Subject-Modifier Placement

In this lesson, you will learn to

• Identify situations where opening supplements are working as modifiers
• Avoid placing function words, participle phrases, and prepositional phrases after opening modifiers
• Learn strategies for dealing with possessive noun phrases after opening modifiers

On the Digital SAT, Subject-Modifier placement questions test your ability to place the correct "subject" after an opening supplement. Such questions are also called "dangling modifier" questions.

Opening supplements can be used as modifiers—that is, they can provide information about what comes after them.

However, it's important to make sure these opening supplements are describing what follows immediately after the comma—and not something else in the sentence. You'll need to use logical reasoning to decide what the opening supplement is describing.

The first example sentence is wrong. Logically speaking, the opening supplement "known for its rich biodiversity" cannot describe "numerous tourists." This kind of error—placing an illogical subject after an opening supplement—is called a dangling modifier error.

The second example is correct. Logically, "the Amazon rainforest" is "known for its rich biodiversity."

To figure out the correct answer, ask yourself "who or what?" In other words, in the example sentences above, you would ask yourself "Who or what is 'known for its rich biodiversity'?" Logically speaking, it's the Amazon rainforest—not tourists.