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Dangling modifier confusion: Need clarity

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Dangling modifier confusion: Need clarity

by gmattarget700 » Sun Jul 05, 2009 7:02 pm
Seems, I am unable to grasp the funda of dangling modifier.

Here is what I find in MGMAT book:
The patient's rare disease was treated using novel techniques developed at the medical school. (WRONG)
Correct:
The doctor treated the patient's rare disease by using novel techniques developed at the medical school. (Correct)
OR
The patient's rare disease was treated through the use of novel techniques developed at the medical school. (Correct)

Reasoning given there: "using novel techniques..." modifier is dangling, since the sentence contains no noun that is properly modified by "using novel techniques"...

I dont get it. is "disease" not acting as noun which is modified by "using novel techniques" ?
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by svishal1123 » Sun Jul 05, 2009 9:06 pm
The explanation is right and you are also partially correct.

If you read the explanation carefully, no noun that is properly modified.

"Using" cannot modify "disease". Does not make sense. The disease is not using the techniques.

The doctor (a noun) uses the technique, which is not there in the first sentence. In the third sentence, "using" is removed that is why there is no "doctor". "Use of X" is used instead.
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by goelmohit2002 » Sun Jul 05, 2009 9:40 pm
svishal1123 wrote:The explanation is right and you are also partially correct.

If you read the explanation carefully, no noun that is properly modified.

"Using" cannot modify "disease". Does not make sense. The disease is not using the techniques.

The doctor (a noun) uses the technique, which is not there in the first sentence. In the third sentence, "using" is removed that is why there is no "doctor". "Use of X" is used instead.
Can you please explain the same a bit more....why doctor is not needed in 3rd sentence...

I am able to understand why doctor is required in Ist....

But why it is not required in 3rd.....i am not able to understand.....
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by gmattarget700 » Sun Jul 05, 2009 11:33 pm
me too...still not able to get it...

I have two questions:

Ques 1.

Hi svishal1123,

you said: "Using" cannot modify "disease". Does not make sense. The disease is not using the techniques.

But how come "through the use of" can fit into?

Ques 2:
The doctor treated the patient's rare disease by using novel techniques developed at the medical school. (Correct)

I am not sure why its ok to introduce "doctor" in the sentence....further, my argument might sound weird, but just for argument sake, I can say that it was not treated by doctor but by some advanced Robot machine or something....
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by goelmohit2002 » Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:43 am
gmattarget700 wrote: The doctor treated the patient's rare disease by using novel techniques developed at the medical school. (Correct)

I am not sure why its ok to introduce "doctor" in the sentence....further, my argument might sound weird, but just for argument sake, I can say that it was not treated by doctor but by some advanced Robot machine or something....
I agree gmattarget740....shouldn't the phrase "by using"...placed next to doctor....

IMO Manhattan says that modifier should be placed next to the noun that it modifies....

Manhattan also give one example...

Wrong: Partha is happy to go to picnic, like her friends.
Correct: Partha, like her friends, is happy to go to picnic.

Experts please comment !!!
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by gmattarget700 » Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:48 pm
I would like to hear Experts comment on the need and validity of introducing "Doctor" in the sentence....

But assuming that its valid then, placement of "by using" is fine...because placing "by using..." next to "doctor" would make the sentence not that clear as we have it this way.

Also, I am still not sure how below is correct, per MGMAT:
"The patient's rare disease was treated through the use of novel techniques developed at the medical school."

replacing "by using" with "through the use of" makes it correct sentence!!! I do not get it....

Experts please help!!

goelmohit2002,
please do not raise my bar by renaming me as "gmattarget740"....700 itself is painful....just kiddin :)
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by gmat740 » Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:52 pm
Well, I am not an expert, but here is my approach:
The patient's rare disease was treated using novel techniques developed at the medical school. (WRONG)
Look at the bold part. We clearly need a doctor(Subject) to treat the disease.
The patient's rare disease was treated through the use of novel techniques developed at the medical school. (Correct)
You don't need a subject(doctor) here as the sentence shifts the scope to "the use of novel techniques".

It might be difficult at the beginning about this scope shift, but this method is really very useful(especially doing CR's)

goelmohit2002,
please do not raise my bar by renaming me as "gmattarget740"....700 itself is painful....just kiddin

This is hilarious :D
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by Reva » Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:44 am
can you please explain how sentence shifts the scope to" the use of novel techniques"






gmat740 wrote:Well, I am not an expert, but here is my approach:
The patient's rare disease was treated using novel techniques developed at the medical school. (WRONG)
Look at the bold part. We clearly need a doctor(Subject) to treat the disease.
The patient's rare disease was treated through the use of novel techniques developed at the medical school. (Correct)
You don't need a subject(doctor) here as the sentence shifts the scope to "the use of novel techniques".

It might be difficult at the beginning about this scope shift, but this method is really very useful(especially doing CR's)

goelmohit2002,
please do not raise my bar by renaming me as "gmattarget740"....700 itself is painful....just kiddin

This is hilarious :D
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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:03 am
Hey guys,

Great discussion. One of my favorite things about GMAT sentence correction is that so often the explanations are more "logical" than "grammatical". In that initial explanation, let's look at the word "using". Using is either a verb or a participial modifier...most important is that "using" has a root as an action. Can "the disease" logically "use" techniques to cure itself? Not at all...that's completely illogical.

The takeaway here? If you see a modifier that uses a verb, you have to make sure that the noun being modified could possibly "do" that verb. In the first example, the disease can't "use" anything, so it's inaccurate.

Now, to correct that replacing "using" - an active verb - with "through", which is not, now we don't have that logic problem. "Through" is inactive...it's more a preposition. There's nothing logically wrong with "through" because it doesn't require the disease to actively do anything - its action ("was treated") is now over. And "the use" is offered as a noun, so it doesn't have to have a subject.


As you practice with modifiers, try to notice how often they lend themselves to discussions of just illogical or inaccurate use, and I think you'll find that they're easier to assess that way. With logic as a guide, you can reason your way through most modifier errors without needing to break down unique grammar structures all that often.
Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

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