Modifying With the Word "When" - Noun vs Adverbial Modifier?

Question

Hello, per the advice I’ve seen for Sentence Correction (SC), I purchased the Manhattan Prep SC guide. In the Modifier chapter of the book, it says that relative pronouns, including "when", always signal noun modifiers (except for "that"). However, "when" is then listed later in the same chapter as a subordinating conjunction.

This leads me to the following questions:

1.) Is "when" truly always a noun modifier?

2.) Because "when" is listed as a subordinating conjunction, could it not also act as a subordinator in a subordinate clause?

3.) For instance, would the following be allowed on the GMAT?
 Noun Modifier version  - In 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic caused an economic crisis, many people lost their jobs.
 Adverbial modifier version  - When I eat too much, my stomach hurts.

Please let me know if I should further clarify. Thank you for your time.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  cmschule . You have to be careful with absolutes such as  always  in your application of grammar knowledge. It is much better to approach a given SC question and assess it on its own merits, holistically, looking for any weaknesses. In your sample sentences above,  when  in the first sentence could appear as such on the GMAT™; in the second,  whenever  would be more likely, since the sentence seems to suggest that eating too much, as often as it is done, causes your stomach to hurt. Again, my advice is to tackle practice questions—official ones, whenever possible—to see whether such a split occurs, and also whether it proves to be the decisive factor between two answer choices (or whether there are other issues that may be just as easy to zero in on).

Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

cmschule · Answer

Thank you for your response, MentorTutoring. I have not encountered such an example as the one in the adverbial modifier version in my studies, so I am not too worried about it.

Best,
C

Modifying With the Word "When" - Noun vs Adverbial Modifier?

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