Gmat which modifier

Subject after comma Look at the part of the sentence before the comma. This is the modifier. It modifies or changes the rest of the sentence in some way. What is the verb in the modifier? What is the subject of the verb? You may notice that in the modifier there is no subject for this verb.

This makes the modifier a dangling modifier. It is not connected to the rest of the sentence properly. The rule is that the correct subject of the verb must come immediately after the comma. To determine what the subject is, you can ask yourself the question: Who or what performed the action? The answer to that question gives you the subject.

It cannot be the trees looking out the window. The correctly written sentence would become: Looking out the window, she saw the trees. This question may seem relatively simple. Often sentences involving dangling modifiers can be relatively long, perhaps up to four lines long. Another strategy, in some contexts, might be to use a participial phrase. Unlike relative clauses, which can modify only nouns, participial phrases are much more flexible. A participle or participial phrase can modify a noun, or a verb, or an entire clause.

In this case, the sentence would be:. If you have further questions about modifiers, or any thoughts you would like to share, please let us know in the comments section following the solutions below. But what do they modify? Split 2 : Pronoun problem. The GMAT does not like this construction. Because of this, A is wrong. It would be correct to write either:. Both of these statements are correct.

By contrast, the following is a diction mistake:. The GMAT has objections to this construction in certain cases see the linked blog. These two are incorrect because of this. Split 3 : the modifier. Would everyone agree both of those prepositions are vital noun modifiers? This makes A questionable. Split 4 : notice that version C has no main verb — it commits the missing verb mistake. Split 2 : choice B makes the classic repeated pronouns mistake. B is incorrect. These are challenging ones.

Those two are wrong. This is a promising choice. Choice D makes the missing verb mistake — there is no main verb in that version. So, we need to correct it. And it can be corrected by simply rewording the sentence as shown. To grill the chicken properly , you must pre-heat the oven before placing the chicken in it.

As we saw in the previous section, there are multiple ways to correct sentences. Likewise, we can correct this misplaced modifier error as well with another method. You must pre-heat the oven before placing the chicken in it to properly grill the chicken. Designed for drivability in rocky terrain , the car manufacturer released its new truck with hummer-like design. Per this sentence, it appears as the car manufacturer was designed for being driven in the rocky terrain.

This is because of the placement of the modifier. And clearly, it is non-sensical. This can be corrected in multiple ways:. The underlying principle behind a correctly written sentence is that it should communicate the intended meaning without any ambiguity whatsoever.

We can follow a consistent approach to address such errors. Here is the step by step process:. Log in to the free trial. If you are planning to take the GMAT, we can help you with a personalized study plan and give you access to quality online content to prepare.

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About Us. What our students say. Toggle navigation. Published May 19, GMAT introduces two kinds of errors pertaining to modifiers.