Modifiers, Comparisons, Double Negatives & Parallel Structure
Key Takeaways
- A modifier must sit next to the word it describes; when it does not, the sentence says something the writer did not mean.
- Comparative forms compare two things and superlative forms compare three or more, so 'the better of the two' and 'the best of the three' are the correct pairings.
- Double comparatives such as 'more taller' and double negatives such as 'did not see nothing' are always errors in standard written English.
- Items joined by and, or, or a correlative pair must share the same grammatical form, which is the rule behind most sentence-combining answer choices.
Modifiers, Comparisons, Double Negatives & Parallel Structure
Subject-verb agreement and pronoun case get most of the attention, but a second family of usage rules produces just as many HSPT Language errors. These rules govern where words sit and whether parallel items match - and unlike agreement errors, they often produce sentences that sound perfectly natural while meaning something absurd.
Misplaced Modifiers
A modifier attaches to whatever it is closest to. Put it in the wrong place and the sentence changes meaning.
| Misplaced | What It Actually Says | Corrected |
|---|---|---|
| She served sandwiches to the children on paper plates. | The children are on paper plates | She served the children sandwiches on paper plates. |
| He almost drove his sisters to school every day. | He nearly drove, but did not | He drove his sisters to school almost every day. |
| The runner returned the trophy that was tarnished to the committee. | Unclear what was tarnished | The runner returned the tarnished trophy to the committee. |
Limiting words - only, just, nearly, almost, even, hardly - are the most sensitive of all. Watch what moving only does:
- Only she reviewed the notes. (no one else reviewed them)
- She only reviewed the notes. (she reviewed them but did nothing more)
- She reviewed only the notes. (she reviewed nothing else)
Each is grammatical. Only one matches any given intended meaning, and HSPT items exploit that.
Dangling Modifiers
A dangling modifier opens a sentence with a descriptive phrase whose subject never appears. The rule is simple: the word immediately after the comma must be the thing the phrase describes.
-
Dangling: Walking through the museum, the paintings seemed to glow. (the paintings were not walking)
-
Corrected: Walking through the museum, we noticed that the paintings seemed to glow.
-
Dangling: After finishing the experiment, the results were recorded. (results do not finish experiments)
-
Corrected: After finishing the experiment, the students recorded the results.
The diagnostic takes two seconds: read the opening phrase, then read the very next noun. If that noun cannot perform the action, the modifier dangles.
Comparative and Superlative Forms
| Number Compared | Form | Short Words | Long Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two | comparative | add -er: taller, faster | use more: more careful |
| Three or more | superlative | add -est: tallest, fastest | use most: most careful |
Irregular forms must be memorized: good / better / best, bad / worse / worst, many / more / most, little / less / least, far / farther / farthest.
The Errors Tested
- Double comparative or superlative. More taller, most fastest, and more better are always wrong - use one marker, never two.
- Wrong form for the number compared. With two items use the comparative: She is the taller of the two sisters, not tallest.
- Illogical comparison. Her handwriting is neater than her sister compares handwriting to a person. Fix it: neater than her sister's.
- Incomplete comparison. This model is more efficient leaves the reader asking than what?
- Absolute adjectives. Words such as unique, perfect, equal, and final describe conditions that do not admit degrees, so more unique is not standard.
Double Negatives
Standard written English uses one negative per clause. A second negative is an error, not extra emphasis.
| Incorrect | Corrected |
|---|---|
| We did not see nothing unusual. | We did not see anything unusual. |
| She could not hardly hear the speaker. | She could hardly hear the speaker. |
| He never told nobody about the plan. | He never told anybody about the plan. |
The hidden negatives cause most of the misses: hardly, scarcely, barely, and neither already carry negation, so pairing them with not or never creates a double negative that many students do not hear.
Parallel Structure
Elements joined by and, or, or a correlative pair must share the same grammatical form.
| Not Parallel | Parallel |
|---|---|
| She enjoys hiking, swimming, and to ride bicycles. | She enjoys hiking, swimming, and riding bicycles. |
| The job requires patience, accuracy, and being organized. | The job requires patience, accuracy, and organization. |
| He was not only late but also he forgot the tickets. | He was not only late but also forgetful about the tickets. |
Correlative pairs demand strict symmetry. Whatever follows not only must match in form whatever follows but also; the same holds for either...or, neither...nor, and both...and.
- Wrong: She either wants the blue folder or the green one.
- Right: She wants either the blue folder or the green one. (noun phrase paired with noun phrase)
The test that always works: split the sentence at the conjunction and read each branch separately with the stem. She enjoys ... to ride bicycles fails; She enjoys ... riding bicycles passes.
How These Appear on the Language Subtest
In the error-identification format, one of the three underlined segments contains the fault and the fourth choice is No error. Modifier and parallelism faults are placed to sound natural in speech, so relying on your ear is exactly the wrong strategy here.
| Underlined Segment | Fault to Look For |
|---|---|
| An opening phrase before a comma | dangling modifier |
| A phrase containing only, almost, nearly | limiting-word placement |
| A phrase containing than or -est | wrong comparative form, illogical comparison |
| A list of three items | parallel structure |
| Any clause containing hardly, scarcely, barely | double negative |
A Four-Question Checklist
- Does every modifier sit beside the word it describes?
- If the sentence opens with a descriptive phrase, does the noun right after the comma perform that action?
- Are two things compared with the comparative and three or more with the superlative - and is the comparison complete and logical?
- Do items in a list or a correlative pair share the same grammatical form?
Which sentence corrects the dangling modifier in 'Racing to catch the bus, the backpack slipped off her shoulder'?
Which sentence uses the correct comparative or superlative form?
Which sentence contains a double negative?
Which sentence maintains parallel structure?