goelmohit2002 wrote:

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.

Thanks scooby,

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 ?

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).

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).

--

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