Mekita Rivas, SNR communications associate, publishes a biweekly feature called "Grammar Guru."
Every other week, the Grammar Guru will share writing tips to help make your work as polished as possible. Some of these tips may address common spelling errors, while others will examine the many nuances of the English language.
Grammar Guru Tip #13
Of all the writing errors you can make, misplaced modifiers are among the most likely to confuse your readers. A modifier is a group of words that describes another word (or words) in a sentence. When misplaced in the sentence, the modifier ends up describing the wrong word (or words).
Example:
NOT: He served pizza to the children on paper plates. (This sentence suggests that the kids were all perched on top of paper plates.)
BUT: He served pizza on paper plates to the children.
NOT: Covered in chocolate, she devoured the cake. (This sentence suggests that she – not the cake – is covered in chocolate.)
BETTER: Covered in chocolate, the cake was devoured by her. (In this sentence, the words "the cake" follow the modifying phrase "covered in chocolate," which is grammatically correct. However, the sentence employs the passive voice, which is often frowned upon in writing.)
BEST: She devoured the cake that was covered in chocolate. (There are other ways this sentence could be written, but the point is to be careful with introductory statements because they often result in misplaced modifiers.)
Need some grammar guidance? The UNL Style Guide (http://unlcms.unl.edu/ucomm/styleguide/) is a great resource for all university employees. If you have writing questions that the style guide doesn't answer, feel free to email the Grammar Guru at mrivas@unl.edu.