Is that really what you meant to say? (Misplaced modifier)

Sometimes we say things and they come out meaning something other than what we intended. The same thing can easily happen in writing.

As mentioned before, words have a lot of power. Part of that power is determining how we interpret what is being said. When words are organized poorly, a different interpretation of the sentence can be created than is actually meant. This is often the result of misplaced modifiers.


A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase or clause that doesn't point clearly and directly to what it's supposed to modify. Take this example from the Minneapolis Star Tribune's article "Hudson priest charged with stealing $10K."

The article starts off with the following:

The deposed pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Hudson, Wis., has been charged with stealing more than $10,000 from a parish charity account to feed his gambling addiction.

Now, being intelligent people, we can assume fairly easily that the meaning of this sentence is that the priest was stealing to fund his gambling addiction. The money he was stealing was from a parish charity account.

How the sentence is worded, though, muddles that meaning a little bit. By placing "to feed his gambling addiction" right after the mention of the account, without setting the two phrases off by a comma, the sentence seems to read that the priest was the stealing the money from a parish account created to feed his gambling addiction. Not at all what was meant.

Here are some ways to clarify the sentence:

 The deposed pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Hudson, Wis., has been charged with stealing more than $10,000, to feed his gambling addiction, from a parish charity account.

The deposed pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Hudson, Wis., has been charged with stealing more than $10,000 from a parish charity account in order to feed his gambling addiction.

 The deposed pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Hudson, Wis., has been charged with stealing more than $10,000 from a parish charity account, to feed his gambling addiction. 

All three ways make it obvious that the money the priest has been stealing is to feed his gambling addiction. There's no ambiguity or misplacement of the modifier that makes it sound like he was stealing from an account specifically set up to feed his gambling addiction.

To avoid confusion in your writing, read over what you've written to make sure that you're saying what you actually intend to say.


Walsh, Paul. "Hudson priest charged with stealing $10K." Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/local/east/119323764.html. 6 April 2011.