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aalphabet
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ED FORMS - Verbs or Modifiers 15 Jun 2018, 16:14
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however the LItmus test can only be applied to active sentences and not passive sentences correct?
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ED FORMS - Verbs or Modifiers 29 Apr 2020, 01:59
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egmat


Scientists have recently discovered what could be the largest and oldest living organism on Earth, a giant fungus that is an interwoven filigree of mushrooms and root like tentacles spawned by a single fertilized spore some 10,000 years ago and extending for more than 30 acres in the soil of a Michigan forest.

Now let us apply this test on the “giant fungus”. After cutting the flab, this is the core that we get:
…a giant fungus… spawned by a single fertilized pore some 10,000 years ago…

So let’s ask, did “a giant fungus” do the action of “spawning”? The answer is “no” because it is clearly mentioned in the sentence that the action of spawning was done by “a single fertilized pore”. Hence, the litmus test confirms that “spawned” is a verb-ed modifier.

Therefore, to maintain parallelism we need to use a form of “extend” that is used as a modifier. Note that “extended” CAN be a verb-ed modifier. However, we need to find out if this form works in this sentence as a modifier:

…a giant fungus… extended for more than 30 acres in the soil of a Michigan forest.

Did “a giant fungus” do the job of extension? Yes, it did. It is the giant fungus that extends for more than 30 acres. This means that “extended” will work as simple past tense verb in this sentence and not as a modifier. This is the reason why “extended” cannot be used since a verb CANNOT be parallel to a verb-ed modifier.

Let’s once again quickly look at the answer choices:
A. extending
B. extends
C. extended
D. it extended
E. is extending

A quick scan of these choices will tell you that all the answer choices B, C and E are verbs in different forms while Choice E is a clause. Choice A “extending” is the only modifier that describes one of the characteristics of “a giant fungus”. Hence, verb-ed modifier “spawned” and verb-ing modifier “extending” are parallel entities because they both perform the same function, although they differ structurally.

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Hi Shradhha, I found this topic really helpful. Thank you. But I am stuck at why we don't want to use 'extend' as a verb here.

For example, Rahul is a vegetarian and weighs 70 Kgs. In this example, let us consider: 'Rahul' as 'a giant fungus', 'is a vegetarian' as 'the complete description from that is an interwoven....10,000 years ago', and 'and weighs 70 Kgs' as 'and extends for more than 30 acres in the soil of a Michigan forest.'

So the question is why do we want to use 'extend' as a modifier and not as a verb?

Please help me understand where I am wrong.
Thank you in advance. :)
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ED FORMS - Verbs or Modifiers 20 Aug 2020, 12:14
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Hi @e-Gmat,
Verb-Ed modifier
The subject has to be the receiver of the action
Verb-ing modifier
The subject has to be the does of the action

Is it right??
GMATNinja, daagh, Other experts please give your thoughts on this.

Posted from my mobile device
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ED FORMS - Verbs or Modifiers 01 Feb 2021, 08:49
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jabhatta2

By 1940, the pilot Jacqueline Cochran held seventeen official national and international speed records, and she earned them at a time when aviation was still so new for many of the planes she flew to be of dangerously experimental design.


(A) and she earned them at a time when aviation was still so new for many of the planes she flew to be
(B) earning them at a time that aviation was still so new for many of the planes she flew were
(C) earning these at a time where aviation was still so new that many of the planes she flew were
(D) earned at a time in which aviation was still so new such that many of the planes she flew were
(E) earned at a time when aviation was still so new that many of the planes she flew were
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Hi egmat -

In above problem -- just focussing on Earned (past participle modifier) [/color]

Isn't the subject [Jacqueline Cochran] the doer of the "Earning" ? Hence I thought the Earned in option D and Option E makes more sense to play the role of the verb and not a modifier ?

Thoughts ?
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ED FORMS - Verbs or Modifiers 23 Jun 2021, 09:57
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jabhatta2
jabhatta2

By 1940, the pilot Jacqueline Cochran held seventeen official national and international speed records, and she earned them at a time when aviation was still so new for many of the planes she flew to be of dangerously experimental design.


(A) and she earned them at a time when aviation was still so new for many of the planes she flew to be
(B) earning them at a time that aviation was still so new for many of the planes she flew were
(C) earning these at a time where aviation was still so new that many of the planes she flew were
(D) earned at a time in which aviation was still so new such that many of the planes she flew were
(E) earned at a time when aviation was still so new that many of the planes she flew were


Hi egmat -

In above problem -- just focussing on Earned (past participle modifier) [/color]

Isn't the subject [Jacqueline Cochran] the doer of the "Earning" ? Hence I thought the Earned in option D and Option E makes more sense to play the role of the verb and not a modifier ?

Thoughts ?
Show more



Hello jabhatta2,

Thank you for the question. :-)


If one subject has two verbs, then these verbs must be connected by a conjunction. For example, Jack met Jill and gave her the bucket. However, in Choice D and E of this official sentence, there is no conjunction before "[i]earned[/i]". And we know that E is the correct choice for this question. Hence, it is clear that "earned" is a verb-ed modifier in this version of the sentence.

Another thing to notice here is the structure of Choice E. The sentence says that JC held 17 national & international records. If we add "earned" as a verb to this sentence, we would say, "JC held 17 national & international records and earned THEM at a time when...". The use of the pronoun "them" will become imperative to make it clear what JC earned.

In Choice E, "earned" presents additional information about the preceding entity "17 national & international records".


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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ED FORMS - Verbs or Modifiers 23 Jul 2021, 05:51
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egmat
SOLUTION
Identify whether the underlined words are verbs or verb-ed modifiers.

1. Like birds today, Archaeopteryx had feathers that were fully formed.
Formed = simple past tense verb. In the relative pronoun clause, “that” is the subject that stands for “feathers” and the verb for this subject is “were formed”.

2. Our powers of color vision are derived from cells in our eyes called cones, three types in all, each triggered by different wavelengths of light.
Called & triggered = verb-ed modifier
Litmus Test: Did the “eyes” do the action of calling? No. Hence, it’s a modifier.
Did “each” do the job of triggering? No. Different wavelengths of light did that job. Hence, “triggered” is the modifier.

3. As Joel Bregman hoped, dozens of young stars turned up in each of the three dead galaxies—and as an added surprise, they even appeared in Messier 105.
Hoped, turned & appeared = simple past tense verbs for subjects “Joel Bregman”, “dozens of young stars” and “they” respectively.
Added = modifier that modifies “surprise”.

4. Dark matter might actually be produced at the energies explored by the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
Explored = verb-ed modifier
Litmus Test: Will “the energies” do the job of exploring? No. The world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider might do that action. Hence, “explored” is the modifier.

5. A leader guided by sound principles earned immense respect from the masses.
Guided = verb-ed modifier, earned = simple past tense verb for the subject “A leader”.
Litmus Test: Did a leader do the action of guiding? In this context, no. “Sound principles” guided “a leader”. Hence, guided is the modifier.

6. A company founded on sound business principles achieves much higher success.
Founded = verb-ed modifier
Litmus Test: Did a company do the action of founding? In this context no. May be the founder of the company did that job. Hence, founded is the verb-ed modifier.

7. The lamp decorated with stars filled the child’s room with innocent beauty.
Decorated = verb-ed modifier, filled = simple past tense verb for the subject “The lamp”.
Litmus Test: Did the lamp do the action of decorating. No. Hence, it is the modifier.

Correct these sentences if you feel they are incorrect.

1. The lamp decorated the child’s room filled his room with innocent beauty. = Incorrect
Correct = The lamp that decorated the child’s room filled his room with innocent beauty.

2. A leader guided his followers earned immense respect from the masses. = Incorrect
Correct = A leader who guided his followers earned immense respect from the masses.
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But why does "called cones, three types in all, each triggered by different wavelengths of light" not joined using "AND" after all they form a list of modifiers?
Please explain egmat
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ED FORMS - Verbs or Modifiers 31 Jul 2021, 12:16
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kittle


But why does "called cones, three types in all, each triggered by different wavelengths of light" not joined using "AND" after all they form a list of modifiers?
Please explain egmat
Show more


Hello kittle,

Thank you for the question. :-)

The modifier "called cones" modifies the noun "cells in our eyes". The modifier "triggered..." modifies the preceding noun "each". Thei sentire modifier "each triggered...." modifies "three types in all". Since, no two modifiers modify the very same noun entity, there is no list in the sentence.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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ED FORMS - Verbs or Modifiers 04 Jun 2022, 00:42
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egmat
SOLUTION
Identify whether the underlined words are verbs or verb-ed modifiers.

1. Like birds today, Archaeopteryx had feathers that were fully formed.
Formed = simple past tense verb. In the relative pronoun clause, “that” is the subject that stands for “feathers” and the verb for this subject is “were formed”.

2. Our powers of color vision are derived from cells in our eyes called cones, three types in all, each triggered by different wavelengths of light.
Called & triggered = verb-ed modifier
Litmus Test: Did the “eyes” do the action of calling? No. Hence, it’s a modifier.
Did “each” do the job of triggering? No. Different wavelengths of light did that job. Hence, “triggered” is the modifier.

3. As Joel Bregman hoped, dozens of young stars turned up in each of the three dead galaxies—and as an added surprise, they even appeared in Messier 105.
Hoped, turned & appeared = simple past tense verbs for subjects “Joel Bregman”, “dozens of young stars” and “they” respectively.
Added = modifier that modifies “surprise”.

4. Dark matter might actually be produced at the energies explored by the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
Explored = verb-ed modifier
Litmus Test: Will “the energies” do the job of exploring? No. The world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider might do that action. Hence, “explored” is the modifier.

5. A leader guided by sound principles earned immense respect from the masses.
Guided = verb-ed modifier, earned = simple past tense verb for the subject “A leader”.
Litmus Test: Did a leader do the action of guiding? In this context, no. “Sound principles” guided “a leader”. Hence, guided is the modifier.

6. A company founded on sound business principles achieves much higher success.
Founded = verb-ed modifier
Litmus Test: Did a company do the action of founding? In this context no. May be the founder of the company did that job. Hence, founded is the verb-ed modifier.

7. The lamp decorated with stars filled the child’s room with innocent beauty.
Decorated = verb-ed modifier, filled = simple past tense verb for the subject “The lamp”.
Litmus Test: Did the lamp do the action of decorating. No. Hence, it is the modifier.

Correct these sentences if you feel they are incorrect.

1. The lamp decorated the child’s room filled his room with innocent beauty. = Incorrect
Correct = The lamp that decorated the child’s room filled his room with innocent beauty.

2. A leader guided his followers earned immense respect from the masses. = Incorrect
Correct = A leader who guided his followers earned immense respect from the masses.
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Hi egmat

In the first sentence - Like birds today, Archaeopteryx had feathers that were fully formed isn't formed acting as a verb-ED modifier that is an adjective for feathers.
As in the below sentence:
Like birds today, Archaeopteryx had feathers that were magnificent blue
Here blue is definitely an adjective for blue and magnificent an adverb for blue. Isn't fully formed similar to magnificent blue?

Thanks in advance!
DR
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ED FORMS - Verbs or Modifiers 12 Oct 2023, 01:52
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Now let us apply this test on the “giant fungus”. After cutting the flab, this is the core that we get:
…a giant fungus… spawned by a single fertilized pore some 10,000 years ago…

So let’s ask, did “a giant fungus” do the action of “spawning”? The answer is “no” because it is clearly mentioned in the sentence that the action of spawning was done by “a single fertilized pore”. Hence, the litmus test confirms that “spawned” is a verb-ed modifier.

Therefore, to maintain parallelism we need to use a form of “extend” that is used as a modifier. Note that “extended” CAN be a verb-ed modifier. However, we need to find out if this form works in this sentence as a modifier:

…a giant fungus… extended for more than 30 acres in the soil of a Michigan forest.

Did “a giant fungus” do the job of extension? Yes, it did. It is the giant fungus that extends for more than 30 acres. This means that “extended” will work as simple past tense verb in this sentence and not as a modifier. This is the reason why “extended” cannot be used since a verb CANNOT be parallel to a verb-ed modifier.

Let’s once again quickly look at the answer choices:
A. extending
B. extends
C. extended
D. it extended
E. is extending

A quick scan of these choices will tell you that all the answer choices B, C and E are verbs in different forms while Choice E is a clause. Choice A “extending” is the only modifier that describes one of the characteristics of “a giant fungus”. Hence, verb-ed modifier “spawned” and verb-ing modifier “extending” are parallel entities because they both perform the same function, although they differ structurally.

Hey Shradhha, thnx for such detailed explanations. My doubt in the above explanation is not relating to extended vs extending , rather the Subject of these. Isnt 'spawned' & 'extending' describing/modifying the TENTACLE rather the fungus. The roots were 30 m long . Verbed modifier 'spawned' without comma next to tentacles.
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ED FORMS - Verbs or Modifiers 10 Nov 2023, 14:03
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Perhaps the most beautifully explained article. So elaborate yet precise !

Here "explained" is a verb in its past tense and not a modifier.

Perhaps the most beautifully explained article interpreted differently by different folks.

Here "interpreted" is a modifier. Am i right guys?
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ED FORMS - Verbs or Modifiers 02 Nov 2025, 11:47
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