Noun modifiers vs Adverbial modifiers

[ClayronP175]

Hello all,

I have been moving through the GMAT Prep guides and have finally reached Sentence Correction book. I've reached a point where I've hit a snag and am having trouble wrapping my mind around the distinction between Noun modifiers and Adverbial modifiers.

In Chapter 4 of the SC Guide it uses the following example to illustrate noun modifiers:

"Happy about his raise, Bill celebrated by taking his friends to dinner."

I thought the above did a great job helping me understand noun modifiers. However, it uses the following example to illustrate adverbial modifiers:

"Exhilarated by the successful product launch, the team celebrated after work."

They seem exactly the same. I can not see or identify adverbial modifiers in the 2nd example, and because they appear so similar I wonder if the first example includes adverbial modifiers. Or if the 2nd example includes noun modifiers.

I would appreciate any help in helping me truly identify noun vs adverbial modifiers in this case as this is truly confusing for me, and I'd like to have a grasp of it before I continue on with problem sets or further reading.

Thanks.

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

This is a really tricky grammar area! In fact, grammarians spend quite a lot of time arguing over issues like this. Remember, you don't need to be a grammar expert: the distinction between noun modifiers and adverbial ones is, for GMAT purposes, a practical one. You're just trying to eliminate wrong sentences, not find out the "absolute truth" about the grammar issue. So, although it's useful to know the basics about modifiers and other grammar topics, if it gets confusing, don't stress about it.

The modifier "Exhilarated by the successful product launch" is controversial. You could say that it's a noun modifier (i.e modifying "the team") or you could say that it's an adverbial one (i.e. they celebrated in an exhilarated way). Either way, it's correctly used.

Perhaps this is a clearer example: "The football smashed the window, making Stacey angry." What's modifying what in this sentence?

[RonPurewal]

the necessary relationships are described here:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... ml#p102559

note that the modifier must relate to BOTH the subject AND the action.

don't worry about "classifying" the modifier -- that's a waste of time (and just creates difficulties that don't even have to exist, as it does here).
just make sure you understand how the modifier works and can make your own sentences using it. if you're good with both of those, then, you're good.