ACT English : Modifier Placement Errors
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Example Questions
Example Question #141 : Modifier Placement Errors
Unlike most other plants, chlorophyll is not used by Monotropa uniflora. Instead, Monotropa uniflora is a parasitic plant that gets its energy from other plants.
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose “NO CHANGE.”
NO CHANGE
no chlorophyll exists in Monotropa uniflora.
the use of chlorophyll does not occur in Monotropa uniflora.
Monotropa uniflora does not use chlorophyll.
Monotropa uniflora does not use chlorophyll.
Here, we have to make sure that the phrase “Unlike most other plants” is modifying the right subject. The way the sentence is currently phrased, “Unlike most other plants” is describing the word “chlorophyll"; however, the sentence should really make a comparison between “other plants” and “Monotropa uniflora.” We can fix this by moving the words “Monotropa uniflora” so that they are next to the modifying phrase. The best way to do this would be to write, “Unlike most other plants, Monotropa uniflora does not use chlorophyll.”
Example Question #142 : Modifier Placement Errors
This morning, I went for a walk in the woods. Pausing for a moment to tie my shoes, a tiny green snake wiggled across the path in front of me.
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose “NO CHANGE.”
NO CHANGE
the path held a tiny green snake wiggling across in front of me
I saw a tiny green snake wiggle across the path in front of me.
in front of me, a tiny green snake wiggled across the path.
wiggling across the path, I saw a tiny green snake in front of me.
I saw a tiny green snake wiggle across the path in front of me.
The way this sentence is currently worded, it sounds like it was the snake which “paused for a moment to tie [the narrator's] shoes”. We need to rephrase the underlined part so that the modifying phrase “Pausing for a moment to tie my shoes” describes the correct subject, “I.” By rephrasing the sentence to put the word “I” right next to the modifier phrase, we give the sentence the sense that it's supposed to have.
Example Question #143 : Modifier Placement Errors
David's parents own a paint shop. There, they sell paint to homeowners of all different colors and finishes. They can even blend new colors of paint for special needs.
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose “NO CHANGE.”
they sell, to homeowners of all different colors and finishes, paint.
they sell paint of all different colors and finishes to homeowners.
NO CHANGE
paint is sold to homeowners of all different colors and finishes.
they sell paint of all different colors and finishes to homeowners.
Here, the way the sentence is currently written, it sounds like it is the homeowners that come in “all different colors and finishes”; however, this phrase should really describe the paint. We should rephrase the sentence so that the phrase “of all different colors and finishes” comes directly after the word “paint.”
Example Question #141 : Modifier Placement Errors
Though I was part of the army during the Algerian War, my position as a military doctor kept me relatively safe. Yet I saw many terrible injuries working in my makeshift operating hall.
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose “NO CHANGE.”
working in my makeshift operating hall, many terrible injuries were exposed to my sight.
working in my makeshift operating hall, I saw many terrible injuries.
I saw many terrible injuries that worked in my makeshift operating hall.
NO CHANGE
working in my makeshift operating hall, I saw many terrible injuries.
Here, because the phrase “working in my makeshift operating hall” is next to the word “injuries,” it sounds like it was the injuries that worked in the operating hall; however, this phrase should really describe the doctor who is the narrator. So, we should rewrite the sentence to put the phrase “working in my makeshift operating hall” right next to the word “I.”
Example Question #1962 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
My first year in San Francisco, I often met up with a friend of mine to stroll around the city. One day, seeing a hawk fly by above, my friend remarked that there was still wildlife to be found in the city, if one knew where to look.
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose “NO CHANGE.”
my friend remarked about wildlife, seeing a hawk fly by above, that it could still be found in the city
my friend remarked that in the city, one could still find wildlife, seeing a hawk fly by above,
NO CHANGE
seeing a hawk fly by above, the city showed my friend that there was still wildlife to be found
my friend remarked that there was still wildlife to be found in the city, seeing a hawk fly by above,
NO CHANGE
This sentence is correct as written. The modifying phrase “seeing a hawk fly by above” is meant to describe the friend, and it does, because the words “my friend” are right next to that phrase. The other answer choices are not correct because each of them moves the modifying phrase or the words “my friend” so that they are no longer next to each other, as they are supposed to be.
Example Question #104 : Correcting Modifier Placement Errors
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
The runner was the third person only from his home country to win a medal at the games.
the third person from only his home country
the third person only from his home country
only the third person from his home country
the third person from his home country only
the only third person from his home country
only the third person from his home country
The use of "only" in the sentence is confusing, and makes it unclear what is being modified by the adjective. The word can be better used by placing it at the front of the underlined phrase to show the subject was the third person from the country; therefore, the correct answer choice is "only the third person from his home country."
Example Question #42 : Misplaced Or Interrupting Modifier Errors
There once was a shepherd boy whom sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. He was hot and exhausted fanning himself, rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down. On top of that, he had never been so bored before.
To amuse himself, he decided to play a joke. He put his hands around his mouth and yelled in a loud voice, "Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is chasing the sheep!”
They came running. They asked the boy, “What’s going on? Did you yell ‘A wolf is chasing the sheep?’ ”
The boy laughed. “It was just a joke, everyone.”
The people fumed, but they all returned to their homes.
The next day, the boy bored again decided to amuse himself again. He bellowed, “Wolf! Wolf!”
Again, the townspeople came running. Once they arrived and witnessed the laughing boy, they realized they’d been tricked a second time. Nonetheless, they returned home and irritated resolved to never fall for the trick again for third time.
The next day, the boy was watching his sheep. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a wolf appeared from behind the bushes. With its teeth bared, the boy cowered as the wolf approached the sheep. Terrified, he called, “Help! A wolf! A wolf is here!”
The people ignored his cries. “That mischievous boy,” they all said to one another. “He must think he can fool us again.” But not one of them came running.
No one was there to witness as the wolf ate every last sheep on the hillside, as the boy helplessly cowered behind a bush. As the boy hid, he shook his head. “I shall never fib again,” he resolved to himself.
What is the best alternative for the underlined sentence: "With its teeth bared, the boy cowered as the wolf approached the sheep"?
With its teeth bared, the wolf approached the sheep as the boy cowered.
With bared teeth the boy cowered as the wolf the sheep approached.
Its teeth was bared as the wolf approached the sheep and the boy was cowering as it did so.
With his teeth bared, the boy cowered as the wolf approached the sheep.
NO CHANGE
With its teeth bared, the wolf approached the sheep as the boy cowered.
In the original sentence, the boy is the subject of the sentence, so the phrase "with its teeth bared" would be a modifier for him. The author was intending to use this phrase to describe the wolf, so one has to choose an option in which the phrase clearly modifies the wolf. In "With its teeth bared, the wolf approached...," the wolf is the subject of the sentence, so the modifier applies correctly.
The sentence, "With bared teeth the boy cowered as the wolf the sheep approached" does not fix the modifier, and it is confusing to read without a comma setting off the prepositional phrase, "with bared teeth." The sentence, "Its teeth was bared as the wolf approached the sheep and the boy was cowering as it did so," is needlessly wordy. The sentence, "With his teeth bared, the boy cowered as the wolf approached the sheep" still has a misplaced modifier, and now that "his" is added, it is significantly more confusing.
Example Question #142 : Modifier Placement Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
After studying for the past two weeks, passing the Algebra test didn't seem a real challenge for Jennifer.
she didn't find passing the Algebra test real challenging
it was passing the test that did not seem challenging to Jennifer
NO CHANGE
a challenge that faced Jennifer was passing the Algebra test
Jennifer didn't find passing the Algebra test to be a real challenge
Jennifer didn't find passing the Algebra test to be a real challenge
Modifying phrases at the beginning of the sentence should be correctly anchored. The only logical anchor for this modifying phrase is "Jennifer." All of the other choices would created a misused modifier.
Example Question #451 : Phrase, Clause, And Sentence Errors
Passage adapted from Stephen Leacock, The Dawn of Canadian History: A Chronicle of Aboriginal Canada (1915)
When the Europeans came to this continent at the end of the fifteenth century they already found it inhabited by races of men very different from themselves. These people, whom they took to calling "Indians," were spread out, though very thinly, from one end of the continent to the other. Who were these nations, and how was their presence to be accounted for?
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded and underlined portion of the passage. If the bolded and underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
they found, already, that it was inhabited by races of men
they found already that it was inhabited by races of men
NO CHANGE
they found it already inhabited by races of men
they found it already inhabited by races of men
Although adverbs are fairly fluid in terms of position, in this case, placing the adverb "already" directly before the verb "found" makes the sentence mean "found at some point prior to some other specified time." However, there is no other time specified--only the "when" of the Europeans' coming and finding the inhabitants of the continent. As written, then, the sentence bears the nonsensical meaning, "they found it before they found it."
Moving "already" to modify "inhabited," on the other hand, makes the sentence mean "the land was lived in (by others) before the Europeans found it," which is not problematic.
Example Question #148 : Modifier Placement Errors
Passage adapted from G. K. Chesterton, "The Wrath of the Roses," in Alarms and Discursions (1910)
The position of the rose among flowers is like that of the dog among animals. It is not so much that both are domesticated as that we have some dim feeling that they were always domesticated. There are wild roses and there are wild dogs. I do not know the wild dogs; wild roses are very nice. But nobody ever thinks of either of them if the name is abruptly mentioned in a conversation or a poem. On the other hand, there are tame tigers and tame cobras, but if one says, "I have a cobra in my pocket," or "There is a tiger in the music-room," the adjective "tame" has to be somewhat added hastily. If one speaks of beasts one thinks first of wild beasts; if of flowers one thinks first of wild flowers.
But there are two great exceptions caught so completely into the wheel of man's civilization, entangled so unalterably with his ancient emotions and images, that the artificial product seems more natural than the natural. The dog is not a part of natural history, but of human history; and the real rose grows in a garden. All must regard the elephant as something tremendous, but tamed; and many, especially in our great cultured cities, regard every bull as presumably a mad bull. In the same way we think of most garden trees and plants as fierce creatures of the forest or morass taught at last to endure the curb.
But with the dog and the rose this instinctive principle is reversed.
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded and underlined portion of the passage. If the bolded and underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
NO CHANGE
has to be added, somewhat, hastily
has to hastily be somewhat added
has to be somewhat hastily added
has to be somewhat hastily added
Both "somewhat" and "hastily" are adverbs. Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Here, however, only the adverb "hastily" can modify the verb "added," since it doesn't make sense to talk about an adjective being "somewhat" added to a noun. Therefore, the best option is to make the adverb "somewhat" modify the adverb "hastily" by placing it directly in front of it, yielding the meaning "rather quickly."
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