GMAT Verbal : Correcting Modifier Placement Errors
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Example Questions
Example Question #1561 : Sentence Correction
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English.
We couldn't find our tent among the thousands that lined the shoreline, with its unusual flag; someone must have taken down the flag.
We couldn't find the tent among the thousands that lined the shoreline, with its unusual flag
We couldn't find our tent, with its unusual flag, among the thousands that lined the shoreline
We couldn't find our tent among the thousands that lined the shoreline with its unusual flag
We couldn't find our tent among the thousands that lined the shoreline, ours with its unusual flag
We couldn't find our tent among the thousands that lined the shoreline, our tent with its unusual flag
We couldn't find our tent, with its unusual flag, among the thousands that lined the shoreline
The problem here comes down to a misplaced modifier. The incorrect answer choices do not place the modifying phrase next to the correct noun "our tent." It may seem like the shoreline had an "unusual flag," but the clause that follows seems to suggest otherwise. It is important to understand the sentence as a whole before attempting to resolve subtle problems.
Example Question #34 : Correcting Misplaced Or Interrupting Modifier Errors
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English.
As an English as a Foreign Language instructor, one must help students mediate between their respective cultures, at an international university, and the cultural context in which said students are immersed.
At an international university and as an English as a Foreign Language instructor, one must help students mediate between their respective cultures
As an English as a Foreign Language at an international university instructor, one must help students mediate between their respective cultures
As an English as a Foreign Language instructor at an international university, one must help students mediate between their respective cultures
At an international university but as an English as a Foreign Language instructor, one must help students mediate between their respective cultures
As an English as a Foreign Language instructor, one must help students mediate, at an international university, between their respective cultures
As an English as a Foreign Language instructor at an international university, one must help students mediate between their respective cultures
The central problem here is modifier placement. The modifier "at an international university is most appropriate when written as part of the dangling modifier at the beginning of the sentence: "As an English as a Foreign Language instructor at an international university,". The other answer choices result in a modifier which inappropriately interrupts the sentence. Note the importance of thinking about the answer choices as they relate to the sentence as a whole.
Example Question #1563 : Sentence Correction
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English.
A dedicated student can pursue a career as a technician or data manager, a teacher, or a programmer after he or she graduates from our technical institute with a degree in computer science, depending on his or her area of expertise.
Depending on his or her area of expertise, after graduating from our technical institute with a degree in computer science, a dedicated student can pursue a career as a technician, data manager, teacher, or programmer.
Depending on his or her area of expertise, a dedicated student can, after graduating from our technical institute with a degree in computer science, pursue a career as a technician, data manager, teacher, or programmer.
A dedicated student can pursue a career as a technician or data manager, a teacher, or a programmer after he or she graduates from our technical institute with a degree in computer science, depending on his or her area of expertise.
A dedicated student can pursue a career as a technician or data manager or a teacher or a programmer after he or she graduates from our technical institute with a degree in computer science, depending on his or her area of expertise.
A dedicated student can, depending on his or her area of expertise, after graduating from our technical institute with a degree in computer science, pursue a career as a technician, data manager, teacher, or programmer.
Depending on his or her area of expertise, after graduating from our technical institute with a degree in computer science, a dedicated student can pursue a career as a technician, data manager, teacher, or programmer.
Eliminate the choices that incorrectly imply that the degree in computer science depends on the student's area of expertise. The modifier “depending on his or her area of expertise” is misplaced. Eliminate the choices that contain obvious errors in parallelism, such as excessive use of the conjunction "or". The correct choice will not show any modifier errors and will have no errors in syntactical logic.
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