Answer: It’s our old nemesis, the misplaced modifier.

Explanation:
Apple App Store and Google Play are consumer-oriented app stores, not mobile operating systems.

The writer clearly meant “such as the Apple App Store and Google play” to modify “consumer-oriented app stores” but because the clause follows “mobile operating systems,” it logically follows that that’s the reference.

See more fun with modifier mistakes in the University of Ottawa’s writing resouces.

Follow me on Twitter @tao_of_grammar

Answer: b

Explanation: The first option would indicate that the hiring manager was not doing anything else but interviewing applicants with hard skills — no email, no meetings, no paperwork, just interviewing those candidates, 24/7. The second option means that she is not interviewing any applicants except for those with hard skills.

Similarly, if the title of this post was If I only knew where to put “only,” it would mean that I didn’t care to know about anything in the world except for the placement of “only” in a sentence or phrase. And, honestly, there are a few other things I’m interested in.

Lisa Silverman writes about this issue in her Grammar Tip: If Only Writers Put the Word “Only” Only Where It Should Go.

Follow us on Twitter @tao_of_grammar

Once infected, the worm turns off Windows Update services, thereby preventing the machine from obtaining the very patch that would have prevented the initial exploit.

Answer: When you begin a sentence with an introductory phrase followed by a comma, the thing that the phrase refers to should immediately follow the comma. In this example, the writer unintentionally says that the worm gets infected. Worms don’t get infected — they cause infections.

By changing the sentence to make sure that whatever follows the comma is the thing that is being modified, the sentence meaning becomes clear.

Once the worm finds a vulnerable machine, it turns off Windows Update services and prevents the machine from obtaining the very patch that would have prevented the initial exploit.

How else could you correct today’s sentence?

The code __________________________.
a. needs to be rewritten badly
b. badly needs to be rewritten

Answer: b

Explanation: Badly is taken to modify whatever word it’s closest to. In this example, if you say the code needs to be rewritten badly, that means it needs to be rewritten and that the rewrite must be a bad one.

On the other hand, by placing badly right next to needs, the reader understands that the need for a rewrite is extreme. (It is likely to be understood that an improvement over the original is desired.)

After defragging the hard drive, ___________________________________.
a. the computer seemed to run better.
b. I think the computer ran better.

Answer: b

Explanation: When you begin a sentence with a modifying phrase, make sure the word after the comma is the thing that’s being modified. The computer didn’t defrag the hard drive. I did.

After partitioning the hard drives, ______________.
a. the time it took to perform file systems checks was reduced.
b. we reduced the time it took to perform file system checks.

Answer: b

Explanation:  When you see a modifier followed by a comma, make sure the word that the modifier describes comes right after the comma.  In this sentence, the time did not partition the hard drives, we did.

Answer: B
The error in the first choice is an example of a misplaced modifier: Because the phrase “that uses a blue laser” follows “most of the industries leading companies,” it indicates that the companies use a blue laser.