mundasingh123 wrote:

lunarpower wrote:

mundasingh123 wrote:

2)What does a participial modifier that begins a sentence modify ? action / noun?

what kind of participle?

sorry ron,I should have clarified this
A beginning present participle or a past participle
A present participle
swimming with swift strokes,John crossed over to the other side of the pool.

Who is taking advantage?John.so is "swimming with swift strokes" modifying John
In what manner did he cross ? swimming with swift strokes.So is "swimming with swift strokes" modifying action "crossed"

A past participle:
Compelled by the majority of the oppositional party,the senator decided to support the motion.
Here who is compelled ? John
But cant "Compelled by the majority" also modify "decided to support" as "compelled" describes the reason behind the decision to support.
Thanks ,Ron

basically, it's both -- in order for one of these modifiers to be used correctly, you have to satisfy both of these criteria.

for a PRESENT PARTICIPLE beforehand...
1) the FOLLOWING SUBJECT should be the AGENT OF THE -ING ACTION
AND
2) the FOLLOWING ACTION should be SIMULTANEOUS WITH, and MORE IMPORTANT THAN, the -ING action.

as an illustration of point #2:
using a geiger counter, scientists can determine the intensity of radiation from a radioactive object. --> MAKES SENSE
determining the intensity of radiation from a radioactive object, scientists can use a geiger counter. --> DOESN'T MAKE SENSE
... because the most important thing here is the fact that scientists can determine the intensity of radiation; the fact that they do so using a geiger counter is a subordinate (less important) fact.

--

for a PAST PARTICIPLE beforehand...
1) the FOLLOWING SUBJECT should be DESCRIBED BY THE PAST PARTICIPLE
AND
2) the FOLLOWING ACTION should be AFFECTED BY the action described by the past participle.

to illustrate point #2:
exhausted from a long day, martin had trouble concentrating on his studying. --> MAKES SENSE
exhausted from a long day, martin wore a red shirt --> DOESN'T MAKE SENSE
... because there is no way that being exhausted has any sort of bearing on the color of martin's shirt.

mundasingh123 wrote:MGMAT SC Guide 4th Ed. Page 84, Noun Modifiers :Preposition
On the couch,the cat took a nap.

The opening phrase modifies the cat

mundasingh123 wrote:Hi R
courtest Kaplan Verbal WB
on, going by what you said about how both an opening -prepositional phrase and an ending prepositional phrase modify the verb , both option A and C in the SC (Please find snapshot ) must be correct . But Kaplan says C is correct

duongthang wrote:THANK YOU RON, I WISH TO YOU TO COMMENT

exhausted from a long day, martin wore a red

I think this is correct and "exhausted" here is adjective . we do not need the meaning relation of "exhausted" with the main verb.

determining the intensity of radiation from a radioactive object, scientists can use a geiger counter

this is incorrect because the action of doing happen before and then simultaneous with the action of main clause not because the importance level is considered. importance level is hard to see.

Please, give your idea on this.

duongthang wrote:Ron, can I summarize as following, please, modify. I wish to have a short rule for us.

DOING COMMA IS A ADVERBIAL AND POSITION OF DOING COMMA MUST BE LOGIC WITH THE NOUN AS SUBJECT OF FOLLOWING CLAUSE. DOING COMMA CAN BE AT THE END OF THE CLAUSE.

DOING TOUCHING A NOUN IS AN ADJECTIVAL OF COURSE.

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE COMMA IS AN ADVERBIAL. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE TOUCHING THE NOUN CAN BE ADVERBIAL OR ADJECTIVAL

ED PHRASE COMMA CAN BE ADVERBIAL OR ADJECTIVAL
ED PHRASE TOUCHING THE NOUN IS ADJECTIVAL

Ron, I wish you to change, modify so that we can have a concise, deep and comprehensive rule for these kinds of phrases.