Modifiers Flashcards
Modifiers in GMAT
Modifiers in GMAT are used mainly to test a sentence’s logic and meaning
Types of Modifiers:
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Prepositional Phrases - The Town of Manchester is beautiful. “of Manchester”
- Relative Clauses - The boat that was used in the race is for sale “That was used in the race”
- Present Particles - The crying baby needs a nap. “crying”
- Past Participles - The tired runner took a nap. “tired”
- Appositives - The fish, a piranha, swam near my feet “ , “a piranha”
- Absolute Phrases - Its sensitive antennae moving back and forth, the ant could smell sweet chocolate. “Its sensitive antennae moving back and forth”.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives modify a noun. Adverbs modify a verb.
Adverbs typically end in -ly.
Adverbs can modify verbs or adjectives. “New parents often find that they have significantly less time for social activities than they had previously”. “significantly” is modifying “less”, which is an adjective modifying “time”.
The meaning of a sentence will tell you whether you need an adjective or an adverb. The GMAT will often flip the use of adverbs and adjectives to create errors, watch out for these.
Misplaced Modifiers - Adjectives
Commonly used by the GMAT to create errors. Challenging because even Native speakers often misplace modifiers in everyday speech and writing.
Misplaced Adjectives
Ex: On the tables at the event were nutritious trays of fruits and vegetables. “Nutritious trays” is not logical.
Ex: The study found that a senior citizen was most likely to adhere to an exercise regimen consisting of an intense hour of cardiovascular activity. “intense hour” is not logical. To fix use “consisting of an hour of intense cardiovascular activity”.
Misplaced Modifiers - Adverbs
Limiting adverbs are usually challenging to spot in GMAT. Watch out for “only”, “just”, “even”, “almost”, “merely”, “simply”, “exactly”, “nearly”, and “hardly”.
Generally, the best placement of a limiting adverb is immediately BEFORE the word or phrase that it is meant to modify. - MOST IMPORTANT STRATEGY.
LIMITING ADVERB + PHRASE OR WORD THAT SHOULD BE MODIFIED = CORRECT
Ex
The team only practices on Mondays - Incorrect
The team practices only on Mondays - Correct
The team practices on Monday only - Correct
Cosmologists theorize that the universe consists of mostly dark energy. - Incorrect. This is saying that the energy is “mostly” “dark”, implying the the energy is not quite dark or not completely dark. The energy either is or it isn’t dark.
Cosmologists theorize that the universe consists mostly of dark energy. - Correct.
Noun Modifier
A noun modifier must be placed as closely as possible to the noun it is modifying.
Ex:
The Boeing 747, which is very fast, is an amazing plane that can fly up to 20 hours. - Correct
The Boeing 747 is an amazing plane that can fly up to 20 hours, which is very fast - Incorrect. This is implies that 20 hours is very fast.
Introductory Modifier
Introductory modifier phrases must appear right before the noun its trying to modify.
Ex:
Built to last, the lighthouse has weather many storms - CORRECT.
Tired and hungry, the aroma from the campsite grill cheered the hikers as they climbed the last hill. - INCORRECT.
Introductory Modifying Phrase before Expletive “it”
Watch out for this structure in the GMAT.
Ex:
Having beaten the returns of the S&P 500 over the past years, it is likely that the Gemini Fund will soon close to new investors. INCORRECT. “it” did not beat the S&P 500. “it” has no logical antecedent.
Having beaten the returns of the S&P 500 over the past ten years, the Gemini Fund will likely soon close to new investors. CORRECT. “The Gemini fund beat the S&P 500”.
Modifying Prepositional Phrase
A modifying prepositional phrase must be as close as possible to the word that it modifies. Watch out for prepositional phrases that modify the wrong things.
A prepositional phrase is a modifier composed of a preposition such as “in”, “under”, “by”, “for”, followed by a noun.
Ex:
Justine still refuses to create an online profile, even though several of her friends met people whom they ended up marrying on dating websites. - INCORRECT “friends married on the dating websites” is not logical.
Justine still refuses to create an online profile, even though several of her friends ended up marrying people whom they met on dating websites. CORRECT.
Prepositional Phrases of Time
When reviewing prepositional phrases of time, take extra care to ensure that their placement does not result in ambiguity, confusion, or an illogical meaning.
Ex:
The board of directors said in 2020 the price of the company’s product would need to double. INCORRECT - Did the board make the statement in 2020? Or are the prices going to double in 2020?
In 2020, the board of directors said the price of the company’s product would need to double - CORRECT.
Dangling Modifiers
In a case of a dangling modifier, the noun that the modifier is supposed to describe is completely absent from the sentence. Such a sentence is always incorrect.
Ex:
Having completed their final exams, parties all over campus began - INCORRECT. “Missing the noun that actually completed the exams”.
Possessive Modification Trap
Watch out for the possessive noun being modified. Think about what’s being modified and asses for logical meaning.
Ex: “Awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in chemistry, Linus Pauling’s research was wide-ranging and hard hitting, and had a positive impact on many future generations of chemists”. INCORRECT - Pauling’s research itself cannot be awarded a prize, it’s Pauling who receives the award.
Having yielded two distinctive terracotta vessels that archaeologists believe were used for ritualistic purposes, the group’s excavation of the Herrapan site near…. created a stir among scholars. - CORRECT. “group’s excavation” is correctly described as “having yielded distinctive terracotta vessels”.
Squinting Modifier
Occurs when a modifier is placed between two words or expressions, either of which it could modify, creating an ambiguous meaning.
Ex:
The library books that Jack borrowed recently were taken from his locker by a bully. - INCORRECT. Did Jack recently borrow the books or were they recently taken?
Listening to music often lifted Clarissa’s spirits. - INCORRECT. Does listening to music OFTEN lift her spirits? Or are her spirts usually lifted by listening to music?
Relative Clauses - That vs. Which
Never use that or which to refer to people.
To determine whether to use that vs which, determine if the clause is restrictive or non-restrictive.
Restrictive = That - It CANNOT be eliminated from the sentences without affecting the core meaning of the sentence.
Non-Restrictive = Which. It CAN be eliminated from the sentences without affecting the core meaning of the sentence. It has to be preceded by a comma and end in period or another comma.
Science textbooks (that/which) mention creationism have been banned from public schools. Removing “mention creationism” alters the core meaning of the sentence. “that” has to be used.
John’s best work pants (that/which) got filthy while doing yardwork have to be washed before Monday. Removing “got filthy while doing yardwork” is not essential to the core meaning of the sentence, use “, which”.
Relative Clause, Which, Comma vs. No Comma
No Comma when “which” is used to describe “which one” (it’s not restrictive, so it doesn’t need a comma). Or when “which” is preceded by a preposition “in which”, “by which”, “through which”, “on which”, “from which”, “to which”.
Ex:
Claudia does not know which apple she will eat.
The car in which we were riding was black
The fog through which we traveled was thick
Maria does not know which dress she will wear to the gala
Remote Relative Clauses - Clauses separated from the noun by prepositional phrase or appositive.
A clause that is separated from the noun it modifies by another modifier, such as a prepositional phrase or an appositive. ONLY THOSE TWO, CAN’T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE IN BETWEEN.
Ex:
The most beautiful house in the valley, which was built last summer, is not overly large. CORRECT.
The most beautiful house in the valley, which runs between two mountains, is not overly large. CORRECT.
A relative clause placed after a structure that contains multiple nouns is understood to modify the shortest logical target.
Ex:
The F22 Raptor, a modern military fighter jet, has two engines with moveable parts that direct their exhaust, each of which produces 35,000 lbs of thrust. CORRECT. “two jet engines with moveable parts…” is modified by “produces 35,000 lbs of thrust”.
Ex:
Investors are reluctant to take positions even at current price levels, 52-week lows for stocks in key sectors, which, analysts caution, may not represent the bottom of the downward trend that has gripped the market for the past two months. CORRECT. “Investors are reluctant…” (Independent Clause). “, 52-week lows…,” (appositive/RC). “which, analysts caution, may not represent…” (RC - modifier of current price levels).
Ex:
Albums for long term photo storage, which must be constructed of materials that are free from acid, lignin, and PVC in order to be labeled archival, are significantly more expensive than standard albums but worth the expense for treasured photos. CORRECT “for long term…“(prepositional phrase modifying albums). “which must be constructed…” (modifying albums).
