if the opening modifier describes a noun- it is a noun modifier. noun modifiers must be next to the noun modified.
if it modifies the action/verb- or anything except the noun- it is an adverbial modifier.
Why the opening modifier act in two different ways
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Thanks scooby,scoobydooby wrote:if the opening modifier describes a noun- it is a noun modifier. noun modifiers must be next to the noun modified.
if it modifies the action/verb- or anything except the noun- it is an adverbial modifier.
But...what you say seems correct theoretically....but in the above two examples that we discussed the two modifiers are playing two different roles?
For e.g. In a previous design, the weight....
= Preposition modifier.
In addition to having more protein than wheat does, the protein....
= Noun modifier ?
what makes them two different modifiers....both look to be starting with in ?
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even before getting into the technicalities of the prepositional/noun modifiers, it is easy to see that the clause after the modifier cannot start with protein- as it does not make sense to say "proteins contain more proteins. we are left with B and D.
"higher quality" is better than "higher in quality".
"higher quality" is better than "higher in quality".
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there's a pretty big problem here: you're conflating the grammatical structure of a modifier (e.g., prepositional modifier) with the purpose of the modifier (e.g., adverbial modifier).goelmohit2002 wrote:Thanks scooby,scoobydooby wrote:if the opening modifier describes a noun- it is a noun modifier. noun modifiers must be next to the noun modified.
if it modifies the action/verb- or anything except the noun- it is an adverbial modifier.
But...what you say seems correct theoretically....but in the above two examples that we discussed the two modifiers are playing two different roles?
For e.g. In a previous design, the weight....
= Preposition modifier.
In addition to having more protein than wheat does, the protein....
= Noun modifier ?
what makes them two different modifiers....both look to be starting with in ?
note that, for absolutely any modifier that you see, BOTH of these categorizations will exist.
for instance, let's look at the modifier with which you opened this post:
In a previous design, the weight of the discus used in track competition is concentrated in a metal center
here, the opening modifier may be described as follows:
GRAMMATICALLY, it's a "prepositional modifier" (because it starts with the preposition in)
FUNCTIONALLY, it's an "adverbial modifier" (because it puts the ENTIRE FOLLOWING CLAUSE in a time context)
these 2 descriptions are BOTH accurate. they are not at odds with one another.
* ultimately, it's only the latter one (functionality) that makes any difference at all - i.e., you don't ever need to know that it's called "prepositional", but you DO need to know what function it's supposed to serve.
* however, the grammatical category can sometimes help you identify the functionality of the modifier.
REMEMBER THAT YOU ULTIMATELY DO NOT CARE ABOUT GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES. YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT WHAT MODIFIERS DO (i.e., functionality).
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for instance:
the general forced his regiment to retreat, a tactic that led to the loss of 500 soldiers and three weeks' worth of supplies.
let's consider the modifier "a tactic that..."
* grammatically: i actually have NO IDEA what this modifier is called, in grammatical terms. seriously, i have no clue.
* functionally: i know that this modifier can be used to describe the entire action of the preceding clause (unlike, say, "which", which wouldn't work here since there's no noun to which it can apply). this is all i have to know.
hope that helps
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.
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Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
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Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
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Learn more about ron