Some Notes on Modifiers

Given the name ‘verb-ed’, I understand that it’s very natural to expect all of these modifiers to end with ‘ed’. However, that is not the case. Verb-ed modifiers are third forms of the verbs acting as modifiers, and there are many verbs whose third forms don’t end with ‘ed’. Here’s an article on the three forms of the verbs.

I understand the name ‘adverb’ is a bit deceiving. The name seems to suggest that adverbs are related only to verbs. However, that is not the case.

Adverbs can modify anything other than a noun. (Anything that modifies a noun is called an adjective)

Adverbs can modify:

1. Verbs
2. Adjectives
3. Other adverbs

The recent finding is the latest piece of a puzzle that has been confusing planetary scientists since 1973.

What does the dependent clause “that has been confusing…” modify?

Some people believe that a DC (dependent clause) cannot modify ‘puzzle’ since puzzle is a part of a prepositional phrase “of a puzzle”. They believe that the main noun is “the latest piece” and that the DC thus modifies “the latest piece”.

However, this logic is completely made-up and wrong.

The DC can modify ‘puzzle’ or ‘piece’, whatever makes sense in the context. There is NO RULE that a DC (or a verb-ed/verb-ing modifier) cannot modify a noun in a prepositional phrase.

A noun in a prepositonal phrase can be modified by any modifier that can modify a noun, including dependent clauses, verb-ed modifiers, and verb-ing modifiers.

The idea that a noun in a prepositional phrase (PP) cannot be the subject of a clause is CORRECT.

However, a pronoun referring to the noun in a PP CAN BE the subject of a clause.

Thus, ‘that’ and ‘which’ can refer to the noun in a PP and still be the subject of their respective clauses.

A comma+Verb-ing at the end of a clause CANNOT modify the preceding noun; it can modify only the preceding clause and make sense with the subject of the clause. In other words, the subject of the clause can be the doer of the action depicted by the verb-ing modifier. However, the preceding noun has nothing to do with the Comma+Verb-ing modifier that appears at the end of a clause.

When you are trying to find an entity that a modifier is modifying, you should look back from the modifier. You start immediately left to the modifier and travel left from there. You should not start looking for the modified entity from the beginning of the sentence. (This is not applicable for modifiers that appear at the beginning of a clause. There are also a few verb modifiers that appear before the verb.)

At times, the noun modifier (noun modifier means a modifier that modifies a noun) is a verb-ed modifier. Some people confuse the verb-ed modifier with a verb and believe that Noun+Noun modifier construction is an independent clause.

It’s important to note that modifiers do not have tenses; ONLY verbs have tenses.

A modifier takes the tense of the clause of which it is a part. Thus, a verb-ing modifier will depict an action happening in the present ONLY if the clause containing the verb-ing modifier is in present tense. If the clause is in past tense, verb-ing modifier will depict action happening in the past.

For example,

Ria pushed Ram, injuring him severely.

In the above sentence, “injuring” is a verb-ing modifier modifying its preceding clause. 

When did the action of “injuring” happen?

In the past when “pushed” happened.

“Injuring” in itself doesn’t have a tense; it takes the tense of the clause. In this case, the tense was past tense (“pushed” is past tense)

For a verb-ing modifier to modify a clause, the modifier NEEDS to be preceded by a comma. Without a comma, a verb-ing modifier is a regular noun modifier.

Not every time a ‘which clause’ start with ‘which’.

‘Which clause’ can start with a preposition whose object is ‘which’. For example:

1. A thick layer of needles protects the buds from which new growth proceeds
   In this sentence, “from which new growth proceeds” is a ‘which clause’ that modifies the buds. The ‘which clause’ starts with the preposition ‘from’ whose object is ‘which’.
2. Urban areas developed from clusters of houses from which peasants commuted to farmlands in the countryside
   In this sentence, “from which peasants commuted to farmlands in the countryside” is a ‘which clause’ that modifies clusters of houses. The ‘which clause’ starts with the preposition ‘from’ whose object is ‘which’.
3. The hearing sensitivity of monkeys, marmosets, and humans is remarkably similar over a range of frequencies from 100 to 5,000 hertz, above which the sensitivity begins to differ.
   In this sentence, “above which the sensitivity begins to differ” is a ‘which clause’ that modifies a range of frequencies from 100 to 5000 hertz. The ‘which clause’ starts with the preposition ‘above’ whose object is ‘which’.

‘Which clause’ can start with a noun that is modified by a prepositional phrase with ‘which’ as the object of the preposition.

1. The company has undertaken a new project, the costs of which have not been estimated yet.
   In this sentence, “the costs of which have not been estimated yet” is a ‘which clause’ that modifies a new project. The ‘which clause’ starts with the noun ‘the costs’ that is modified by a prepositional phrase “of which” – which is an object of the preposition ‘of’.
2. A frequent result of injuries sustained in falls is long-term pain, medication for which is not counted. 
   In this sentence, “medication for which is not counted” is a ‘which clause’ that modifies long-term pain. The ‘which clause’ starts with the noun ‘medication’ that is modified by a prepositional phrase “for which” – which is an object of the preposition “for”.