Manhattan SC Guide - 6th Edition - Adverbial Modifiers

[RahulB226]

Hi,

I have a general query regarding Past Participle with comma Modifiers, which have been added as Adverbial Modifiers in the 6th edition of this strategy guide and the same were were missing from the 4th and 5th editions of this book. Also, I have not been able to find, in my limited capacity, even a single question in the OG in which past participle with comma modifier is modifying the entire clause or the verb of the clause being modified. Another, reputed GMAT Prep organization also claims, on their blogs, that these Verb-ed modifiers are solely noun modifiers in the GMAT context despite being an adverbial modifier in the outside world.
Is there a reason for this shift from Manhattan Team when they included the past participle with comma as an adverbial modifier?


Please help as I am really confused what to believe, figuring out questions by considering these as noun modifiers becomes easy but I want to ensure that I am not doing the wrong thing and I am aspiring for a high verbal score and hence want to leave no stone unturned.

[RonPurewal]

"comma + __ed" can potentially describe either the preceding noun or the preceding clause/action. for this exam, the only thing you need to know is that it could do either of these things.

if you have further questions about this issue, please cite a specific problem(s). thanks.

[RahulB226]

Thanks for your reply.

I have in my last two months of preparation have always found "comma + _____ed" modifying the preceding noun. I committed mistakes wherever I considered that it is modifying the preceding clause only to find out that it was modifying the preceding noun. Is it safe to assume that it will always modify the preceding noun for GMAT purpose in the absence of any occurrence of it modifying the preceding clause in GMATPREP free stuff, Manhattan 25 Question bank and official guide - 15 problems?

[RonPurewal]

again... you should just know that it could do either of those things.

from the context of the problem, it will ALWAYS be clear what the modifier SHOULD describe (the intended meaning). as long as the intended meaning is either of those two, the modifier is ok.