5.2 Sentence Correction: Modifiers, Pronouns & Style

Modifiers, Pronouns, and Style

Beyond basic grammar, the Executive Assessment tests logical predication—whether a sentence actually means what it intends to mean. Modifiers and pronouns are the primary mechanisms by which logical meaning is either preserved or destroyed.

Misplaced & Dangling Modifiers

A modifier is a word or phrase that describes another part of the sentence. The golden rule for modifiers is proximity: a modifier should be placed as close as possible to the noun it modifies.

Introductory Modifying Phrases When a sentence begins with a modifying phrase (often a participial phrase ending in -ing or -ed) followed by a comma, the noun immediately following that comma must be the logical subject of the action in the phrase.

• Incorrect: Exhausted from the long flight, the presentation was delivered poorly by the executive. (This implies the presentation was exhausted.)
• Correct: Exhausted from the long flight, the executive delivered the presentation poorly.

Relative Clauses (Which vs. That) Relative pronouns (which, that, who, whom, whose) introduce dependent clauses that modify nouns.

• Who/Whom: Used for people. (Who is the subject, whom is the object).
• Which/That: Used for things.

A crucial distinction on the EA is between which and that:

• That introduces a restrictive (essential) clause. It narrows down the noun and is NOT set off by commas. (e.g., The contract that we signed yesterday is binding.)
• Which introduces a non-restrictive (non-essential) clause. It provides extra information and MUST be set off by commas. (e.g., The contract, which we signed yesterday, is binding.)

EA Trap: Using "which" without a comma, or using "which" to refer to an entire preceding clause (it must refer to a specific noun).

• Incorrect: The firm raised its profit guidance, which pleased investors. (What pleased investors? The guidance itself, or the act of raising it?)
• Correct: The firm raised its profit guidance, a move that pleased investors.

Pronoun Antecedent Agreement & Ambiguity

A pronoun (it, they, their, them, this, that) stands in for a noun. That noun is called the antecedent.

1. Agreement Pronouns must agree in number with their antecedents. Singular nouns take singular pronouns; plural nouns take plural pronouns.

• Trap: Treating corporate entities as plural.
• Incorrect: The company announced that they will be laying off workers.
• Correct: The company announced that it will be laying off workers. (In standard written English, words like company, government, board, team, university are singular entities).

2. Ambiguity A pronoun must refer clearly to one and only one noun. If there are multiple possible nouns of the same number and gender, the pronoun is ambiguous.

• Incorrect: When the manager spoke to the employee, he was visibly upset. (Who was upset? The manager or the employee?)
• Correct: The manager was visibly upset when speaking to the employee.

3. The Vague "This" or "That" Often in speech, we use "this" or "that" to refer to an entire situation. In EA writing, "this" or "that" should be accompanied by a noun if referring back to a concept.

• Incorrect: Profits fell by 10%; this caused panic.
• Correct: Profits fell by 10%; this decline caused panic.

Idiom Precision

The English language is full of specific idiomatic phrasing that does not follow strict logical rules but is established by convention. The EA tests a handful of standard idioms.

Key Idioms:

• Consider: Consider X Y (NOT: consider X to be Y, consider X as Y)
  • Correct: The board considers the merger a success.
• Regard: Regard X as Y
  • Correct: The CEO is regarded as a visionary.
• Distinguish: Distinguish X from Y (OR Distinguish between X and Y)
  • Correct: It is difficult to distinguish the fake artwork from the real one.
• Think of: Think of X as Y
• Target: Target X at Y
• Prohibit: Prohibit X from [verb]ing

Concision & Redundancy

When two choices are both grammatically correct and logically sound, choose the more concise one. However, do not sacrifice clarity for brevity.

Redundancy Traps to Avoid:

• The reason... is because (Use: The reason... is that)
• Although... yet/but (Use one or the other, not both)
• Whether or not (Use: whether, unless meaning "regardless of whether")
• Past history, new innovation, annual... per year

Incorrect: The reason the launch failed is because they did not test the software. Correct: The reason the launch failed is that the company did not test the software.