Subject is the noun that performs the action expressed by the verb. A modifier describes or provides extra information about something else in the sentence. Although modifiers can be as simple as a single word an adjective or an adverb.
According to the principle of parallelism, comparable sentence parts must be structurally and logically similar. Pronoun A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun, so that you do not have to repeat that noun elsewhere in the sentence.
Idioms are expressions that have unique forms. Pop quiz! Can you spot the error in the sentence below? The sentence above is a run-on. The example below strips the sentence to its core subject and verb components and adds the necessary conjunction: Right: The latest statistics Here's another type of error the GMAT might throw at you: Wrong: The term "Eureka," meaning "I have found it" in ancient Greek and fa mot uttered by Archimedes, and ever since then, scientists have exclaimed th same word upon making important discoveries.
What's the problem with that sentence? It may look fine because it correctly contains a comma along with the conjunction and. Unfortunately, the first half is not a complete sentence. Try to make it stand alone: Wrong: The term "Eureka," meaning "I have found it" in ancient Greek and fa mot uttered by Archimedes. The term "Eureka" could be a subject, but the rest is only a modifier; it does not contain a working verb.
Cross off any answers that connect two independent clauses using only a comma. Semicolon You can also connect two independent clauses using a semicolon. The semicolon ; con- nects two closely related statements. Each statement must be able to stand alone as an in- dependent sentence. For instance: Right: Earl walked to school; he later ate his lunch.
Consider another example: Wrong: Andrew and Lisa are inseparable; doing everything together. The second part of this sentence cannot stand on its own. Therefore, the two parts may not be connected by a semicolon. Right: Andrew and Lisa are inseparable; they do everything together.
In the corrected example above, the two sentence parts can each stand alone. Therefore, they may be connected by a semicolon. The semicolon is often followed by a transition expression, such as however, therefore, or in addition. In this way, the writer can modify the equal relationship that a bare semicolon im- plies.
Note that these transitional elements are not true conjunctions like and. You'lllearn about colons and dashes, which are less common, in Chapter Adding Modifiers Quick quiz: what do you remember about dependent clauses? You first learned about them earlier in this chapter, in the Eliminate the Middlemen section.
Glance back through that section if your brain is swimming in all of these new grammar terms. Dependent clauses are modifiers; they add extra information to the sentence. In addition to independent clauses, GMAT SC sentences will also contain dependent clauses in order to make these sentences as complex and annoying!
You'll learn all about these modifiers in the next chapter. For now, concentrate on learning the core sentence structures discussed in this chapter so that you are fully prepared to add even more complexity when you move to Chapter 4. Then c determine whether the subject and the verb make sense together and d determine whether the subject agrees in number with the verb.
If the subject is singular, the verb form must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb form must be plural. If the sentence is a fragment, or if the subject and verb do not make sense together, or if the subject and verb do not agree, e rewrite the sentence correcting the mistake.
A venomous snake designated the emblem of the rebellion by the insurgency. A number of players on the team have improved since last season. Jack, along with some of his closest friends, is sharing a limo to the prom. There is, according to my doctor, many courses of treatment available to me. After all the gardening we did, the sun shining on the flowerbeds make a beautiful sight. The decision to place the beautiful artifacts in out-of-the-way nooks around the man- sion's various rooms was inspiring.
Just around the corner is a fantastic bakery and a small supermarket. Fix the following sentences if necessary. Look for issues outlined in this chapter, including connecting words and connecting punctuation.
The music company was afraid of the accelerating decline of sales of compact disks would not be compensated by increased internet revenue. The petroleum distillates were so viscous, the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees. The municipality's back-to-work program has had notable success, nevertheless, it is not suitable for a state-wide rollout for several reasons. Historically, the Isle of Man had an economy based primarily on agriculture and fishing; now, one based on banking, tourism, and film production.
The Bentley trench, situated more than a mile and a half below sea level and complete- ly covered by Antarctic glaciers, and it is the lowest point on the planet not under the oceans. A venomous snake vvas des ig nated the emblem of the rebellion by the insur- gency.
A number of players on the team h ave improved since last season. Jack, along with some of his closest friends, is sharing" a limo to the prom. There are , according to my doctor, many courses of treatment available to me.
After all the gardening we did, the sun shining on the flowerbeds n1a kes a beautiful sight. The word and makes a compound subject, which is plural.
The music company was afraid THAT the accelerating decline of sales of compact disks would not be compensated by increased internet revenue. The original sentence has an independent clause The music company was afraid of the accel- erating decline of sales of compact disks with another verb phrase-would not be compensat- ed by increased internet revenue-inappropriately tacked on.
The petroleum distillates were so viscous THAT the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees. The original sentence is a run-on sentence. To fix the sentence, you need to insert that. The municipality's back-to-work program has had notable success; nevertheless, it is not suitable for a state-wide rollout for several reasons. As a result, you need to use a semicolon, not a comma, before nevertheless.
Historically, the Isle of Man had an economy based primarily on agriculture and fish- ing; now, IT HAS one based on banking, tourism, and film production. Just like the words that come before a semicolon, the words that come after a semicolon must constitute a complete sentence. In the original sentence, the second part of the sen- tence does not form a valid independent clause.
The Bentley trench, situated more than a mile and a half below sea level and com- pletely covered by Antarctic glaciers, IS the lowest point on the planet not under the oceans.
The original sentence has an independent clause linked to a sentence fragment by the use of and. In the corrected version, one main clause combines all of the information given. Although modifiers can be as simple as a single word an adjective or an adverb , GMAT sen- tences often contain several complex modifiers.
The modifier Tired out from playing basketball describes the noun Charles. It provides addi- tional context as to why Charles decided to take a nap. Many modifiers answer the ques- tions who, what, when, where, or why. Incorrectly used modifiers can lead to ambiguity or illogical meaning.
Adjectives and Adverbs Adjectives and adverbs are one-word modifiers. An adjective modifies onlY- a noun or a pro- noun, whereas an adverb modifies almost anything but a noun or a pronoun. These two types of modifiers illustrate the two broad categories of modifiers. Noun modifiers, such as adjectives, modify only a noun or a pronoun.
Adverbial modifiers, such as adverbs, can modify verbs, adjectives, prepositional phrases, even entire clauses, but they do not modify plain nouns. Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the adjective. The GMAT will sometimes offer answers that use an adjective where an adverb is grammati- cally required and vice versa. Good is an adjective that modifies the noun person.
AMY is well. Well is an adjective that modifies the noun Amy. Well is an adverb that modifies the verb writes. On harder questions, the GMAT could provide two grammatically correct phrasings. For in- stance, which of these sentences is more logical? Max's grandmother is his supposed Irish ancestor.
Max's grandmother is his supposedly Irish ancestor. In the first option, the adjective supposed points to the noun ancestor, implying that Max's grandmother is not actually his ancestor. In the second option, the adverb supposedly points to the adjective Irish, implying that Max's grandmother is not actually Irish. Logically, Max's grandmother has to be his ancestor; if she weren't, the sentence would call her his supposed grandmother.
Only the second option, then, has a sensible meaning: Max's grandmother is supposedly Irish but she may not be after all. Adjectives that have been observed alternating with their corresponding adverbs in released GMAT problems include corresponding, frequent, independent, rare, recent, seeming, separate, significant, supposed, and usual. If you spot an answer switching back and forth be- tween the adjective and adverb forms of the same word, ask yourself what the word is mod- ifying.
If it's modifying a noun by itself, use the adjective form. If it's modifying anything other than a noun or pronoun , use the adverbial form. Other types of noun modifiers act like long adjectives. When you can ask a who, what, which, or where question about a noun, and the answer points to the modifier, you have a noun modifier. Think about the circumstances in which you would use each of the two sentences below: The cat, which lives next door, is very noisy. The cat that lives next door is very noisy.
In the first example, you would already have to know which cat the speaker is talking about. The modifier provides extra information, as though the speaker is saying, "Oh, by the way, that cat that we're talking about lives next door. Just thought I'd mention it. If three cats are playing in front of you, the speaker would specify the cat that lives next door, not the other two cats. The "comma which" structure is an example of a nonessential modifier.
If you take a nonessential modifier out of the sentence, you still retain the full meaning of the main part of the sentence: the cat is very noisy and you already know which cat is under discussion. Nonessential modifiers are usually separated out from the rest of the sentence by commas.
The second sentence includes an example of an essential modifier. If you remove it from the sentence, then the meaning may be compromised. For instance, if there are three cats and you say only, ,,The cat is very noisy," nobody will know which cat you mean. Position of Noun Modifiers The placement of modifiers is really a function of meaning. Place the modifier incorrectly and the sentence may have an illogical or ambiguous meaning.
There are typically many nouns in a long sentence, so a noun modifier has to be placed in such a way that the reader knows exactly which noun is being modified. The practical result is that nouns and noun modifiers must be placed either right next to each other or very close together. The sentence begins with an opening modifier set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma. Who is a hard worker and loyal team player? Not the project! Instead, move the appropriate noun closer to the modifier: Right: A hard worker and loyal team player, Sue managed the new project.
The majority of the time, a noun and its modifier will be placed right next to each other, with no other words intervening. In certain circumstances, though, a noun and its modifier may be separated by another modifier. For example: The box of nails, which is nearly full, belongs to jean. The noun box has two modifiers: of nails and which is nearly full. Of nails is an essential modifier which box? The "comma which" modifier is a nonessential modifier, so it can come second.
In this case, the which modifier refers to the closest preceding main noun, box. Which of the options below is better? Jim biked along an old dirt road to get to his house, which cut through the woods. To get to his house, Jim biked along an old dirt road, which cut through the woods.
What cut through the woods? The road. Modifiers should be as close as possible to the nouns they modify, so the second option is preferable. In the first sentence, to get to his house is not a noun modifier referring to road, so it should not be placed in between the "comma which" modifier and the noun that it modifies.
To get to his house refers to the verb biked: how did he get to his house? He biked. You 'lllearn more about adverbial modifiers later in this chapter. Possessive Nouns Are Not Nouns! Wrong: Happy about his raise, Bill's celebration included taking his friends out to dinner.
Logically, the modifier happy about his raise should describe Bill. However, possessive nouns are actually adjectives, not nouns, and a noun modifier has to point to a noun. As it stands, the sentence technically and illogically says that Bill's celebration is happy about his raise.
Here is a corrected sentence: Right: Happy about his raise, Bill celebrated by taking his friends to dinner. A noun followed immediately by the word that sig- nals a noun modifier. A verb followed immediately by the word that signals the more com- plex sentence structure subject-verb-THAT-subject-verb-object see Chapter 3 for more. The pronouns who and whom must modify people. On the other hand, the pronoun which cannot modify people. Perhaps surprisingly, the pronoun whose can modify either people or things: the town whose water SUP-.
Which or whom sometimes follow prepositions: the canal through which water flows; the senatortor whom we worked. The pronoun where can be used to modify a noun place, such as area, site, country, or Neva- da. Where cannot modify a "metaphorical" place, such as condition, situation, case, circum- stances, or arrangement.
In these cases, use in which rather than where. The pronoun when can be used to modify a noun event or time, such as period, age, , or decade. In these circumstances, you can also use in which instead of when. In general, if a preposition immediately follows a noun, then the prepositional phrase modi- fies that noun.
Can you spot the noun modifiers in the following sentence? Researchers discovered that the most common risk factor resulting in cholera epidemics is the lack of a clean water supply. The adjective common describes the riskfactor. The adverb most refers to common.
What about the more complex noun modifiers? The word resulting is a participle. Note that it is not separated out from the rest of the sen- tence by a comma. Therefore, resulting in cholera epidemics signals a noun modifier; it refers to the risk factor. The prepositional phrase of a clean water supply modifies the noun Jack.
Past participles most commonly end in -ed, but there are a number of irregular verb forms. These participles can function as verbs, nouns, or vari- ous types of modifiers. For example: She is playing soccer. Any -ing word functioning as part of the verb form will have another verb immediately be- fore it, as in the is playing example. If no prior verb exists, then the -ing word is not acting as a verb. Any -ing words that are not verbs and not separated from the rest of the sentence by a com- ma will either be a noun, as in Playing soccer is fun, or modify another noun, as in The girl playing soccer is my sister.
Finally, any "comma -ing" structures are adverbial modifiers; you'll learn more about these later in the chapter. Past participles, or - ed words, are not tested as frequently as -ing words, but follow the same general rules, except that a past participle can be a verb all by itself but it cannot func- tion as a noun.
She played the lottery yesterday. Who was exhausted? She was. However, the context of the rest of the sentence matters. A sentence such as exhausted from her job, she has red hair would not be acceptable on the GMAT.
As a result, it is better to think of this modifier as applicable to the whole main clause. Because she was exhausted, she bought a lottery ticket? Adverbial Modifiers As their name indicates, adverbial modifiers modify verbs and adverbs.
They can also mod- ify adjectives, prepositional phrases, clauses A sen- tence typically contains only one or two main clauses, so adverbial modifiers can be placed more freely without creating meaning issues in the sentence. As long as the adverbial modi- fier clearly points to one particular verb or clause, the placement is acceptable.
In fact, only the first example in the list above places the modifier right next to the verb, and even that was not required. It is possible to place adverbial modifiers poorly, though. What's wrong with this sentence? He walked and caught up with his sister more rapidly.
The placement of the modifier rapidly indicates that he caught up with his sister more rapidly Logically, he walked more rapidly than he had been walking before in order to catch up with his sister.
The phrase in calling for such an extreme measure is a "comma -ing" modifier. Such modifiers refer to the entire clause to which they are attached. Which clause is that? However, because the -ing modifier falls after the conjunction connecting the two clauses, the modifier refers to the employees, not to the CEO.
The sentence could be fixed in multiple ways: Right: In an extreme measure, the CEO declared that everyone had to work every day through the holidays to make the production deadline; her employees were upset to the point of mutiny. Right: The CEO declared that everyone had to work every day through the holi- days to make the production deadline, but in calling for such an extreme measure, she upset her employees to the point of mutiny.
Both of the correct sentences properly attribute the extreme move to the CEO, not to the employees. In short, an adverbial modifier points to the right verb or clause as long as it is not struc- turally closer to some other verb or clause. An adverbial modifier does not necessarily have to be placed as close as possible to what it modifies.
For example: The engineer fixed the problem, earning himself a promotion. Main CJause comma -ing Modifier Because the engineer fixed the problem, he earned a promotion. Fixing the problem resulted in earning the promotion. Consider this example: Exhilarated by the successful product Jaunch, the team celebrated after work. The exhilaration led to the celebration. Whichever statement comes first in the sentence, whether modifier or main clause, is the instigating action, and whichever comes second, is the effect or result.
Picture a woman ice skating. She loses her balance, crashes to the ice, and then clutches her ankle in pain. Which of these three sentences correctly describes this scenario? Slipping on the ice, she broke her ankle. Breaking her ankle, she slipped on the ice. She slipped on the ice, breaking her ankle. Although they have different structures, the first and third sentences both correctly de- scribe what happened: the woman slipped on the ice, and this action caused her to break her ankle.
The middle sentence is illogical because it implies that she broke her ankle first, then slipped on the ice. The first part of the sentence is called a subordinate clause. It is almost exactly like a com- plete sentence, but it has a subordinator although at the beginning. Subordinate clauses are not complete sentences: Wrong: Although the economy is strong. Subordinate clauses modify the main clause to which they are attached. In the correct ex- ample presented first in this section, the subordinate clause provides additional information about the main clause: despite the fact that the overall economy is doing well, one particu- lar industry is not.
If the word indicates a contrast, for exam- ple, then make sure the sentence actually conveys a contrast: Wrong: Although the economy is strong, the retail industry is doing well. Subordinators are similar to the FANBOYS conjunctions: in both cases, you need to make sure that the chosen word logically connects the two pieces of information. The GMAT will test you to make sure that you are paying attention to this kind of meaning!
In the example above, the connecting word and is not sensible, because the two sentence parts are in opposition to each other. This meaning error can be corrected by choosing a dif- ferent connecting word: Right: She is not interested in playing sports, BUT she likes watching them on TV.
Finally, be on the lookout for sentences that join a main clause to something that should be a clause but is not actually a clause: Wrong: Citizens of many countries are expressing concern about the environmen- tal damage caused by the widespread release of greenhouse gases may be impossible to reverse.
The main clause in this sentence is Citizens of many countries are expressing concern about the environmental damage caused by the widespread release of greenhouse gases.
There is nothing wrong with this main clause. What about the rest of the sentence, which consists of the verb phrase may be impossible to reverse? This verb phrase has no subject. The GMAT wants you to think that environmental damage is the subject of may be impossible to reverse, but environmental damage is part of a prepositional phrase about the environmental dam- age. Nouns in prepositional phrases cannot also be subjects. One way to fix the sentence is to change the preposition about to the subordinator that: Right: Citizens of many countries are expressing concern THAT the environmen- tal damage caused by the widespread release of greenhouse gases may be impossible to reverse.
In this correct version, the main clause is Citizens Within that subor- dinate clause, environmental damage is the subject of may be. Another way to fix the sentence is to put may be impossible to reverse inside a modifier: Right: Citizens of many countries are expressing concern about the environmen- tal damage caused by the widespread release of greenhouse gases, DAM- AGE THAT mav.
In this correct version, the main clause ends right before the comma. The words damage that may be impossible to reverse provide additional information about the damage men- tioned earlier in the sentence. Which vs. The recent decrease in crime has led to a rise in property values, but decreased is a verb in the sentence.
Whenever you use which, you must be referring to a noun. Here, the neighbor- hood has not led to anything, nor has crime by itself. One way to correct the sentence is to turn the first thought into a noun phrase and make this phrase the subject of the verb in the which clause, eliminating which altogether: Right: The recent decrease in crime in our neighborhood has led to a rise in prop- erty values.
Again, in speech, people often break these rules, incorrectly using which to refer to a previ- ous thought that is not a noun. Do not use your ear for this one. Always test which clauses to make sure that the which refers to the closest pre- ceding main noun and not the whole clause.
Modifier vs. Core Two long nonessential modifiers in a row can lead to awkward or incorrect phrasings: Wrong: George Carlin, both shocking and entertaining audiences across the nation, who also struggled P-UbliclY. In this better sentence, one nonessential modifier is placed before the noun and the other is placed after.
On harder questions, GMAT answers are more likely to rephrase the sentence so that one of the modifiers becomes part of the core of the sentence; that is, it is no longer a modifier. If your first glance reveals a long underline, expect portions of the sentence to move around or even change roles completely in the answers. Here are some examples of correct sen- tences in which the core and modifier portions change: Right: Employing the new lab equipment, the engineer identified the problem quickly.
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