harshdeep12 wrote:
mikemcgarry - Hello Mike- sorry for bothering you twice. I just had a small query and was hoping that you could help me with this please. Choice A is by far the best answer choice. I agree with the statements made by the experts above. But, in A, after all, isn't the usage of ed-modifier wrong, because unlike the rest of modifiers- I know as a fact that ed modifier can only modify the closest noun. Is there any exception to this rule? Is there any of the blogs, in which you have addressed this specifically. Once again, really sorry for bothering you with this. Would n't anesthetized be modifying unconciousness in option A, while it should be modifying the patient
Dear
harshdeep12,
I'm happy to respond. :-)
First of all, my friend, please learn the proper terminology: precise use of terminology is one of the prerequisite for precise understanding. What you are calling an "-ed modifier" is actually known as a "
past participle." It's very important to understand
participles and how they function as modifiers.
Next, it important to appreciate the two kinds of modifiers:
noun modifiers and
verb modifiers. As a general rule, with a few notable exceptions, noun modifiers are subject to the
Modifier Touch Rule. Because noun modifiers are always targeting one specific word, there are very strict rules governing their locations, because they have to refer back to that one word.
On the other hand, verb modifiers are a whole other thing. The Touch Rule is 100% irrelevant to verb modifiers. Because a verb modifier, in some sense, is modifying the entire action of the clause, it can appear in a variety of places in that clause, and doesn't need to touch anything in particular.
Participle modifiers are tricky, because they easily can act either as noun modifiers or verb modifiers. We have to be very discerning to figure out what a participle is modifying. We have to apprehend whether it asking a "noun modifying question" (
who? what? what kind? which one?) or a "verb modifying question" (
when? where? how? why?).
Here, I would say "
anesthetized by the medicine" is a clause that answer the question "why?" for the verb "
sank." Why did the soldier sink? Because he was anesthetized. That's the answer to a "why" question, so it's a verb modifier. The Modifier Touch Rule, a formidable rule in the world of noun modifiers, is entirely irrelevant and non-existent in the world of verb modifiers.
Thus, in the spirit of
Joshu's Mu, the most correct answer to your question is the "un-asking" of the question itself. In other words, when all the correct relationships are understood, your question no longer exists.
Does this make sense?
Mike :-)