Modifiers and Parenthetical Elements: Study Guide (English Language 8.6)

What modifiers do

In Topic 7.3 you met modifiers as tools for limiting the scope of a claim. This topic looks at them as a matter of sentence construction. A modifier is any word, phrase or clause that qualifies, clarifies or specifies information about the thing it is associated with.

Consider the bare sentence “The council approved the plan.” Each addition below modifies something.

• “The county council approved the plan.” (a word that specifies which council)
• “The council approved the revised plan.” (a word that specifies which plan)
• “The council unanimously approved the plan.” (a word that qualifies how it approved)
• “The council approved the plan for the new library.” (a phrase that specifies the plan)
• “The council approved the plan that residents had requested.” (a clause that specifies the plan)

Every one of these changes what the reader understands. A modifier is never “just extra”; it either narrows, describes or clarifies.

Keep modifiers close to what they modify

The key rule from the course is simple: to reduce ambiguity, a modifier should be placed closest to the word, phrase or clause that it is meant to modify. When it is not, readers may attach it to the wrong thing.

Problem	Example	Why it confuses	Repair
Misplaced modifier	“She served sandwiches to the guests on paper plates.”	Were the guests on paper plates?	“She served sandwiches on paper plates to the guests.”
Misplaced “only”	“He only ate the soup.”	Did he do nothing else with it?	“He ate only the soup.” (if that is the meaning)
Dangling modifier	“Walking down the street, the trees looked beautiful.”	The walker is missing; it seems the trees were walking	“Walking down the street, I thought the trees looked beautiful.”
Squinting modifier	“The teacher said on Friday she would resign.”	Did she speak on Friday, or will she resign on Friday?	“On Friday the teacher said she would resign.” or “The teacher said she would resign on Friday.” (choose the meaning)

Always check: what does this phrase attach to? If the nearest noun or pronoun is not the one you mean, move the modifier or rewrite.

Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers

Some modifiers are essential. They identify which thing you are talking about and are not set off by commas. Others are non-essential: they add information about a thing already identified, and commas set them off.

Type	Example	What it means
Essential (restrictive)	“The students who finished early left.”	Only those students (not all of them) left
Non-essential (non-restrictive)	“The students, who finished early, left.”	All the students finished early and left

The punctuation changes the meaning. This is why punctuation matters, as you saw in Topic 7.6.

Parenthetical elements

A parenthetical element is a word, phrase or clause that is not essential to understanding the thing it describes. It interrupts the sentence to give additional information. You could remove it and the sentence would still make sense.

It can be set off in three ways, each with a different effect.

Punctuation	Example (written by Marlbridge)	Effect
Commas	“The mayor, a former teacher, opened the library.”	Smooth and quiet; the aside blends in
Dashes	“The mayor—a former teacher who had once taught in this very building—opened the library.”	Emphatic; the aside draws attention
Parentheses	“The mayor (a former teacher) opened the library.”	The quietest; the aside is optional and almost whispered

An appositive is a common kind of parenthetical element: a noun phrase that renames the noun beside it (“The mayor, a former teacher, …”). Others include asides to the reader (“as you know”), explanations, qualifications and brief examples.

Why writers use parenthetical elements

The course says that parenthetical elements, though not essential, interrupt sentences to provide additional information that may address an audience’s needs and/or advance a writer’s purpose. Look for these functions.

• To supply background the audience may lack (“the Dalby co-operative, which insures forty farms”).
• To qualify a claim in passing (“the plan, at least on paper, saves money”).
• To add a personal voice or tone (“the council, I regret to say, ignored the report”).
• To emphasise something by setting it apart (“the library—open every night of the year—is now closed on Sundays”).
• To concede quietly (“The scheme, though imperfect, works”).

A public-domain example

In the Gettysburg Address (1863), Lincoln says: “The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.”

The subject is “the brave men”, and the main verb is “have consecrated”. Two interruptions sit between and after them. “living and dead” is a parenthetical element that widens the praise to include the survivors, so the dedication is not only to the fallen. “who struggled here” is a clause that identifies which brave men. At the end, “far above our poor power to add or detract” is a modifier that sets the soldiers’ deed against the speakers’ limited abilities. The interruptions add information, and they also adjust the tone: humble about the speakers, generous about the soldiers.

Worked example 1: repairing and explaining modifiers

Task. Revise each sentence, written by Marlbridge, so that the modifier is clearly placed, and explain.

1. “The headteacher announced a new homework policy in the hall that parents had asked for.”
2. “Covered in mud, the janitor found the football.”
3. “Almost all of the pupils did not finish the test.”

Step 1: find what each modifier attaches to.

1. “that parents had asked for” sits beside “the hall”, so it seems that parents asked for a hall. It is meant to modify “policy”.
2. “Covered in mud” attaches to “the janitor”. It is meant to describe the football.
3. “Almost all of the pupils did not finish” is ambiguous (see below).

Step 2: revise.

1. “In the hall, the headteacher announced the new homework policy that parents had asked for.”
2. “The janitor found the football, covered in mud.” (or “Covered in mud, the football was found by the janitor.”)
3. “Almost none of the pupils finished the test.” (if the meaning is that nearly all failed to finish) or “Not quite all of the pupils finished.” (if the meaning is that most did).

Step 3: explain. In each case the revised modifier sits next to what it describes, so the reader cannot attach it to the wrong thing. In 3, rewriting the sentence removes an ambiguity that moving a word would not fix, because the writer must first decide which meaning is intended.

Worked example 2: analysing parenthetical elements

Task. Explain what the parenthetical elements add in the passage below, written by Marlbridge.

“The scheme, which began as a pilot at three schools, now reaches forty. Its founder—a retired maths teacher who had never run anything larger than a quiz—says she did not expect it to last the year. The results (and I say this as a sceptic) are better than anyone predicted.”

Step 1: find the parenthetical elements.

• “which began as a pilot at three schools” (commas)
• “a retired maths teacher who had never run anything larger than a quiz” (dashes)
• “and I say this as a sceptic” (parentheses)

Step 2: say what each adds.

• The first gives background (modest beginnings), so the audience understands how far the scheme has grown.
• The second characterises the founder as an unlikely, modest figure; the dashes draw attention to this, which makes the scheme’s success more remarkable.
• The third is a quiet personal aside that establishes the writer’s credibility: even a sceptic admits that the results are good.

Step 3: link to purpose and audience. The writer is making the case that the scheme works to readers who might doubt it. The asides give context, humanise the founder and show the writer is not an uncritical supporter, which makes the claim more convincing.

Common misconceptions

• “Modifiers can go anywhere in the sentence.” Misplacement causes ambiguity; keep them next to what they modify.
• “Commas around a clause don’t change meaning.” They can: compare “The students who finished left” with “The students, who finished, left”.
• “Parenthetical means in brackets.” It means non-essential and interrupting; commas and dashes can do the same job.
• “A parenthetical element is wasted space.” It often carries tone, background or credibility.
• “A dangling modifier is only a grammar slip.” It can change meaning and make a sentence ridiculous, so it undermines clarity and credibility.
• “Dashes and parentheses are interchangeable.” A dash emphasises; parentheses play down.

Where this leads

This completes Unit 8. Next, Unit 9 turns to counterarguments, beginning with how a writer enters an ongoing conversation in Topic 9.1. Practise now with the practice questions, consult the revision notes and checklist, take the Unit 8 diagnostic and the Unit 8 review, then read the Topic 9.1 study guide. For a reminder of how modifiers limit claims, see the Topic 7.3 study guide.