198 English Grammar Demystifi ed
- I went to see my father and my grandfather, who told me his latest health
problem. - White and Smith made his presentation.
Placing Descriptive Words Correctly
If at all possible, place a descriptive word or phrase next to the word it describes.
Misplacement of descriptive words and phrases results in confused meaning. For
example:
Muddled: The elderly man relaxed after years of hard work on his porch.Did the man really do all those years of hard work on his porch? Probably not, but
that’s what the sentence states. Undoubtedly, the sentence meant to state that the
man relaxed on his porch after years of hard work. On his porch describes relaxed,
telling where the man relaxed.
Corrected: The elderly man relaxed on his porch after years of hard work.Let’s look at another example:
Muddled: Established employees who talk about the past constantly overawe
new employees.Did the employees talk constantly about the past? The correction comes when you
move the descriptive word, constantly, next to the word it describes, that is, talk.
Corrected: Established employees who talk constantly about the past overawe
new employees.Look at another example:
Muddled: I wrote my evaluation of the new product on the provided lines.Is there a new product on the lines provided? Most likely, there is not.