Modifiers & Parallel Structure — Recognize and correct modifiers and parallel structure issues - Accuplacer ESL Language Use

SECTION 1

Historical Context & Motivation

The study of modifiers and parallel structure has deep roots in the Western rhetorical tradition. Ancient Greek and Roman orators recognized that the placement of descriptive words and the balance of grammatical forms could dramatically affect both the clarity and persuasive power of speech. Over the centuries, grammarians formalized these observations into the prescriptive rules we study today, and these rules remain central to standardized English proficiency assessments such as the ACCUPLACER ESL Language Use test. Understanding why these conventions developed helps you internalize them as logical tools rather than arbitrary regulations.

c. 350 BCE • Aristotle's Rhetoric

Aristotle catalogued techniques of balanced phrasing (isocolon and parison) as devices for making arguments memorable and logically coherent.

1762 • Lowth's Short Introduction to English Grammar

Robert Lowth's influential grammar textbook codified rules about modifier placement, warning against dangling and misplaced modifiers as sources of ambiguity.

1918 • Strunk's Elements of Style

William Strunk Jr. emphasized parallel construction as essential to clear writing, establishing rules that shaped American composition instruction for over a century.

1985–Present • Standardized Proficiency Testing

The ACCUPLACER test suite, developed by the College Board, incorporated modifier and parallelism questions to assess whether students can produce and recognize grammatically precise academic English.

The central question these conventions address is straightforward: How do we arrange words so that every modifier clearly describes the right noun or verb, and every list or comparison uses matching grammatical forms? When writers violate these principles, sentences become ambiguous, awkward, or illogical. The ACCUPLACER ESL test asks you to detect and fix precisely these errors, so mastering this material is both a practical grammar skill and a test-preparation strategy.

SECTION 2

Core Principles & Definitions

Before tackling specific error types, you need a firm grasp of the foundational concepts. A modifier is any word, phrase, or clause that provides additional information about another element in the sentence—functioning as an adjective or adverb. Parallel structure (also called parallelism) is the principle that items joined by coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, or comparison words must share the same grammatical form. Together, these two concepts govern how English sentences maintain clarity and balance.

Misplaced Modifier

A modifier positioned too far from the word it modifies, causing the sentence to suggest an unintended meaning. Example: She almost drove her kids to school every day (implies she nearly drove but didn't). Corrected: She drove her kids to school almost every day.

Dangling Modifier

A modifying phrase (often participial) whose intended subject is absent from the sentence. Example: Walking to class, the rain soaked my jacket (the rain wasn't walking). Corrected: Walking to class, I got my jacket soaked by the rain.

Squinting Modifier

A modifier placed between two elements so that it could logically modify either one. Example: Students who study frequently earn high grades (does frequently modify study or earn?).

Faulty Parallelism

Occurs when items in a list, comparison, or paired construction do not share the same grammatical form. Example: She likes hiking, swimming, and to ride bikes. Corrected: She likes hiking, swimming, and riding bikes.

Correlative Conjunction Parallelism

Pairs like both…and, either…or, not only…but also require identical grammatical structures after each element of the pair.

✦

KEY TAKEAWAY

Think of modifiers as magnets: they attach to the nearest available noun or verb. If you place a magnet too far from its intended target, it will latch onto something else entirely, distorting your meaning. Similarly, parallel structure works like a musical chord—when all notes are in the same key (grammatical form), the result is harmonious; mix the forms, and you produce dissonance that the reader instantly hears as wrong.

SECTION 3

Visual Explanation — Modifier Placement

The diagram above contrasts a sentence with a dangling modifier (top) and its corrected version (bottom). Notice how the arrow in the top panel connects the participial phrase to the rain, creating an illogical meaning, while the corrected version places the true actor, I, right after the comma so the modifier attaches properly.

The visual principle illustrated here is the proximity rule: readers instinctively attach a modifier to the nearest grammatically eligible word. When you begin a sentence with a participial phrase (a verb form ending in -ing or -ed), the subject of the main clause must be the entity performing that action. If it is not, you have a dangling modifier. This is one of the most frequently tested patterns on the ACCUPLACER ESL Language Use section, so train your eye to check the subject immediately after every introductory modifier.

SECTION 4

How It Works — Rules and Patterns

Modifier Rules

Modifier errors arise from three basic violations. First, a misplaced modifier occurs when an adjective, adverb, or modifying phrase is positioned next to the wrong word, leading to ambiguity or absurdity. Second, a dangling modifier occurs when the word the modifier is supposed to describe does not appear in the sentence at all, leaving the modifier 'dangling' without a logical subject. Third, a squinting modifier sits between two possible targets so that the reader cannot determine which word it modifies. Each type demands a specific correction strategy.

💡

CORRECTION STRATEGY FOR MODIFIERS

Misplaced: Move the modifier as close as possible to the word it describes. Dangling: Rewrite the main clause so that the correct doer of the action appears as the subject immediately after the modifier. Squinting: Relocate the modifier to a position where it can only modify one element.

Parallel Structure Rules

Parallel structure requires that all elements joined by a conjunction share the same grammatical form. The rule applies in three primary contexts: lists (items connected by and or or), correlative conjunctions (both…and, either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also), and comparisons (more…than, as…as). The principle is simple: if the first item in a paired or listed construction is a gerund, every subsequent item must also be a gerund; if the first item is a noun phrase, every subsequent item must be a noun phrase, and so on.

Pattern	Incorrect	Correct
List with and	She likes reading, to swim, and biking.	She likes reading, swimming, and biking.
Correlative: not only…but also	He not only plays guitar but also is singing.	He not only plays guitar but also sings.
Comparison: more…than	Running is more tiring than to walk.	Running is more tiring than walking.
Correlative: either…or	You can either take the bus or walking.	You can either take the bus or walk.

Common parallelism errors and their corrections

SECTION 5

Detailed Breakdown — Error Classification

This flowchart walks you through the decision process for checking parallel structure. Start at the top: if the sentence contains a list, comparison, or paired conjunction, identify the grammatical form of the first element, then verify that all subsequent elements match. If they don't, rewrite the mismatched items.

Common Modifier Errors by Type

Error Type	Signal Phrase	What to Check
Dangling Participle	Sentence starts with -ing or -ed phrase	Does the subject after the comma perform the action in the phrase?
Misplaced Adverb	only, almost, nearly, even, just	Is the adverb next to the word it limits?
Squinting Modifier	Adverb between two verbs or two clauses	Could the modifier logically describe either side? Move it.
Misplaced Relative Clause	who, which, that placed far from antecedent	Does the clause immediately follow the noun it modifies?

Quick-reference guide for detecting modifier errors

On the ACCUPLACER ESL test, these error types frequently appear in sentence-completion and error-identification formats. The test may present a sentence with one underlined portion and ask you to select the revision that fixes the modifier or parallelism error. Recognizing the signal phrases in the table above—especially introductory participial phrases and limiting adverbs like only and almost—will help you quickly identify which error type you are dealing with and apply the appropriate fix.

SECTION 6

Worked Example — Identifying and Correcting Errors

Correcting a Dangling Modifier and Faulty Parallelism

1
Step 1 — Read the Original Sentence

Consider the following sentence: Having studied all night, the exam was expected to be easy, and the student planned on sleeping, to eat a big meal, and relaxing afterward. This sentence contains two distinct errors: a dangling modifier and faulty parallelism.
2
Step 2 — Identify the Dangling Modifier

The sentence begins with the participial phrase Having studied all night. According to the proximity rule, the subject immediately following this phrase should be the person who studied. However, the current subject is the exam—an inanimate object that cannot study. This is a classic dangling modifier.

Error identified: dangling modifier — "the exam" cannot perform "having studied."
3
Step 3 — Fix the Dangling Modifier

To correct the dangle, rewrite the main clause so that the student—the actual person who studied—is the subject: Having studied all night, the student expected the exam to be easy. Now the participial phrase correctly modifies the student.

Dangling modifier corrected.
4
Step 4 — Identify the Parallelism Error

The second half of the sentence contains a three-item list joined by and: sleeping (gerund), to eat a big meal (infinitive), and relaxing (gerund). The second item breaks the pattern by switching to an infinitive form.

Error identified: "to eat" breaks the gerund pattern set by "sleeping" and "relaxing."
5
Step 5 — Correct the Parallelism and Write the Final Sentence

Convert to eat a big meal to the gerund form eating a big meal so that all three list items are gerunds. The fully corrected sentence reads: Having studied all night, the student expected the exam to be easy and planned on sleeping, eating a big meal, and relaxing afterward.

Both errors corrected. The sentence is now clear, logical, and grammatically parallel.

SECTION 7

Common Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them

Pitfall	Why It Happens	How to Fix It
Fixing a dangle by adding a word to the phrase instead of the clause	Writers try to edit the modifier phrase itself rather than rewriting the main clause.	Always check the main-clause subject first; it must match the implied doer in the modifier.
Mixing infinitives and gerunds in a list	In casual speech, mixing forms sounds natural, so writers don't hear the error.	Identify the form of the first item, then ensure every subsequent item matches.
Ignoring parallelism with correlative conjunctions	Writers focus on the meaning and forget that the grammar after each part of the pair must match.	Draw a line from each part of the pair to its complement; the complements must be identical forms.
Misplacing "only" in everyday speech patterns	In spoken English, "only" often floats freely without causing confusion.	In formal writing and on the test, place "only" directly before the word it restricts.

Common pitfalls on ACCUPLACER modifier and parallelism questions

✦

KEY TAKEAWAY

Think of a sentence like an architectural blueprint. Every beam (modifier) must be connected to the correct support column (the word it modifies), and every window in a row (items in a list) must be the same size and shape (grammatical form). If one beam is loose or one window is a different shape, the entire structure looks—and is—flawed. On the ACCUPLACER, your job is to be the building inspector who spots these structural inconsistencies.

SECTION 8

Connection to Advanced Writing & Academic Contexts

Mastering modifiers and parallel structure on the ACCUPLACER is a gateway to the more complex syntactic demands of academic writing at the college level. In research papers, proper modifier placement ensures that complex noun phrases with multiple prepositional attachments remain unambiguous. In persuasive essays, parallel structure becomes a rhetorical tool that lends rhythmic emphasis and logical force to your arguments—consider the lasting power of constructions like "government of the people, by the people, for the people." What begins as error correction on a placement test evolves into a hallmark of polished academic prose.

ACCUPLACER Level	Academic Writing Level
Correct a dangling participle in a single sentence.	Manage modifier placement across multi-clause sentences with appositives, relative clauses, and participial phrases.
Fix a three-item list with mixed forms.	Sustain parallel structure across an entire paragraph when outlining a multi-point argument.
Place "only" or "nearly" next to the right word.	Use adverb placement strategically to control emphasis, tone, and nuance in formal registers.
Recognize errors in correlative conjunction pairs.	Deploy correlative conjunctions as rhetorical devices for balance and emphasis in thesis statements.

From test preparation to advanced writing competency

As you progress into college-level composition courses, you will encounter style guides and writing handbooks that treat modifier precision and structural parallelism as non-negotiable features of clear academic communication. The skills you build now serve as the grammatical scaffolding for everything from lab reports and literary analyses to graduate-level research proposals.

SECTION 9

Practice Problems

Question 1: CONCEPTUAL

What is the difference between a dangling modifier and a misplaced modifier? Explain in your own words, and provide one original example of each.

Show answer

A misplaced modifier is positioned next to the wrong word, creating an unintended meaning, but the word it is supposed to modify does appear somewhere in the sentence—you just need to move the modifier closer to it. A dangling modifier, by contrast, has no logical word to modify because its intended subject is entirely absent from the sentence. For example, a misplaced modifier: She served sandwiches to the guests on paper plates (the guests are not on paper plates; move on paper plates after sandwiches). A dangling modifier: Hoping for a promotion, the application was submitted early (the application cannot hope; rewrite as Hoping for a promotion, she submitted the application early).

Question 2: BASIC

Identify and correct the error in the following sentence: The manager told the employees that they needed to work harder, to be on time, and showing more initiative.

Show answer

The sentence has a parallelism error in the three-item list. The first two items (to work harder and to be on time) are infinitives, but the third item (showing more initiative) is a gerund. To correct it, change the third item to an infinitive: "The manager told the employees that they needed to work harder, to be on time, and to show more initiative." Now all three items share the same infinitive form.

Question 3: INTERMEDIATE

Rewrite the following sentence to eliminate both the modifier error and the parallelism error: Exhausted from the long flight, the hotel bed looked inviting, and the traveler wanted to sleep, ordering room service, and to unpack.

Show answer

There are two errors. First, Exhausted from the long flight is a dangling modifier because the subject of the main clause is the hotel bed, which cannot be exhausted. The intended subject is the traveler. Second, the list mixes forms: to sleep (infinitive), ordering room service (gerund), and to unpack (infinitive). A corrected version: "Exhausted from the long flight, the traveler found the hotel bed inviting and wanted to sleep, to order room service, and to unpack."

Question 4: APPLIED

A student writes the following in an academic essay: By analyzing the data carefully, significant patterns were discovered, including not only a correlation between income and education but also health outcomes improved. Identify all errors and rewrite the sentence for a college research paper.

Show answer

This sentence contains three errors. First, By analyzing the data carefully is a dangling modifier: significant patterns did not analyze the data. Second, the correlative pair not only…but also is not parallel: after not only we have a noun phrase (a correlation), but after but also we have a clause (health outcomes improved). A corrected version: "By analyzing the data carefully, the researchers discovered significant patterns, including not only a correlation between income and education but also an improvement in health outcomes." Now the doer of the action (the researchers) is the main-clause subject, and both items after the correlative pair are noun phrases.

Question 5: CRITICAL THINKING

Consider the sentence: The professor told students who studied frequently received higher grades. This sentence is grammatically ambiguous. Explain the two possible readings, identify which modifier issue causes the ambiguity, and propose two different revisions—one for each intended meaning.

Show answer

This is a squinting modifier problem. The adverb frequently sits between studied and received, so it could modify either verb. Reading 1: Students who studied on a frequent basis received higher grades. Revision: "The professor told students who frequently studied received higher grades." Reading 2: The professor frequently told students (i.e., often repeated the claim) that they received higher grades. Revision: "The professor frequently told students who studied that they received higher grades." In both revisions, the adverb is moved to a position where it can modify only one verb, eliminating the ambiguity. This type of analysis is valuable beyond the test—it shows how even a single word's placement can alter meaning in academic communication.

SUMMARY

Lesson Summary

Summary

This lesson covered the two major grammar concepts tested in the ACCUPLACER ESL Language Use section under the Meaning domain: modifier errors and parallel structure. You learned to distinguish three types of modifier problems— misplaced modifiers (too far from the target word), dangling modifiers (target word missing from the sentence), and squinting modifiers (ambiguously placed between two possible targets)—and to correct each by repositioning the modifier or rewriting the main clause. You also learned the proximity rule: readers attach a modifier to the nearest grammatically eligible word, so placement is everything.

For parallel structure, you practiced the core rule: all items in a list, correlative conjunction pair, or comparison must share the same grammatical form—whether gerunds, infinitives, noun phrases, or clauses. The worked example demonstrated how to diagnose and fix both a dangling modifier and a parallelism error in a single sentence, reflecting the kind of combined-error questions you may encounter on the test. Use the signal phrases and the decision flowchart from this lesson as quick-reference tools during your ACCUPLACER preparation.