$ %

! Must Knows Review

VERBAL

V 5. Modifiers " SC "

Expand All Contract All

5.1 Introduction

Must Know: #
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause
that modifies, or changes, another word
or expression.

5.2 Adjectives and Adverbs

Must Know: #
Adjectives can modify only nouns or
pronouns. Adverbs can modify verbs,
adjectives, and other adverbs.

Must Know: #
A word ending in –ly typically will not
modify a noun, because most –ly words
are adverbs.

Using an Adjective where an

5.2.1 Adverb is Required or an Adverb
where an Adjective is Required

Must Know: #
The meaning of a sentence will enable
us to determine whether an adverb or
an adjective should be used at a given
point in a sentence.

Must Know: #
Be sure that a sentence does not use
an adverb when an adjective is required
or vice versa.

5.3 Misplaced Modifiers

Must Know: #
The misplacement of modifiers results
in errors in meaning, and misplaced
modifiers are frequently used in
incorrect answer choices in Sentence
Correction questions.

5.3.1 Misplaced Adjectives

Must Know: !
Read sentences carefully to ensure that
adjectives modify the correct nouns.
Logic and meaning will indicate where
the adjective should be placed.

5.3.2 Misplaced Adverbs

Must Know: !
Generally, the best placement of a
limiting adverb is immediately before
the word or phrase that it is meant to
modify.

Must Know: #
When we answer a Sentence
Correction question, we must carefully
consider every word in the sentence. If
we don’t read carefully and critically,
we’ll miss small but important details,
such as the effects of the placement of
adjectives and adverbs.

A Noun Modifier Must Be Placed

5.3.3 as Closely as Possible to What It
Modifies.

Must Know: !
A noun modifier must be placed as
closely as possible to what it modifies.

5.3.4 Misplaced Prepositional Phrases

Must Know: !
A modifying prepositional phrase must
always be as close as possible to the
word that it modifies.

Must Know: #
In answering Sentence Correction
questions, be on the lookout for
prepositional phrases that are
improperly placed and, thus, modify the
wrong things. Such sentences will
depart from the meanings that their
authors were seeking to express.

Pay Special Attention to

5.3.5
Prepositional Phrases of Time

Must Know: #
When we encounter prepositional
phrases of time, we must take extra
care to ensure that their placement
does not result in ambiguity, confusion,
or an illogical meaning.

5.3.6 Misplaced Introductory Modifiers

Must Know: #
When an introductory modifier is a noun
modifier, the noun that it modifies must
appear right after the introductory
modifier.

Must Know: #
If the noun that the opening modifier is
meant to modify doesn’t appear right
after the introductory modifier, then the
introductory modifier is misplaced.

Must Know: #
When an introductory noun modifier is
followed by a clause that has “it” as its
subject, it may be that the modifier does
not logically modify “it.”

5.4 Dangling Modifiers

Must Know: #
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.

Must Know: #
Dangling modifiers result in sentences
with ridiculous meanings. Such
sentences can never be correct.

Must Know: !
A noun being modified in a sentence
must not be absent from the sentence.

5.5 The Possessive Modification Trap

Must Know: !
Be on the lookout for a modifying
phrase followed by a possessive noun.
In such a case, the modification and the
resulting sentence may be illogical.

5.6 Squinting Modifiers

Must Know: !
For a sentence to be effective, it must
be clear what any modifiers in the
sentence modify. Be on the lookout for
squinting modifiers, which are modifiers
between two words or phrases, either
of which the modifier could modify.

5.7.1 “That” versus “Which”

Must Know: !
The relative pronouns “that” and
“which” refer to nouns that represent
things other than people. In other
words, never use “that” or “which” to
refer to people.

Must Know: #
In Sentence Correction questions, the
words “that” and “which” are not
interchangeable. The relative pronoun
“that” introduces restrictive relative
clauses, whereas the relative pronoun
“which” introduces nonrestrictive
relative clauses.

Must Know: !
To determine whether an underlined
clause is restrictive or nonrestrictive,
eliminate it from the sentence. If it can
be eliminated without the core meaning
of the sentence changing, it is
nonrestrictive and will use the pronoun
“which.”

Must Know: !
Nonrestrictive relative clauses must
always be set off from the rest of
sentences by commas.

Must Know: !
When the word “which” is preceded by
a preposition or is used to mean “which
one,” no comma preceding “which” is
necessary.

Must Know: !
Knowing the rules is an essential part of
success in Sentence Correction.
However, we must also analyze
sentences holistically, carefully
evaluating the use of each word,
structure, and piece of punctuation as it
fits into the entire sentence.

The Proper Placement of Relative

5.7.2
Clauses

Must Know: !
With a few exceptions that we’ll discuss
in the coming sections, relative clauses,
including those that begin with “that” or
“which,” must come immediately after
the nouns that they modify.

When Relative Clauses Can Modify

5.7.3
Their Antecedents “Remotely”

Must Know: !
There are structures that are
considered acceptable or correct in
which a relative clause is separated
from the noun that it modifies. In such a
structure, the relative clause is called a
“remote relative clause.”

Must Know: !
A relative clause may be separated
from the noun that it modifies by
another modifier, such as a
prepositional phrase or an appositive.

Must Know: #
A relative clause placed after a
structure that contains multiple nouns is
understood to modify the shortest
logical target.

Must Know: !
Certain types of main verbs that indicate
arrival, positioning, and coming into
being can exist between a relative
clause and the noun that it modifies in
cases in which there is unlikely to be
any confusion and the author would like
to avoid putting the main verb after a
long intervening relative clause.

“That,” “Who,” “Whom,” and

5.7.4
“Which”

Must Know: #
The relative pronoun “that” should be
used to refer only to objects or ideas,
not people. Similarly, the relative
pronoun “which” cannot be used to
refer to people. The relative pronouns
“who” and “whom” are used to refer to
human antecedents.

5.7.5 “Who” and “Whom”

Must Know: #
The subject pronoun “who” performs
the action in a clause, whereas the
object pronoun “whom” is acted upon.

Must Know: #
The relative pronouns “who” and
“whom” refer to human antecedents. In
a relative clause, “who” serves as a
subject; “whom” is used as an object.

Must Know: #
Commit the following two lists to
memory.
Subject Pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we,
they, who
Object Pronouns: me, you, him, her, it,
us, them, whom

Must Know: #
Entities made up of people such as
teams, groups, or classes, are
considered things when the context
treats such an entity as a single unit
and, in such cases, are referred to via
the use of the relative pronouns “that”
or “which.”

5.7.6 Whose

Must Know: #
The relative pronoun “whose” can refer
to things or people. “Whose” is the
English language’s only possessive
relative pronoun.

5.8 Appositives

Must Know: #
Appositives generally appear on the
GMAT in the form of nouns, pronouns,
noun phrases, or noun clauses that
modify other nouns, pronouns, noun
phrases, or noun clauses.

Must Know: #
If, when we replace a noun in a
sentence with its modifier, the sentence
retains its core meaning, the noun
modifier is an appositive.

Must Know: #
Replace the noun being modified with
its modifier to identify an appositive.

Appositives Almost Always Appear

5.8.1
Beside What They Modify.

Must Know: #
An appositive will usually, but not
always, appear directly beside what it
modifies.

5.8.2 Abstract Appositives

Must Know: #
GMAT Sentence Correction questions
often contain structures called “abstract
appositives,” which, rather than rename
and modify specific words or phrases,
rename and modify entire ideas
presented in clauses.

How Abstract Appositives May Be

5.8.3 Used in Sentence Correction
Questions

Must Know: #
In Sentence Correction questions,
abstract appositives may appear in
sentence versions that are more
effective than versions created via the
use of other structures.

5.9 Participles and Participial Phrases

Must Know: #
A participle is a verb form that functions
as a modifier. Participles come in two
varieties: present participles, which
always end in -ing, and past participles,
which usually end in –ed or -en.

Must Know: #
The noun associated with a participle
can be either (1) the agent doing the
action of the participle or (2) the
receiver of the effect of the participle.

A Participle on its Own Can Never

5.9.1
Be the Main Verb in a Clause

Must Know: #
A participle can never on its own
function as the main verb (finite verb) in
a clause. So, a sentence in which the
only verb form is a participle will not be
complete.

Must Know: #
In considering a sentence version,
identify the subject and finite verb to
ensure that the sentence is complete.

Must Know: #
A sentence can be rendered complete
through the insertion of a helping verb
before a participle or through changing
a participle to a present or past tense
verb.

How Present Participial Phrases

5.9.3
are Used in Sentences

Must Know: #
We can put most present participial
phrases into three general categories:
(1) Present participial phrases that are
used to restrictively modify specific
nouns.
(2) Present participial phrases that
appear at the beginning or in the middle
of clauses, are nonrestrictive, and can
be treated as noun modifiers for the
purpose of placement.
(3) Present participial phrases that
appear at the end of clauses and
usually, but not always, modify the
preceding clauses.

Present Participial Phrases that

5.9.4
Restrictively Modify Specific Nouns

Must Know: #
We can tell that a present participial
phrase modifies the noun that
immediately precedes it by noticing that
there is no comma between the phrase
and the immediately preceding noun.
 Present Participial Phrases that
Appear at the Beginning or in the
Middle of Clauses, are
5.9.5
Nonrestrictive, and Can be Treated
as Noun Modifiers for the Purpose
of Placement

Must Know: #
For the purpose of evaluating
placement, a present participial phrase
that appears at the beginning or in the
middle of a clause and is set off from
the rest of the clause by a comma or
commas can be treated as a
nonrestrictive noun modifier.

Must Know: #
Be on the lookout for an introductory
phrase that begins with a present
participle; we may have a misplaced
modifier question on our hands. The
noun that follows an introductory phrase
that begins with a present participle
must be the noun that that phrase is
meant to modify.

Present Participial Phrases that

5.9.6 Appear at the Ends of Clauses and
Modify Entire Clauses

Must Know: #
A present participial phrase can be
used to modify an entire preceding
clause, in which case the phrase is set
off from the preceding clause by a
comma and normally has as its agent
the subject of the clause that it modifies.

Must Know: #
Normally, the agent of the participle in a
closing participial phrase is the subject
of the preceding clause. However, there
are some exceptions.
One type of exception occurs when a
closing participial phrase begins with
“including.” Often, “including” does not
take the subject of the preceding
clause as its agent.
A second type of exception occurs
when the closing participial phrase
modifies an actor-action pair that
appears between the subject and the
closing participial phrase.

Must Know: #
Present participial phrases that modify
entire clauses often describe the results
of the actions mentioned in the
preceding clauses, the causes of the
events described in the preceding
clauses, or events that were occurring
while the events described in the
preceding clause were occurring.

Must Know: #
A small change to sentence structure,
the removal of a comma, can render a
present participial phrase at the end a
clause misplaced. Be on the lookout for
misplaced modifiers.

The Meaning Conveyed by a

Present Participial Phrase Must Fit
5.9.7
with the Rest of the Sentence in
which the Phrase Appears

Must Know: #
Participial phrases always indicate
simultaneity; the event described by a
participle phrase must occur at the
same time as the event described by
the clause that the phrase modifies.

Must Know: #
When a writer utilizes a present
participial phrase in discussing events
that do not occur at the same time, he
or she creates an illogical sentence.

Must Know: #
It’s not enough for a present participial
phrase to logically modify a noun that
appears in a sentence. In order for a
sentence to make sense, any participial
phrase that appears in that sentence
has to work logically with the rest of the
sentence.

Past Participial Phrases Used to

5.9.8
Restrictively Modify Nouns

Must Know: #
Past participial phrases can be used to
restrictively modify nouns. In these
situations, the past participial phrase is
placed directly before or after the
nouns that it modifies and is not
separated from the noun by commas.

Past Participial Phrases Used to

5.9.9
Nonrestrictively Modify Nouns

Must Know: #
A past participial phrase can be used to
nonrestrictively modify a noun. In such a
case, the phrase may appear directly
before or directly after the noun that it
modifies and is separated from the
noun and other sentence elements by
commas.

Issues Involving Past Participial

5.9.10
Phrases

Must Know: #
Be on the lookout for an introductory
phrase that begins with a past participle;
we may have a misplaced modifier
question on our hands. The noun that
follows an introductory phrase that
begins with a past participle must be
the noun that that phrase is meant to
modify.

Must Know: #
One way in which Sentence Correction
question writers can create issues
involving past participial phrases is by
misplacing the phrases, so that the
phrases modify the wrong nouns.

Use of a Restrictive or
Nonrestrictive Past Participial
Phrase where using a Past
5.9.11
Participial Phrase of the Other
Type, Nonrestrictive or Restrictive,
Would Make More Sense

Must Know: #
A second way in which Sentence
Correction question writers can create
issues involving past participial phrases
is to use a restrictive or nonrestrictive
past participial phrase where using a
past participial phrase of the other type,
nonrestrictive or restrictive, would make
more sense.

5.10 Absolute Phrases

Must Know: #
An absolute phrase is a phrase
composed of a noun and its modifiers
that modifies an entire clause, adding
information that is descriptive or
explanatory.

2022 © TargetTestPrep. All rights reserved