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Misplaced Limiting Modifiers
Limiting modifiers, such as only, even, almost, nearly, hardly, merely, scarcely, simply, and just are frequently misplaced. Often,
the misplacement suggests a meaning the writer did not intend.
For example:
Nancy almost ate the whole pizza by herself.
Manfred has nearly insulted all his co-workers.
In the first example, the placement of almost suggests that Nancy meant to eat but did not. In the second example, the placement of nearly
suggests that Manfred meant to insult all his co-workers, but did not.
A limiting modifier should be placed in front of the word it modifies. For example, the sentences above should be rewritten to read:
Nancy ate almost the whole pizza by herself.
Manfred has insulted nearly all his co-workers.
Limiting modifiers should be placed in front of a verb only if they modify the verb.
For example:
Lara couldn't even walk up the stairs without becoming fatigued.
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