SAT Writing and Grammar: Misplaced Modifier Examples

While you’re here, be sure to sign up for my SAT email list to download the Urgent Report on Critical Reading and get other SAT-related bonuses just for subscribers!

Alright, this post is going to provide some practice problems to develop your misplaced-modifier identification skills on the SAT Writing and grammar multiple-choice sections.

This post is Part 3 of a series on SAT Misplaced Modifiers. You can read Part One and Part Two by following those links. The earlier posts help define and clarify what exactly a misplaced modifier is!

Now, assuming you’ve read those, let’s turn to some misplaced modifier examples. Your job is simple – just identify the misplaced modifier in each sentence and explain why it’s misplaced.

Some of the questions might not have a misplaced modifier at all – but then again, they might! I want you to develop confidence that you can find misplaced modifiers on the SAT without my help, so I have to make it a little bit tricker by (maybe) mixing in grammatically-correct sentences.

Ok, here we go! There will be 8 examples. Again, not every sentence contains a misplaced-modifier error. Write down your answers on a separate piece of paper:

Misplaced Modifier Examples and SAT Writing Practice Questions:

1) Drinking fresh-brewed coffee, the sofa made an excellent place for the librarian to relax.

2) The artist, spouting a massive jet of water from its blowhole, sketched a portrait of the blue whale.

3) A time in history like no other, the American Revolution was a turbulent period in the story of the United States.

Get Exclusive SAT Prep Tips!

I want to send you more tips to help your SAT score, but I need your email address to stay in touch. Enter your email below so I can send you my reports on the SAT and other subscriber-only bonuses.

4) Bringing bread and cheese, the picnic was enjoyed by the family.

5) These headphones are a great way to listen to music, with great bass tone, clear treble, and a long cord for convenience.

6) The wrench, cursing and shouting, fell onto the mechanic’s foot and clattered to the floor.

7) Smoky, rich, and flavorful, this coffee is great for sipping or drinking with a friend.

8) I’m at a coffeehouse right now called “La Tazza Fresca” in Austin, a wonderful place to work, study, or get tea, coffee, or food.

(By the way, sentence 8 is true in real life. This is a really great coffeehouse!)

Misplaced Modifier Examples Explanations:

Alright, let’s identify the misplaced modifiers. Did you write down all your answers?

1) Drinking fresh-brewed coffee, the sofa made an excellent place for the librarian to relax.

Misplaced Modifier Error: The sofa isn’t drinking coffee, the librarian is!

2) The artist, spouting a massive jet of water from its blowhole, sketched a portrait of the blue whale.

Misplaced Modifier Error: The artist isn’t spouting the water, the blue whale is!

3) A time in history like no other, the American Revolution was a turbulent period in the story of the United States.

Misplaced Modifier Error: No error! The modifier “a time in history like no other” is meant to describe “the American Revolution.” They are right next-door to each other, so this sentence does not have a misplaced modifier problem!

4) Bringing bread and cheese, the picnic was enjoyed by the family.

Misplaced Modifier Error: The picnic didn’t bring bread and cheese, the family did!

5) These headphones are a great way to listen to music, with great bass tone, clear treble, and a long cord for convenience.

Misplaced Modifier Error: The modifier here is a little strange (it’s long): “with great bass tone, clear treble, and a long cord for convenience.” This is the unessential phrase that gives extra detail and description. It’s meant to describe “headphones,” but it’s placed incorrectly next to “music.”

6) The wrench, cursing and shouting, fell onto the mechanic’s foot and clattered to the floor.

Misplaced Modifier Error: Heh-heh, can you start to see why I find misplaced modifiers to be such an amusing grammar error? Obviously, the mechanic is “cursing and shouting,” not the wrench.

7) Smoky, rich, and flavorful, this coffee is great for sipping or drinking with a friend.

Misplaced Modifier Error: No error! The modifying phrase is “smoky, rich, and flavorful,” which is meant to describe “coffee.” They are right next-door to each other and that means there’s no confusion and no misplaced-modifier grammar mistake! (See example 3)

8) I’m at a coffeehouse right now called “La Tazza Fresca” in Austin, a wonderful place to work, study, or get tea, coffee, or food.

Misplaced Modifier Error: This one is pretty subtle! The modifying phrase is “a wonderful place to work, study, or get tea, coffee, or food.” As written, there is a lot of grammatical ambiguity that the SAT doesn’t like at all – is the modifier describing the town of Austin, or the coffeehouse?

Either way makes logical sense, so we need to improve the clarity to make sure the author’s point comes across. If the modifying phrase is intended to connect to “Austin,” you could change it to say “a wonderful town to work, study… etc.” This eliminates any possible confusion. If the modifying phrase is intended to connect to “La Tazza Fresca,” you would rearrange the whole sentence, like so:

Corrected: “I’m at a coffeehouse in Austin right now called “La Tazza Fresca,” a wonderful place to work, study, or get tea, coffee, or food.” Bam. Ambiguity eliminated.

These 8 practice examples should get you on track to recognize each and every misplaced modifier error on the Writing sections of the SAT. With enough practice they’ll stick out like sore thumbs.

If you’re ever wondering if there’s a misplaced modifier problem, remember to ask yourself these three questions:

1) “Where is the modifying phrase?” 2) “What is it meant to be describing?” 3) “What is it actually describing, as written?’

For more hardcore SAT grammar rules and practice, purchase a copy of my SAT Grammar Crammer from our online bookstore!

Further Reading:
Misplaced Modifiers, Part 1
Misplaced Modifiers, Part 2
SAT Writing Grammar Rules: Misplaced Modifiers
Hilarious SAT Writing Errors: Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers
How to Overcome Fear of the “No Error” Choice

Additional Resources:
SAT Grammar Crammer: Top 12 SAT Writing Grammar Rules

Did you learn anything useful from this article? If so, be sure to join my SAT emailing list before you go today. I’ll send you exclusive subscriber-only content like the Urgent Report on Critical Reading and other SAT-related bonuses!