Use of Modifiers
Which sentence among the two is correct ?
- Ocean water, warmed by the sun, evaporates and rises high into the atmosphere.
2. Warmed by the sun, ocean water evaporates and rises high into the atmosphere.
My idea: “Warmed by sun” is an adjective, a modifier that should modify ocean water. This can be seen in second sentence.
Does the first sentence gives the same idea ?
Hi Aditya,
The modifier needs to be places close to what it modifies. As long as the placement doesn’t modify the meaning of the sentence, it’s okay to place the modifier before/after what it modifies.
In your example, there could be a slight change in intended meaning in the first sentence. The order of events is
Warming happens first
Ocean water as a result of being warmed rises
The second sentence conveys the intended meaning perfectly
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue at Singapore, Prime Minister Modi reiterated India’s commitment to open, equal, rules-based globalism, reiterated India’s respect for the law and other nations’ rights, and opposition to protectionism.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue at Singapore is a modifier and the doer of this action, Prime Minister Modi has to immediately follow the modifier. The sentence does this correctly.
Parallelism wise – reiterated X, reiterated Y, reiterated Z or reiterated (X, Y, Z)
It cannot be reiterated X, reiterated Y, Z
Hope this helps!
Thanks Admin.
Well, this was an introductory statement of a newspaper article. I was trying to find if I am able to analyze sentences and their structure, while continuing my sentence correction hands-on.
Yeah, considering parallelism, the sentence conveys different meaning.
Aditya Aryan
Also, Please find below a sentence whether it is correct or it needs aome corrections.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue at Singapore, Prime Minister Modi reiterated India’s commitment to open, equal, rules-based globalism, reiterated India’s respect for the law and other nations’ rights, and opposition to protectionism.
Thanks
Aditya Aryan