Modifier

Question 1

What are the broad categories of modifiers?

Answer 1

Noun: Noun modifiers modify only a noun

Adverbial: Don’t modify plain nouns or pronouns

Question 2

What are three types of modifiers commonly used in GMAT?

Answer 2

prep pgrases

• ing words
• ed words

Question 3

noun + verb-ing

vs.

clause, verb-ing…

What the “verb-ing” modifies?

Answer 3

noun + verb-ing: modifies the noun

i.e. There was about one-third of mothers with young children working outside the home in 1975

“working outside the home” modifies young children

clause, verb-ing…

An analysis of tree bark all over the globe shows chemical insecticides, often spreading thousands of miles from where their original use.

Spreading takes “analysis” as the subject / Modifies “analysis, which makes the sentence wrong

Question 4

There were about one-third of mothers with young children who worked outside the home in 1975; in 2000, almost two-thirds of those mothers were employed outside the home

What does the clause “who…” modifies?

Answer 4

young children rather than mothers

Question 5

Created in 1945 to reduce poverty and stabilize foreign currency markets, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have, according to some critics, continually struggled to meet their major shareholders’ expectations—a group comprising many of the world’s rich nations—but neglected that of their intended beneficiaries in the developing world.

Anything Wrong? What’s Wrong? How to fix it?

Answer 5

but neglected that of their intended…

that should agree in number with its antecedent expectations

those of

Question 6

When we should or shouldn’t use preposition with a time interval?

Answer 6

if a time interval is unmodified, then we typically use “in” or “for.” Notice, that the modifiers such as “more than” or “less than” don’t change the basic pattern.

In three days, I will do X
In less than two years, I will do X.
For more than six years, I did X.

when the the time interval is modified, by a preposition or a clause, we do NOT need a preposition.
Three days after the wedding, I did X. = preposition modifier
More than six years before the French Revolution, he did X. = preposition modifier
Less than five minutes after you called, I did X. = clause modifier
Two days before you returned to town, I did X. = clause modifier