Sentence Correction

The web hanging from the rafters on the ceiling was beautiful, elaborately spun by a black widow spider.

This is the answer to a sentence correction problem from Knewton.

The explanation says that it is correct because "elaborately spun by a black widow spider" is set off by a comma at the end of the sentence, so it correctly modifies the subject of the sentence, "the web."

If 'elaborately spun by a black widow spider' modifies the noun 'the web,' then isn't it an adjective modifier? And if so, doesn't it have to TOUCH the noun it modifies?

I don't understand how this sentence is correct, can someone please clarify?

Kindly post Full question for the benefit of all of us.

It's a Knewton practice question & not in the typical underlined SC format.

The full question is: Which of the following sentences is written correctly? And out of 5 unrelated sentences, the correct answer is:

'The web hanging from the rafters on the ceiling was beautiful, elaborately spun by a black widow spider.'

The explanation was: "elaborately spun by a black widow spider" is set off by a comma at the end of the sentence, so it correctly modifies the subject of the sentence, "the web."

There were 4 other answer choices, but there's no point posting them because they are all incorrect.

Hi there Michael,

"Elaborately..." is an adjectival modifying phrase. Adjectives can modify nouns without touching. (i.e. The grass was green.). Here a verb separates the noun from the adjective describing it.

Usually when we see modifying clauses they come at the beginning of the sentence, and are immediately followed by the noun they modify (this is a common GMAT error):

Staring at her fridge, Ellen realized she needed to go grocery shopping.

This might be why you're confused by this sentence. Consider what this sentence would sound like if one of the two adjectives, "beautiful," was removed, or if the entire 2nd adjective phrase was removed.

The web hanging from the rafters on the ceiling was beautiful.

The web hanging from the rafters on the ceiling was elaborately spun by a black widow spider.

Either way, the sentence still works! Just like our simple "The grass is green" example, we have an adjective separated from its noun by a verb.

Hope this helps!

VivianKerr wrote: Usually when we see modifying clauses they come at the beginning of the sentence, and are immediately followed by the noun they modify (this is a common GMAT error):

Staring at her fridge, Ellen realized she needed to go grocery shopping.

Thank you for the help. I have a follow up question. What do you mean a common GMAT error? The sentence above would be correct on the GMAT, right? Do you mean that in "true English," this is not the typical structure?

So then, if that sentence works. This would also work:

Elaborately spun by a black widow spider, the web hanging from the rafters on the ceiling was beautiful.

right?

michaelfaulkner wrote:

VivianKerr wrote: Usually when we see modifying clauses they come at the beginning of the sentence, and are immediately followed by the noun they modify (this is a common GMAT error):

Staring at her fridge, Ellen realized she needed to go grocery shopping.

Thank you for the help. I have a follow up question. What do you mean a common GMAT error? The sentence above would be correct on the GMAT, right? Do you mean that in "true English," this is not the typical structure?

So then, if that sentence works. This would also work:

Elaborately spun by a black widow spider, the web hanging from the rafters on the ceiling was beautiful.

right?

"Common GMAT error" as in "common source of errors in wrong answer choices". It's something the GMAT likes to test.

^ so does that mean that the sentence is incorrect because the modifier is before the noun it modifies?

And then it should read this way instead?

"Ellen, staring at her fridge, realized she needed to go grocery shopping."

@Michael Sorry, I should have been more clear. My example was correct.

CORRECT:
Staring at her fridge, Ellen realized she needed to go grocery shopping.

"Staring at her fridge" is the modifying phrase. We ask: who or what is staring? The answer is "Ellen," so "Ellen" comes after the comma.

Your sentence would work as well, since in it Ellen is also the person doing the "staring" and the "realizing."

Here would be an example of an error:

INCORRECT: Staring at her fridge, the grocery shopping list was read aloud by Ellen.

Not only is it incorrect because a "list" cannot logically stare at a fridge, but it's also in passive voice.