Using Modifiers and Parentheticals
Put the modifier next to what it modifies
- A modifier attaches to whatever is nearest, whether or not you meant it to.
- She only reviewed the first report and She reviewed only the first report say different things.
- Misplacement is the commonest and quietest way a sentence says what you did not mean.
Choosing a modifier honestly
- Before keeping a descriptive word, ask whether you intend the perspective it carries.
- If you do, keep it and be ready to defend it with evidence.
- If you do not, replace it with one that only specifies.
A modifier attaches to...
That is why misplacement changes the claim without announcing it.
One parenthetical per paragraph
- A parenthetical creates emphasis by interrupting, and emphasis is relative.
- One well-placed interruption marks something; three in a paragraph mark nothing.
- Choose the single place where stopping the reader is worth it.
Several parentheticals in one paragraph increase emphasis.
Emphasis is relative — three interruptions in a paragraph mark nothing.
Keep a loaded modifier only if you ____ the perspective it carries.
If you do, be ready to defend it with evidence; if not, replace it.
A misplaced modifier changes the claim silently. "She only reviewed the first report" and "She reviewed only the first report" differ in what is being denied — and neither version announces that the other was available.
Which bracketing suits this material?
Match each parenthetical to the volume it needs.
Select all the bracketings and their volumes as this lesson gives them.
Quotation marks mark speech or a source, not a parenthetical's volume.
Which bracket to use
- Dashes make a parenthetical loud — the reader is stopped and told to notice.
- Commas make it quiet — the interruption is absorbed into the sentence.
- Parentheses rank the material as secondary, present but demoted.
Match each check to the fault it catches.
Three checks, three different ways a sentence escapes its writer.
A modifier pass
- Find each descriptive word: is the perspective it carries one you intend?
- Find each modifier: is it next to what it modifies?
- Find each parenthetical: is it the only one in its paragraph, and is its bracketing the right volume?
Meant: no other report was reviewed. Written: "She only reviewed the first report" — which denies that she did anything else to it. Fixed: "She reviewed only the first report." One word moved, and the sentence now denies what the writer meant to deny.
Place a modifier next to what it modifies — misplacement changes the claim silently. Keep a loaded modifier only if you intend its perspective. Use one parenthetical per paragraph, and choose its bracketing by volume: dashes loud, commas quiet, parentheses demoted.