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30 Jan 2021, 19:33
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woohoo921
Both the phrases you are citing are noun modifiers, but they are different variations. Note that in the second example, we don't see "a jazz pianist." When we just see "Baseball legend Hank Aaron" or "Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o," we are just adding a descriptor to clarify who the person is. When we start with a noun phrase followed by a comma--"A gifted dancer," "Trained at Harvard," "A cousin of the salamander," "A friend of mine," "Immoral scoundrels"--etc., we are adding detail to the main noun that may not be helpful in narrowing down whom we are talking about, but does relate to the action that follows. In some ways, these almost work the way that initial adverbial modifiers do, in that they tend to provide insight into how or why the action described was undertaken. For instance, we could say "Baseball legend Hank Aaron died last week." He didn't die because he was a legend; that part just clarifies who he is. It would be odd to say "A baseball legend, Hank Aaron died last week." It almost sounds like his baseball ability had something to do with his death, and that doesn't really make sense. We also wouldn't say "Trained at Harvard, she is my wife's cousin." There's no connection that justifies the inclusion of that initial modifier.
It's hard to make an absolute rule out of any of this, since there are so many reasons to use commas, but hopefully this rough distinction helps. There are cases where a comma seems to make no difference: "My best friend Jay was the minister at our wedding" doesn't differ much in meaning from "My best friend, Jay was the minister at our wedding." We also have to distinguish this from cases where the part after the comma is itself a modifier followed by a comma: "My best friend, Jay, is visiting this weekend." In that case "My best friend" is the subject and "Jay" is just telling us his name.
I hope this helps!
Both the phrases you are citing are noun modifiers, but they are different variations. Note that in the second example, we don't see "a jazz pianist." When we just see "Baseball legend Hank Aaron" or "Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o," we are just adding a descriptor to clarify who the person is. When we start with a noun phrase followed by a comma--"A gifted dancer," "Trained at Harvard," "A cousin of the salamander," "A friend of mine," "Immoral scoundrels"--etc., we are adding detail to the main noun that may not be helpful in narrowing down whom we are talking about, but does relate to the action that follows. In some ways, these almost work the way that initial adverbial modifiers do, in that they tend to provide insight into how or why the action described was undertaken. For instance, we could say "Baseball legend Hank Aaron died last week." He didn't die because he was a legend; that part just clarifies who he is. It would be odd to say "A baseball legend, Hank Aaron died last week." It almost sounds like his baseball ability had something to do with his death, and that doesn't really make sense. We also wouldn't say "Trained at Harvard, she is my wife's cousin." There's no connection that justifies the inclusion of that initial modifier.
It's hard to make an absolute rule out of any of this, since there are so many reasons to use commas, but hopefully this rough distinction helps. There are cases where a comma seems to make no difference: "My best friend Jay was the minister at our wedding" doesn't differ much in meaning from "My best friend, Jay was the minister at our wedding." We also have to distinguish this from cases where the part after the comma is itself a modifier followed by a comma: "My best friend, Jay, is visiting this weekend." In that case "My best friend" is the subject and "Jay" is just telling us his name.
I hope this helps!
20 Feb 2021, 11:25
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jitendra
Im seeing a lot of detail oriented explanations but for the sake of simplicity this is a way of looking at the question that will get you the right answer 80% of the way. If you are down to C & E (which you should be) think about the rules of restrictive and non restrictive modifiers. Nonrestrictive modifiers are always surrounded by commas & usually begin the modifier with the word 'which'. Unlike nonrestrictive modifiers, restrictive modifiers are usually not surrounded by commas and always change the meaning of the sentence.
(E) were the Maya who, without the benefit of the wheel or animal transport, built huge palace and temple clusters
Looking at answer choice E, "without the benefit of the wheel or animal transport" is an essential part of this sentence and will change the meaning of the sentence if it is not there. Thats great that mayans built huge palace and temple clusters, but it is exceptional that mayans built huge palace and temple clusters without the use of the wheel or animal transport. E has a restrictive modifier disguised as a nonrestrictive modifier and that is enough to choose answer choice C over E
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28 Mar 2021, 23:46
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jitendra
Hello GMATNinja AjiteshArun VeritasKarishma AndrewN Skywalker18
I agree with all the problems mentioned above. I wanted to know whether we have a problem with "without the benefit of the wheel or animal transport" in option E. I think there's a problem as in option E it acts as a non-essential modifier. However, this fragment is essential for the meaning of the sentence. Am I correct? If not, could you please correct me?
Thanking you in advance!
