Glossary
modifier
A modifier is a word or phrase that describes another word, and it belongs as close as possible to the word it describes.
A modifier is a word or phrase whose job is to describe, limit or qualify another word: an adjective describing a noun, an adverb describing a verb, a phrase or clause adding detail about what or when. The rule that carries the marks is placement — a modifier attaches itself to whatever is nearest it, so it belongs as close as possible to the thing it describes. The nurse gave the chart to the patient with a red cover says the patient has a red cover, whatever the writer intended. A misplaced modifier sits in the wrong place and describes the wrong word; a dangling modifier has no word to attach to at all, usually because the noun it was meant to describe was left out of the main clause: After taking the pill, the pain stopped implies the pain took the pill. Find what the modifier describes, and if it is not there, name the noun and rewrite.
Taught in
Related terms
- dangling modifier — A dangling modifier is a descriptive phrase left with nothing in the sentence to describe — its intended subject is missing, so the sentence says something absurd.
- phrase — A phrase is a group of related words that works as one part of speech and has no subject-verb pair of its own.
- clause — A clause is a group of words with its own subject and verb; an independent clause can stand as a sentence, a dependent one cannot.
- predicate adjective — A predicate adjective is an adjective after a linking verb that describes the subject, as in "the dressing was loose", and it takes no object.
Source: The grammar guide in this course, whose conventions follow the US Government Publishing Office's Style Manual for standard written American English, with standard grammar references for agreement, case, tense and sentence structure. The GPO manual is US federal government material, not subject to copyright in the United States. Every definition and example above was written for this course; no reference text is reproduced. (GPO Style Manual accessed 2026-10-27; definitions written 2026-10-27)