Some of the common mistakes in sentences are misplaced and dangling modifiers. However, sometimes, we can?ft see those errors right away. Just to remind you, a modifier is a word that describes or clarifies another word in a sentence.

Misplaced modifiers are modifiers that occur in the wrong place, making the sentences confusing to the reader. Modifiers should be as close as possible to the word they clarify or describe. For example,

Incorrect: A woman walked to the car holding an umbrella. (a car can?ft hold an umbrella)
Correct: A woman holding an umbrella walked to the car.
Incorrect: The teacher served cookies to the children wrapped in aluminum foil. (Doesn?ft it sound ridiculous? Children cannot be wrapped in foil.)
Correct: The teacher served cookies wrapped in aluminum foil to the children.

With modifiers such as almost, only, often we also need to be careful. You should place them as close as possible to the word they refer to.

Incorrect: The court only hears civil cases on Tuesdays. (The emphasis is on the wrong word)
Correct: The court hears only civil cases on Tuesdays. (No other cases are heard that day)

Dangling modifiers are words or phrases that modify something implied but not present in the sentence. To revise a dangling modifier, you need to add a subject that the modifier clearly refers to. For example,

Incorrect: While driving to the veterinarian?fs office, the dog nervously whined.
Correct: While John was driving to the veterinarian?fs office, the dog nervously whined.
Incorrect: Chewing furiously, the gum fell out of my mouth.
Correct: The gum fell out my mouth when I was chewing it furiously.

Grammar can be boring sometimes, so I thought I would ?gsweeten the deal?h with this chocolate cake recipe. Plus, it?fs February, a month when we celebrate love and eat chocolates. The recipe requires only four ingredients and is easy to make.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

7 oz good quality (45-50% cocoa) semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar, divided
4 eggs, separated

1. Preheat oven to 300 F. Melt chocolate and butter. Stir together half the sugar and four yolks; add to melted chocolate.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites; slowly add remaining ? cup sugar until stiff peaks form (the texture becomes very fluffy)
3. Fold mixture into chocolate (meaning slowly pour mixture and stir together very gently, but not blending all the way).
4. Pour all that into a greased 9-inch cake pan.
5. Bake 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few crumbs. Cool 30 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar(optional).

Happy Valentine?fs Day!!!!