct: Having finished my coffee, I was left with an empty cup.

Here, the noun (or pronoun) being modified isn’t in the sentence. The modifier needs something to modify and will need to be rewritten to be corrected. To avoid this error, ensure the modifier is related to something in the sentence.

Squinting modifier

A squinting modifier appears between two words, making it unclear which one it modifies. 

• Incorrect: Drinking coffee quickly makes me nervous.
• Correct: When I drink coffee at a quick pace, I get nervous.

The confusion here is whether drinking coffee at a quick pace makes the person nervous or if drinking coffee at all makes the person nervous. The sentence can be clarified by changing the positioning and rewriting to reflect the intended meaning.

Modifiers Bring Sentences Alive

To make a complete sentence, a writer needs only a subject and a verb expressing a complete thought. But adding modifiers (in the right place) creates sentences that are specific, informative, clear, and engaging 

When in doubt about placement, the Originality.ai Grammar Checker can identify and correct modifier errors to make your writing shine. 

Learn more about grammar in our top resources:

• What Is an Ellipsis in Writing?
• What Are Collective Nouns? 40+ Collective Noun Examples
• What Are Irregular Verbs?
• What Are Antonyms? A Complete Guide