Is there only one right answer?

Not always. A phrase can often go at the front of the sentence or right after its noun, and both are correct. The key shows one. What matters is that the phrase ends up next to the word it describes.

What is a dangling infinitive?

An opener like to make the team with nobody in the sentence doing the making. To make the team, three hours of practice were needed by Rosa says the hours wanted to make the team. The fix puts Rosa right after the comma: to make the team, Rosa needed three hours of practice.

Why does only get its own items?

Because a misplaced only still sounds smooth. He only studied the list and he studied only the list are both natural, and in speech they often mean the same thing. On paper the second is clearer, so edited writing prefers it. The items add a contrast (not the whole chapter), so the meaning tells you where only goes.

8th grade misplaced and dangling modifiers

8th grade misplaced and dangling modifiers worksheets

A misplaced modifier sits next to the wrong word. A dangling modifier describes someone the sentence never names as its subject. Eighth graders repair longer sentences: a whole clause out of place, a limiting word like only or nearly in the wrong spot, and openers such as to win the race or while studying that dangle.

Free printable PDF worksheet.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of sentences you'll fix

Rewrite each sentence so every describing phrase sits next to the word it belongs to.

The fans watched the fireworks sitting on blankets along the third-base line.
Fixed: Sitting on blankets along the third-base line, the fans watched the fireworks.
Ibrahim spotted a shooting star lying on his back in the tall grass.
Caleb dropped his lunch tray in front of the principal that was piled high with spaghetti.

Every print pulls a new set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on an 8th grade sheet

8th grade sheets draw from 50 sentences, 7 to a page. None of these sentences are on 7th grade sheets. 7th grade sheets print 8 to a page.

A few of the sentences, as the answer key corrects them:

The survey reached families only on the east side of town, not the west side.
Before stepping up to the plate, Marcus took two practice swings.
Walking through the empty hallway, the principal found a lost backpack.

Fix it. Rewrite each sentence so every describing phrase sits next to the word it belongs to. 7 sentences to fix per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Keep last year's question (who or what is this describing?) and add one for openers: who is doing the -ing, or the to-verb? Whoever comes right after the comma has to be that person. Every dangling item on this sheet names the actor in a by-phrase at the end, so the repair is to make that person the subject and turn the verb active. For a clause out of place, have students draw an arrow from the clause to the noun it describes and move the clause to the arrow's head. A moved phrase often has two good spots. Either one earns credit, as long as it touches its word.

Watch for: Only, almost, just, and nearly are modifiers too. In speech, she only ran two miles usually means the same as she ran only two miles, because the voice shows what only limits. On paper there is no voice, so edited writing puts the word right before what it limits. With almost the meaning really can change: I almost read the whole book (and never started) is not I read almost the whole book. A dangling modifier has nothing in the sentence to attach to. The repair is not to move it but to name the actor: after finishing the lab, the beakers were rinsed becomes after finishing the lab, our group rinsed the beakers. A long sentence is not automatically wrong. Check placement, not length.

Common questions about 8th grade misplaced and dangling modifiers

Is there only one right answer?: Not always. A phrase can often go at the front of the sentence or right after its noun, and both are correct. The key shows one. What matters is that the phrase ends up next to the word it describes.
What is a dangling infinitive?: An opener like to make the team with nobody in the sentence doing the making. To make the team, three hours of practice were needed by Rosa says the hours wanted to make the team. The fix puts Rosa right after the comma: to make the team, Rosa needed three hours of practice.
Why does only get its own items?: Because a misplaced only still sounds smooth. He only studied the list and he studied only the list are both natural, and in speech they often mean the same thing. On paper the second is clearer, so edited writing prefers it. The items add a contrast (not the whole chapter), so the meaning tells you where only goes.

8th grade misplaced and dangling modifiers worksheets

The kind of sentences you'll fix

What's on an 8th grade sheet

How to teach this

Common questions about 8th grade misplaced and dangling modifiers

Related worksheets

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