banerjee06 wrote:
Hi Experts,
Here is a trouble I am facing with this questions. Although the answer can be derived very quickly through other splits, my questions is regarding the usage of verb-ed modifiers.
In a separate post on gmatclub by
e-gmat it said two things:
1. verb-ed modifies preceding noun
2. if the subject of the sentence is the doer of the action it is not a verb-ed modifier
if i apply those two rules to this problem I get earned is not a modifier since JC the pilot earned them and she is the subject.
Also, even if we considered earned a modifier it is modifying the records.
So as far as my understanding goes if i were to pick the options basis of modifiers -ing vs -ed i would have taken earning instead of earned, and that as the answer key suggests would have been incorrect. What am I missing here??
Tagging the experts I know:
sayantanc2k,
mikemcgarry,
egmat,
carcassResponding to a PM......
"Now my question is I used the following rules to identify whether the -ed form is a verb or a verb-ed modifier:
1. The subject should not be the doer of the verb-ed action (I read it from a separate post by
e-gmat).
Kindly advise if this rule is the correct one to go by? If not what should I use as a rule to understand if the verb-ed form is a modifier or not."
The rule is correct as long as it is meant that the verb-ed modifier does not refer to the subject. A verb-ed structure can STILL be a modifier if the subject is the doer of the action, but in this case the verb-ed modifier would refer to not the subject, but some other noun in the sentence.
I would say, the folowing method is intuitive for some (for me as well) to identify whether verb-ed construction is a verb or a past participle:
1. Verb-ed structure has only two uses: Verb (simple past), Past participle.
2. FIRST task is to identify the main verb of the sentence. (in general, this is an excellent practice to solve SC questions, not just to identify the verb-ed modifier)
3. If it is not found, then the verb-ed could be the main verb.
4. If it is found, then too the verb-ed could be a second main verb , if it is added with a conjunction "and" / "but".
5. If a main verb is found and the verb-ed construction is NOT added by a conjunction, then it could be a participle.
The above is not as complicated as it may appear - the process is intuitive and naturally occurs while analysing - let us take option E in the question:
What is the main verb? "held"
Can "earned" be a second main verb? No, since there is no conjunction. Thus "earned" is a past participle.
Nonetheless as per the rule above, "earned " would not refer to the subject (JC), but to something else in the sentence (records).