MDCAT ENGLISH: TOPIC # 11

MODIFIERS

BY:
FARAZ AHMED
PGC BAHAWALPUR
 MODIFIERS
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies __ that is,
gives information about another word in the same sentence.

EXAMPLES:

1. I am going to the Café for a vegetarian burger.

2. The boy who was at the store bought cookies.
3. Please take a seat near me.
 MODIFIERS

ADJECTIVE ADVERB DANGLING MISPLACED SQUINTING

1-THE ADJECTIVE
 ADJECTIVE

Noun Pronoun

This is a black horse. He is very clever.

This is a beautiful flower. She is quite happy.

Adjectives answer at least one of these questions.

1. Which one? Yellow, the, that

2. What kind? Plastic, special, curvy
3. How many? Ten, several, many
4. Whose? His, my, her, its
 TYPES OF ADJECTIVE

Attributive Predicative Postpositive

That comes before a noun That comes after a noun/pronoun That comes right after a noun

 Second-hand car  The scream was loud.  Attorney General

 Starry sky  One of the tables is round.  Accounts Payable
 Fractured skull  The sky looks dark.  Time enough
 Long neck  She is very charming.  Poet Laureate
 Narrow path  He is very clever.  The Governor General
ORDER OF ADJECTIVES:
DETERMINER
O OPINION
S SIZE

S SHAPE
C CONDITION
A AGE
C COLOUR

P PATTERN
O ORIGION
M MATERIAL
P PURPOSE

I bought an ugly sleeping cotton bag. NOUN

A B C D
 Coordinative Adjective (VS) Cumulative Adjective

Coordinate Adjective modifies the

Cumulative Adjectives build upon
same noun. They describe the same
each other and be in a certain
feature. They are often called “equal
order. They give different type of
adjectives.”
information.
 Use COMMA between Coordinate
 Don’t use COMMA or AND
Adjectives.
between Cumulative Adjectives.
 Coordinate Adjectives can be
 They cannot be reversed.
reversed.
The elegant, wealthy lady looks like a My new smart phone is awesome.
model. TEST:
TEST:
• The elegant and wealthy lady looks • My new and smart phone is
like a model. (Sounds fine) awesome. (Doesn’t work)
• They wealthy, elegant lady looks • My smart new phone is awesome.
like a model. (Sounds fine) (Doesn’t work)
 RULE#1: RULES OF ADJECTIVE:
When we compare two persons or things, we use comparative
degree of adjective.
Examples:

• He is tallest than his brother. (taller)

• Of the two routes, this is the shortest. (the shorter)
RULE#2:
When we compare more than two persons or things, we use
superlative degree.
Example: • This horse is the swifter of all. (Swiftest)
 RULE#3:
Use of ‘Double Comparative’ and ‘Double Superlative’ is wrong.
Examples:
• My pen is more better than yours. (better)
• He is the most cleverest boy of all. (cleverest)
RULE#4:
We use “to” instead of “than” after the following adjectives,
“senior, junior, superior, inferior, prior, prefer, anterior,
posterior, exterior, ulterior, major, minor.”
Example: • He is senior than me. (to)
 RULE#5:
“Incomparable adjectives” describe absolute states or
conditions. Modifiers like ‘more’ ‘most’ and ‘less’ do not apply
to them, and they do not have comparative and superlative
forms. “complete, ideal, perfect, extreme, circular, unique, chief, empty, full,
supreme, impossible, universal, entire, preferable, favourite, absolute,
adequate, sufficient, infinite, main, fatal, final, fundamental, inevitable.”
Examples:
• This building is the most perfect than that. (Incorrect)
• This building is perfect. (Correct)
 RULE#6:
‘Some’ is used in Affirmative Sentences and sentences having
offer or request whereas ‘Any’ is used in Negative and
interrogative sentences.
Examples:
• I do not have some money. (any)
• He gave me any water to drink. (some)
• Have you bought some bread? (any)
• Would you like any water? (some)
But ‘any’ can be used after ‘if’ in affirmative sentences.
Example:
• If you need any money I will help you. (Correct)
 RULE#7:
Elder and Eldest are used only of persons, not of animals or
things; and are now confined to same family members.
Elder is not used with ‘than’ following. While older and oldest
are used for both persons and things.
Examples:
• She is elder than I. (older)
• He is my older brother. (elder)
• This is the eldest temple in Rome. (oldest)
• He is my oldest son. (eldest)
 RULE#8:
‘Farther’ means distance, ‘further’ means additional.
Examples:
• He went further than I. (farther)
• After this he made no farther remarks. (further)
RULE#9:
A comparison that is not logical is called faulty comparison.
Items that are compared must be similar.
• This book is better than Usman. (Incorrect)
• This book is better than that of Usman. (Correct)
• This book is better than Usman’s. (Correct)
 RULE#10:
While comparing ‘one thing or person’ with ‘all the other
things or persons’, we use ‘than any other’ after comparative
degree of adjective.
Examples:
• Iqbal is greater than any poet. (Incorrect)
• Iqbal is greater than any other poet. (Correct)
RULE#11:
‘Less’ is used before quantity ‘fewer’ is used before ‘Number’.
Example:
• Less than fifty passengers were killed in bus accident. (fewer)
 RULE#12:
After the verbs of senses (taste, smell, see, feel, sound,
look), we use adjective and not adverb (ending at ly).
Examples:
• Oranges taste bitterly. (bitter)
• These flowers smell badly. (bad)
RULE#13:

“Later, Latest” refer to time, “Latter and Last” refer to position.

Examples:
• I reached at 10 am. But he was latter than I expected. (later)
• I have not heard the last news. (latest)
• The later chapters are lacking in interest. (latter)
 RULE#14:
If both the clauses of a sentence start with a comparative
degree, article ‘The’ is used before both the comparative
degrees.
Examples:
• Higher you go, cooler it is. (Incorrect)
• The higher you go, the cooler it is. (Correct)
RULE#15:
“Worth-reading, worth-seeing” all the worth + ing expressions are
used after the noun they qualify.
Example:
• The Merchant of Venice is a worth-reading book. (Incorrect)
• The Merchant of Venice is a book worth-reading. (Correct)
 RULE#16:
‘too much’ is used before a noun, while ‘much too’ is used before
an adjective.
Examples:
• His rude behavior gave too much pain. (Correct)
• The room is much too small. (Correct)
RULE#17:
Ordinal adjectives like first, second, third, next, last, etc are used
before cardinal adjectives like, one, two, three, four, etc.
Examples:
• The first three pages of this book are interesting. (Correct)
• I saw the last two scenes of the movie. (Correct)
 RULE#18:

‘too’ means ‘more than required’ normally used in unpleasant

adjectives with a phrase too…….to…, while ‘very’ means ‘in a great
degree’ normally used with both pleasant adjectives.
Examples:
• I am too happy today. (Incorrect)
• I am very happy today. (Correct)

• The water is very hot to drink. (Incorrect)

• The water is too hot to drink. (Correct)
 RULE#19:
Adjectives ending with –ly must not be used as an adverb, instead,
they be replaced into ‘in a manner’ phrase, e.g. silly, lively, cowardly,
friendly, miserly, orderly, lovely, likely, ugly, deadly, etc.
Examples:
• He speaks friendly. (Incorrect)
• He speaks in a friendly manner. (Correct)

• They keep the dishes orderly. (Incorrect)

• They keep the dishes in an orderly manner. (Correct)
 RULE#20:
All the Adjectives which refer to the same Noun should
be in the same degree of comparison.
Examples:
• He is the wisest and honest worker in the office. (Incorrect)
• He is the wisest and most honest worker in the office. (Correct)
2-THE ADVERB
 THE ADVERB:
An adverb is a word or set of words that modifies verbs, adjectives, or
other adverbs.
Adverbs answer how, when, where, why, or to what extent—how
often or how much (e.g. daily, completely, sometimes, often, etc.).
Examples:
• He speaks slowly. (tells how)
• He speaks very slowly. (the adverb very tells how slowly)
• She arrived today. (tells when)
• She will arrive in an hour. (this adverb phrase tells when)
 TYPES OF ADVERB:
Adverb of Time: Today, last night, yesterday, now, tomorrow, last month, before…
Adverb of Place: Here, there, inside, outside, etc
Adverb of Manner: Badly, beautifully, carefully, quickly, softly, lately, hardly,
late, hard, truly, fast, easily, fully, automatically…
Adverb of Frequency: Always, everyday, usually, normally, generally, often,
frequently, occasionally, seldom, never, rarely, etc.
Adverb of Affirmation/negation: Probably, perhaps, definitely, obviously,
certainly, truly, exactly....
Adverb of Degree: Very, quite, fairly, extremely, too, enough, so, almost, a lot...
Adverbs of Reason: Hence, therefore, etc.
 RULES OF ADVERB:
RULE#1:
Adverbs such as ‘always’, ‘never’, ‘ever’, ‘often’, ‘sometimes’,
‘seldom’, ‘soon’, ‘almost’, ‘scarcely’, ‘nearly’, ‘hardly’, ‘even’, are
placed before the principal verb.
Examples:
• He comes often late. (Incorrect)
• He often comes late. (Correct)
EXCEPTION: with the verb ‘to be’ these adverbs are placed after
the verb ‘be form’.
Example: I am nearly at the end of my scholarship. (Correct)
 RULE#2:
Adverb of definite time can be placed either at the end of the
sentence, or at the beginning ( if you want to emphasize the time.)
Examples:
• I broke my leg last week. (Correct)
• Two months ago, they didn’t even have a place to live. (Correct)
RULE#3:
‘Too’ means more than required and it is used with Unpleasant
Adjective. So, we cannot use too glad, too happy, too pleasant,
too healthy.
Example: • I am too glad to meet you. (Incorrect)
• I am very glad to meet you. (Correct)
 RULE#4:
Too much + Noun Much too + Adjective
Examples:
• His failure is too much painful for me. (Incorrect)
• His failure is much too painful for me. (Correct)

• His success gives him much too pleasure. (Incorrect)

• His success gives him too much pleasure. (Correct)
 RULE#5:
Two negatives cancel each other. Hence two negatives should
not be used in the same sentence unless we make an
affirmation.
Examples:
• I have not got none. (Incorrect)
• I have not got any. (Correct)

• He has not done nothing wrong. (Incorrect)

• He has not done anything wrong. (Correct)
 RULE#6:
'Hard' means 'diligently', strenuously', 'Hardly' means 'scarcely at
all'. These two Adverbial forms of 'hard' must not be confused.
Examples:

• He tried hardly to win the race. (Incorrect)

• He tried hard to win the race. (Correct)

• He did hard anything to compete. (Incorrect)

• He did hardly anything to compete. (Correct)
 RULE#7:
STILL------ affirmative sentences
(VS)
YET------ negative sentences
Example:
 He has not yet returned the money.
 He was sick but he still went to work.

RULE#8:
‘GOOD’ is an Adjective, ‘WELL’ is an Adverb.
Example:

 You did a good job. (Good describes the job.)

 You did the job well. (Well answers how.)
 RULE#9:
“Only” should be used before the word it qualifies.
Example:
• I only want a cup of tea. (Incorrect)
• I want only a cup of tea. (Correct)
RULE#10:
When a sentence contains two or more than two kinds of
adverbs, the following order is observed.
Adverb of manner____Adverb of place_______Adverb of time. (MPT)
Example:
Our team played well in the ground yesterday.(Correct)
M P T
 RULE#11: MUCH (vs) VERY
(A) VERY is used with positive degree and MUCH is used with comparative degree.
Examples:  The air is very hot today.
 The air is much hotter today than yesterday.
(B) VERY is used with Present Participle and MUCH is used with Past participle.

Examples:  It is very surprising for me.

 I was much surprised at hearing the news.
(C) MUCH or VERY with Past Participles:
(a) When a past participle is part of a passive verb, we can put ‘much’ or
‘very much’ before it, but not ‘very.’
Examples:  He is much admired by his students.
 Pakistan’s trade position has been much weakened by inflation.
(b) When a Past Participle is used as an adjective, we usually prefer very. This
is common with words referring to mental states, feelings and reactions.
Examples:  The children were very bored.
 She looked very surprised.
 They were very pleased to meet us.
 RULE#12:
‘Enough’ can modify an adjective or an adverb or it can go with a noun.

‘Enough’ comes after adjectives and adverbs.

Examples:  I am afraid your work just isn’t good enough.
 I couldn’t write quickly enough and I ran out of time

‘Enough’ comes before nouns.

Examples:  There isn’t enough bread to make sandwiches.
 Have you got enough money?

‘Enough’ can be placed after nouns as a postpositive adjective.

Examples:
 There will be time enough to tell you when we meet.
3-MISPLACED MODIFIERS
 MISPLACED MODIFIERS:
A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is
improperly separated from the word it modifies or describes.
Example:
• On his way home, Mark found a gold man’s watch.
• On his way home, Mark found a man’s gold watch.
 MISPLACED MODIFIERS:
Misplaced modifiers generally take one of four forms:
1. Misplaced Adjectives
Examples:
• The child ate a cold dish of cereal for breakfast this morning. (Incorrect)
• The child ate a dish of cold cereal for breakfast this morning. (Correct)

• The torn student’s book lay on the desk. (Incorrect)

• The student’s torn book lay on the desk. (Correct)
 2. Misplaced Adverbs

Examples:
• This will only take five minutes. (Incorrect)
• This will take only five minutes. (Correct)

• I nearly earned a hundred dollars. (Incorrect)

• I earned nearly a hundred dollars. (Correct)

• We ate the dinner that we had brought slowly.(Incorrect)

• We slowly ate the dinner that we had brought. (Correct)
 3. Misplaced Phrases

Examples:
• The dealer sold the car to the buyer with leather seats. (Incorrect)
• The dealer sold the car with leather seats to the buyer. (Correct)

• The three bankers talked quietly in the corner smoking pipes. (Incorrect)
• The three bankers smoking pipes talked quietly in the corner. (Correct)
• We served burgers to the children on paper plates. (Incorrect)
• We served burgers on paper plates to the children. (Correct)
 4. Misplaced Clauses

Examples:

• The waiter served a dinner roll to the woman that was well buttered. (Inc.)
• The waiter served a dinner roll that was well buttered to the woman. (Correct)

• The student pleaded with the instructor who cheated on the test. (Inc.)
• The student who cheated on the test pleaded with the instructor. (Correct)
4-DANGLING MODIFIERS
 DANGLING MODIFIERS:
A dangling modifier is a phrase or clause that does not logically modify
any word in the sentence in which it appears. Although most commonly
found at the beginning of the sentence, the dangling modifier may be
located at the end of the sentence, too.
Example-1:
• When nine years old, my mother enrolled in medical school. (Incorrect)
This suggests that my mother enrolled in medical school when she was
nine years old.
Example-2:
• Sitting in the dentist’s chair, the sound of the drill made Larry sweat. (Incorrect)
 How to Correct Dangling Modifiers
Example-1:
• When nine year old, my mother enrolled in a medical school. (Incorrect)
• When I was nine year old, my mother enrolled in a medical school. (Correct)
• When nine year old, my mother enrolled me in a medical school. (Correct)

Example-2:
• Sitting in the dentist’s chair, the sound of the drill made Larry sweat. (Incorrect)
• As Larry was sitting in the dentist’s chair, the sound of the drill made
him sweat. (Correct)
• Sitting in the dentist’s chair, Larry sweated at the sound of the drill. (Correct)
 Example-3:

Soaring through the sky, Brenda watched the high-powered jet. (Incorrect)
Brenda watched the high-powered jet soaring through the sky. (Correct)

Example-4:
• Walking to the movies, the cloud drenched Jim. (Incorrect)
• Walking to the movies, Jim was drenched by the cloud. (Correct)
• While Jim was walking to the movies, the cloud drenched him. (Correct)
4- Squinting MODIFIERS
 Squinting Modifier

A squinting modifier is a modifier misplaced so that it

may describe two situations.
Examples:
• I told my son when the movie was over I would play with him.
Does it mean I told my son when the movie was over?
(OR)
Does it mean that I would play with him when the movie was over?

• I told my son that I would play with him when the movie was over.

• The teacher said on Monday she would return our essays.

• The teacher said she would return our essays on Monday.

Thank You