IXL | Are the modifiers used correctly? | 10th grade language arts

Which sentence is correct?

Poised at the piano, the first few notes of Marcy's performance captivated the audience.

Poised at the piano, Marcy captivated the audience with the first few notes of her performance.

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question

Which sentence is correct?

Gently brushing away the layers of sediment, the contours of the dinosaur fossil were revealed.

Gently brushing away the layers of sediment, the archaeologist revealed the contours of the dinosaur fossil.

key idea

A modifier is a word or phrase that modifies, or describes, another word or phrase.

A misplaced modifier is a modifier that appears to modify the wrong word or phrase because it is too far from the word or phrase that it should modify.

Winston saw monkeys and peacocks on vacation in India.

This sentence has a misplaced modifier. It wrongly suggests that the monkeys and peacocks were on vacation.

On vacation in India, Winston saw monkeys and peacocks.

This sentence correctly suggests that Winston was on vacation.

A dangling modifier is a modifier that appears to modify the wrong word or phrase because the word or phrase that it should modify is missing from the sentence.

Trying to fall asleep, the sheets felt uncomfortably hot.

This sentence has a dangling modifier. It wrongly suggests that the sheets were trying to fall asleep.

Trying to fall asleep, I felt uncomfortably hot in the sheets.

This sentence correctly suggests that I was trying to fall asleep.

solution

The first sentence has a dangling modifier. Because the modifier gently brushing away the layers of sediment is adjacent to the contours of the dinosaur fossil, this sentence wrongly suggests that the contours of the dinosaur fossil were gently brushing away the layers of sediment.

Gently brushing away the layers of sediment, the contours of the dinosaur fossil were revealed.

The second sentence is correct because gently brushing away the layers of sediment is adjacent to the archaeologist, which is what it should modify.

Gently brushing away the layers of sediment, the archaeologist revealed the contours of the dinosaur fossil.

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JJ.2Select the misplaced or dangling modifier

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