Modifiers , sentence Correction 5th ed , pg 93

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rahul312: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:25 pm

by rahul312 » Wed Jun 20, 2012 4:19 am

Mary buys cookies made with SugarFree ,an artificial sweetener , which tastes as sweet as the corn syrup that her brother loves but where there are fewer calories than in an equivalent amount of corn syrup .

The answer is :
Mary buys cookies made with sugarFree, an artificial sweetener ,which tastes as sweet as corn syrup that her brother loves but which contains fewer calories than does as equivalent amount of corn syrup .

I am confused about this answer . Here we have two back to back modifiers .First one being "an artificial sweetener" and the second one being "which tastes as sweet...." . Is is not incorrect to use back to back modifiers ?

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Jun 20, 2012 4:19 am

1947: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 215; Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:24 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 13 times

by 1947 » Wed Jun 20, 2012 5:58 am

rahul312 wrote:Mary buys cookies made with SugarFree ,an artificial sweetener , which tastes as sweet as the corn syrup that her brother loves but where there are fewer calories than in an equivalent amount of corn syrup .

The answer is :
Mary buys cookies made with sugarFree, an artificial sweetener ,which tastes as sweet as corn syrup that her brother loves but which contains fewer calories than does as equivalent amount of corn syrup .

I am confused about this answer . Here we have two back to back modifiers .First one being "an artificial sweetener" and the second one being "which tastes as sweet...." . Is is not incorrect to use back to back modifiers ?

there is nothing wrong with two back to back modifiers.
an artificial sweetener modifies sugarfree.
which modifies sweetener.
I am not sure if we see 'an artificial sweetener' as non essential and remove it. in that case which will modify sugarFree.

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rahul312: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:25 pm

by rahul312 » Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:18 am

Hi 1947 . Thanks for clarifying .
But i have another question . You say that back to back modifiers are allowed , in that case is it correct to have back to back modifier for the same thing ? that is two back to back modifiers modifying lets say the same noun ?? would that also be correct ??

1947: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 215; Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:24 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 13 times

by 1947 » Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:02 am

rahul312 wrote:Hi 1947 . Thanks for clarifying .
But i have another question . You say that back to back modifiers are allowed , in that case is it correct to have back to back modifier for the same thing ? that is two back to back modifiers modifying lets say the same noun ?? would that also be correct ??

i think that is also allowed

Noun Adj1 Adj2 ---> Adj1 modified Noun, Adj2 modifies Adj1
Noun Adj Adverb ---> Adj modifies Noun, Adverb modifies Adj

I think MGMAT book explains this concept.

If my post helped you- let me know by pushing the thanks button. Thanks

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