Sentence structure-modifiers

Why Sentence Structure Matters

There are a number of reasons why sentence structure matters. Sentence structure matters in English because of our use of modifiers. A modifier is a word or phrase that provides description in a sentence. In grammar, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure.[1] A modifier is so called because it is said to modify (change the meaning of) another element in the structure, on which it is dependent. Typically the modifier can be removed without affecting the grammar of the sentence. For example, in the English sentence This is a red ball, the adjective red is a modifier, modifying the noun ball. Removal of the modifier would leave This is a ball, which is grammatically correct and equivalent in structure to the original sentence.

However, putting the modifier in the wrong place can add confusion instead of clarity to your sentence. We can see this with simple modifiers in the wrong place.

'Only I love you!'

I'm pretty sure our friend didn't mean to tell his sweetheart that he was the only person on the planet that loved her. Structure that sentence a bit better and he would have had a much more pleasant result.

'I love only you!'

Then we have those dangling (misplaced) modifiers.

'To improve his building skills, a video was watched.'

In order to not offend our conscientious observers, a better choice of sentence structure would be:

'In order to improve his building skills, our friend watched a video.'

Now our readers know exactly who we are talking about and they won't need to figure it out and guess.

This extract was taken from these web pages: http://study.com/academy/lesson/how-to-write-better-by-improving-your-sentence-structure.html 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_modifier 

Correct the following sentences which have misplaced modifiers or are incomplete.

Example:

  1. Oscar Valdez won the fight though even he was lighter in weight than his opponent.

             -Oscar Valdez won the fight even though he was lighter in weight than his opponent.

2. Had a headache during the meeting with my boss.

3. Around the age of six, my uncle took me to the circus.

4. Passing through the park, vandalism of benches became clear. (I)

5. Having entered the market, the disgusting smell of meat was everywhere. (we)

6.Being a teenager, my parents did not understand me.

7. Juana left her new cell phone in a taxi cab that she bought two days ago.

8. Being a rock star, Joselo saw seldomly his children.

9. Fearful of flying, the airplane is not for me.

10. Running five kilometers a day, his legs increase their muscle mass.

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