Thursday, July 12, 2007

Inappropriate Adverb Order
Review the section on Misplaced Modifiers for some additional ideas on placement. Modifiers can sometimes attach themselves to and thus modify words that they ought not to modify.
• They reported that Giuseppe Balle, a European rock star, had died on the six o'clock news.
Clearly, it would be better to move the underlined modifier to a position immediately after "they reported" or even to the beginning of the sentence — so the poor man doesn't die on television.
Misplacement can also occur with very simple modifiers, such as only and barely:
• She only grew to be four feet tall.
It would be better if "She grew to be only four feet tall."

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