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OG-VR2#86- position of adverb

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OG-VR2#86- position of adverb

by sui generis » Wed Jul 25, 2012 11:21 pm
Intar, the oldest Hispanic theater company in New York, has moved away from the Spanish classics and now it draws on the works both of contemporary Hispanic authors who live abroad and of those in the United States.

(A) now it draws on the works both of contemporary Hispanic authors who live abroad and of those
(B) now draws on the works of contemporary Hispanic authors, both those who live abroad and those who live
(C) it draws on the works of contemporary Hispanic authors now, both those living abroad and who live
(D) draws now on the works both of contemporary Hispanic authors living abroad and who are
(E) draws on the works now of both contemporary Hispanic authors living abroad and those

OA: B

I have a conceptual doubt in choice E. For choice E, OG explanations says 'now' modifies the verb and should precede it.

In the last clause (i.e. the underlined part of E), there is only one verb 'draws' and 'now' clearly is an adverb (and cannot function as an adjective) then why does OG comments on the position of adverb.

Also is there a general rule that governs the placement of adverb in case of single verb clause ?

Thanks.
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by kartikshah » Thu Jul 26, 2012 3:15 am
As a general rule, adverbs should be placed near words that they modify.
'now' must modify the verbdraws but in answer choice E, it nonsensically modifies the noun works and hence E must be eliminated.

One more thing, it is not necessary that adverb now must always precede the verb. Depending on where "now" is placed in a sentence, the meaning of the sentence can change dramatically.
Example:

Juan is now coming to our house. (MEANS earlier he wasn't going to/planning to but NOW he is coming)
Juan is coming to our house now. (MEANS he is coming to our house RIGHT NOW!)

Hope this helps!
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by sui generis » Thu Jul 26, 2012 3:30 am
Thanks Kartik for the explanation. I have few more follow up queries.
'now' must modify the verbdraws but in answer choice E, it nonsensically modifies the noun works and hence E must be eliminated.
I wonder how an adverb 'now' modifies a noun 'work'. Shouldn't the adverb by default be assigned to the verb 'draws' ?
Juan is now coming to our house. (MEANS earlier he wasn't going to/planning to but NOW he is coming)
Juan is coming to our house now. (MEANS he is coming to our house RIGHT NOW!)
I understand this construction subconsciously. But if we break it down grammatically, then in the second example 'now' modifies 'is coming' i.e when is Juan coming and in the first one what does 'now' exactly modify ?
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by vk_vinayak » Thu Jul 26, 2012 3:43 am
I wonder how an adverb 'now' modifies a noun 'work'. Shouldn't the adverb by default be assigned to the verb 'draws' ?
'Now' can sometime (mostly during the informal communications) take the role of an adjective.
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by sui generis » Thu Jul 26, 2012 3:52 am
'Now' can sometime (mostly during the informal communications) take the role of an adjective.
I am not sure if that would be the correct reasoning.

Just check here: https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/now?s=t
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by kartikshah » Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:09 am
sui generis wrote:Thanks Kartik for the explanation. I have few more follow up queries.
'now' must modify the verbdraws but in answer choice E, it nonsensically modifies the noun works and hence E must be eliminated.
I wonder how an adverb 'now' modifies a noun 'work'. Shouldn't the adverb by default be assigned to the verb 'draws' ?


Absolutely! You just answered your own query. "now" SHOULD BE assigned to the verb draws and placing it after works is wrong. This is what makes E incorrect.
Juan is now coming to our house. (MEANS earlier he wasn't going to/planning to but NOW he is coming)
Juan is coming to our house now. (MEANS he is coming to our house RIGHT NOW!)

I understand this construction subconsciously. But if we break it down grammatically, then in the second example 'now' modifies 'is coming' i.e when is Juan coming and in the first one what does 'now' exactly modify ?

In both the above constructions now is modifying the verb to come. However, depending on where it is placed in a sentence, the meaning can change.

BTW, some people prefer not to split the verb/infinitive and they might find "Juan is now coming to our house" less preferable to "Now, Juan is coming to our house." Both constructions are correct and convey the same meaning that Juan (who wasn't planning to come to our house earlier) is coming now.

Personally, I subscribe to a a modern view on English grammar that believes that if splits help convey a meaning concisely and help avoid miscues, then splitting verbs is not necessarily incorrect.

Gramatically speaking, now is an adverb indicating time. So its position at the start or end of a sentence is not incorrect.
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by sui generis » Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:21 am
Thanks good elaboration Kartik.

But I still didn't get HOW meaning changes in ex. 1 compared with ex. 2:
Ex1: Juan is now coming to our house. (MEANS earlier he wasn't going to/planning to but NOW he is coming)
Ex2: Juan is coming to our house now. (MEANS he is coming to our house RIGHT NOW!)

And HOW 'now' modifies works in the below sentence:
Intar draws on the works now of both contemporary Hispanic authors living abroad and those in the US.
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by kartikshah » Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:33 am
Because in the second example, now is at the END of the sentence. Adverbs of time CAN BE at the end of a sentence.

Intar...draws...works now... is NOT the end of the sentence. However, if the sentence had been: "Intar, a popular Hispanic theatre company, draws from [blah blah] now. THEN now at the end would have been appropriate.

But because this is NOT the case, it leaves you with you TWO choices:
Place now at the beginning of the sentence: Now Intar ....
OR
Place now in the middle of the sentence, very close to the word it is intended to modify.
Hence Intar.......now draws.....
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by vk_vinayak » Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:21 am
sui generis wrote:
'Now' can sometime (mostly during the informal communications) take the role of an adjective.
I am not sure if that would be the correct reasoning.

Just check here: https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/now?s=t
In E 'now' is (incorrectly) modifying 'work', a noun. Hence it is acting (illogically) as adjective, leading to a bizarro meaning. That's what makes E incorrect.
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by simple_gmat » Thu Jul 26, 2012 8:56 am
Intar, the oldest Hispanic theater company in New York, has moved away from the Spanish classics and now it draws on the works both of contemporary Hispanic authors who live abroad and of those in the United States.

(A) now it draws on the works both of contemporary Hispanic authors who live abroad and of those
(B) now draws on the works of contemporary Hispanic authors, both those who live abroad and those who live
(C) it draws on the works of contemporary Hispanic authors now, both those living abroad and who live
(D) draws now on the works both of contemporary Hispanic authors living abroad and who are
(E) draws on the works now of both contemporary Hispanic authors living abroad and those

If your concern is how to reach to the right answer, here it is.

1. if two clauses are joined by AND without COMMA, it creates run on sentence.

Example:
I was reading and he was playing.---> Incorrect.
I was reading, and he was playing.---> Correct.

This rule eliminates the options A and C.

2. Both X and Y:

Where X and Y must be grammatically and logically parallel.
Look at the options D and E.
D==> both of contemporary Hispanic authors living abroad and who are
It could be both of X and of Y. Eliminate D.

E==> both contemporary Hispanic authors living abroad and those

Now look at the option B. here "Both those.............AND those"has been used.
B maintains parallelism.
Hence B wins.
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by sui generis » Thu Jul 26, 2012 8:56 am
In E 'now' is (incorrectly) modifying 'work', a noun. Hence it is acting (illogically) as adjective, leading to a bizarro meaning. That's what makes E incorrect.
I would like to differ again. As in the presence of a verb, adverb cannot modify a noun.
E.g.
Juan is coming to our house now. (here by no means the adverb 'now' can be construed to modify 'house')

So I guess my doubt remains open.
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:40 am
sui generis wrote:Intar, the oldest Hispanic theater company in New York, has moved away from the Spanish classics and now it draws on the works both of contemporary Hispanic authors who live abroad and of those in the United States.

(A) now it draws on the works both of contemporary Hispanic authors who live abroad and of those
(B) now draws on the works of contemporary Hispanic authors, both those who live abroad and those who live
(C) it draws on the works of contemporary Hispanic authors now, both those living abroad and who live
(D) draws now on the works both of contemporary Hispanic authors living abroad and who are
(E) draws on the works now of both contemporary Hispanic authors living abroad and those

OA: B

I have a conceptual doubt in choice E. For choice E, OG explanations says 'now' modifies the verb and should precede it.

In the last clause (i.e. the underlined part of E), there is only one verb 'draws' and 'now' clearly is an adverb (and cannot function as an adjective) then why does OG comments on the position of adverb.

Also is there a general rule that governs the placement of adverb in case of single verb clause ?

Thanks.
In E, NOW seems to modify not the preceding verb but the ADJECTIVE that follows, implying that the nature of the WORKS changed:
works PREVIOUSLY OF ONE TYPE OF AUTHOR.
works NOW OF BOTH TYPES OF AUTHORS.
Not the intended meaning.
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by sui generis » Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:53 am
Superb, Mitch. Direct to the point.

Thanks for replying.

Could you pls answer another follow-up question on this topic.

Juan is coming to our house now. (MEANS he is coming to our house RIGHT NOW!)
Here meaning is pretty much clear. Now modifies 'is coming', the verb.

Juan is now coming to our house. (MEANS earlier he wasn't going to/planning to but NOW he is coming)
But in this sentence meaning implies whats written in bracket. However, I can't figure out what 'now' is modifying ?
P.S. - Assuming splitting the verb is fine.
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Jul 27, 2012 8:48 am
sui generis wrote:Superb, Mitch. Direct to the point.

Thanks for replying.

Could you pls answer another follow-up question on this topic.

Juan is coming to our house now. (MEANS he is coming to our house RIGHT NOW!)
Here meaning is pretty much clear. Now modifies 'is coming', the verb.

Juan is now coming to our house. (MEANS earlier he wasn't going to/planning to but NOW he is coming)
But in this sentence meaning implies whats written in bracket. However, I can't figure out what 'now' is modifying ?
P.S. - Assuming splitting the verb is fine.
John is coming to our house.
There is no adjective here other than our.
Thus, if an adverb such as NOW is inserted into the sentence, it affects the ACTION.
The placement of now should reflect what ASPECT of the action is being modified.

Instead of MARY, now JOHN is coming to our house.
Instead of MAILING A LETTER, John is now COMING TO OUR HOUSE.
Instead of coming to our house LATER, John is coming to our house NOW.

In each case, now modifies the ACTION: it indicates HOW/UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCE/WHEN John is coming.
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by sui generis » Fri Jul 27, 2012 9:24 am
Thanks a lot Mitch. These examples very much cleared all the doubts.
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