Modifier Placement | English for ACT PDF Download

Introduction

The ACT has always enjoyed testing the concept of parallelism, regardless of whether the test is old or new. This is because the correct answer is based on clear and logical reasoning, which many tend to ignore in their everyday speech. Furthermore, the ACT is known for constructing questions that can easily trap those who prioritize "what sounds right" over "what is actually right." Therefore, it's crucial to examine the following sentences carefully and ask whether there are any errors in them.

• Studying for finals and playing high school sports, it is hard for many to find time.
• Living for seven months in Madrid, Martha’s fluency in Spanish increased rapidly.

Not so sure? Well, what about the following examples?

• Running down the street, a bicycle hit him.
• Flipping through channels, the television suddenly turned off.

It's evident that something strange is happening. For example, could a bicycle be running down the street, or could a television be sitting on a couch and eating Doritos while changing channels? To prevent such absurd situations, we must ensure that when there is a phrase that starts with an -ing verb (known as a participle), the phrase ending just before the comma accurately describes the subject that follows right after the comma.

• Running down the street, he had to jump out of the way of an oncoming bicycle.
• Flipping through channels, Dexter threw his hands up in frustration when the television suddenly turned off.

Let's return to the first two examples and attempt to improve the sentences. Try to ensure that the "-ing phrase" accurately modifies the subject. The correct versions of the sentences are provided below (try not to look until you've attempted to improve the original sentences):

• Studying for finals and playing high school sports, many students find it hard to focus on anything else.
• Living for seven months in Madrid, Martha became fluent in Spanish.

In essence, modification is a sophisticated term for "describing," and the "-ing phrase" can be regarded as a significant adjective that should accurately (as in the case of the Doritos-eating television) depict the subject. However, there are instances when modification occurs after the subject.

• John sat on the couch eating Doritos and watching a blank screen.
• John sat on the couch, eating Doritos and watching a blank screen.

One of these sentences implies that the couch is consuming Doritos (which may not be too outlandish if you glance beneath certain couches), while the other is accurate because it depicts John eating the Doritos and gazing at a blank screen. In the correct sentence, a comma is employed to separate the phrase "John sat on the couch" from the phrase "eating Doritos..." When the "-ing phrase" follows the comma, the action in that phrase should always portray the subject of the sentence, which in this case, is John. Conversely, if the "-ing phrase" doesn't have a comma separating it from the rest of the sentence, that phrase must logically describe the noun that immediately precedes it. The first sentence (the one lacking the comma) implies (incorrectly) that the couch is munching on Doritos and watching a blank screen.

Solved Examples

Students multitask everyday, indeed many times a day, students believe they are very adept at juggling two or three different activities while studying for a midterm. Though they may well be able to learn while multitasking, it is not nearly as efficient as focusing only on studying. Yet many students continue to pass up an optimal studying environment preferring to multitask at every opportunity.

Ex.1
(a) NO CHANGE
(b) To multitask
(c) Students multitasking
(d) Multitasking

Correct Answer is option (d)
As written, the first sentence has two subjects (“students” and “students”). Since students is already the subject of the clause beginning “students believe…,” it is easy to add a dependent clause, specifically an “-ing phrase” and voila! We have a valid sentence. (C) is wrong because it also repeats the subject, “students.”) 

Ex.2
(a) NO CHANGE
(b) environment; preferring
(c) environment, preferring
(d) environment, they prefer

Correct Answer is option (c)
As written, the third sentence implies that the environment prefers to multitask. By putting a comma between “environment” and “preferring,” the sentence is correctly structured to indicate that “preferring” refers to the subject, “many students.”