Modifiers in Science Writing
2021-11-05
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1Imagine you are learning about a science.
2Perhaps you want to read a science book, science news, or scientific research in English.
3There are certain structures that are common to all of these kinds of writing.
4In today's Everyday Grammar, we will explore the connection between science writing and modifiers - a word or group of words that describes another word or group of words.
5Let's start with a few important terms and ideas.
6In grammar, the word "modifier" includes several groups of terms - adjectives, participles, prepositional phrases, appositives, and more.
7Modifiers can appear before or after a noun.
8A noun and its modifiers can create a noun phrase - a group of words that acts like a noun in a sentence.
9Let's consider an example.
10You might read about "an interesting study."
11The words "an interesting study" make up a noun phrase.
12The word "an" shows the beginning of the noun phrase.
13The modifier is "interesting."
14 It is an adjective that comes before the noun "study."
15Modifiers can also come after a noun.
16Imagine you read a science story that says something like this:
17Scientists found evidence of a large black hole.
18In the example, the noun evidence is followed by a kind of modifier known as a prepositional phrase - the words of a large black hole.
19In speaking, noun phrases commonly only have a noun, pronoun, or noun and determiner - a word such as the, this, a, and so on.
20So, you might hear someone say:
21I called my friend.
22In the example, the noun phrase is my friend.
23 It has the noun, friend, and the determiner, my.
24In writing, noun phrases are more likely to have modifiers that come before and after the noun.
25These modifiers are often more complex than what you hear in everyday speaking.
26Let's explore some science stories that have appeared recently on VOA Learning English's website.
27You will see that modifiers play an important part in giving information about scientific studies.
28For example, here is one story that reports findings from a study.
29The study used a high-tech sensing device known as lidar.
30A careful study of a large area in Mexico has found hundreds of ancient ceremonial centers.
31The important noun is the word study.
32It forms the base of the sentence's subject.
33If the modifiers were taken out of the first part of the sentence, it would be this:
34A study has found hundreds of ancient ceremonial centers.
35Note that the sentence is still complete.
36Some of the details have been removed, but the sentence still has the elements of a complete sentence - subject, verb, object.
37Note that the modifiers in the original report come both before and after nouns.
38A careful study of a large area in Mexico ...
39The adjective careful comes before the noun study.
40The phrase of a large area comes after study, and the phrase in Mexico comes after the noun area.
41Let's see how modifiers play an important part in another science story.
42Astronomers say they have found evidence for the first time of a planet orbiting a star outside our Milky Way galaxy.
43Notice here that the subject of the sentence is very short - astronomers.
44But modifiers play an important part in the sentence's predicate.
45The noun evidence is followed by the modifier for the first time, which is in turn followed by more modifiers - of a planet... and so on.
46One way to think about the central idea of today's report is to imagine a skeleton - the bones that make up the basic structure of a person or animal.
47On top of the basic structure there are increasing levels of complexity that create a living being - fat, nerves, muscles, blood vessels, and so on.
48In grammar, we have a basic structure that makes up the central meaning of a sentence - subject and predicate, noun or noun phrase and verb.
49Modifiers add weight or detail to the basic structure.
50The modifiers bring sentences to life.
51The next time you are reading science news, scientific research, or really any kind of writing in English, pay careful attention to how the writer uses modifiers.
52Identify the basic structure of a sentence and then make note of how modifiers play a part in it.
53I'm Jonathan Evans.
1Imagine you are learning about a science. Perhaps you want to read a science book, science news, or scientific research in English. 2There are certain structures that are common to all of these kinds of writing. 3In today's Everyday Grammar, we will explore the connection between science writing and modifiers - a word or group of words that describes another word or group of words. 4Let's start with a few important terms and ideas. 5What are modifiers? 6In grammar, the word "modifier" includes several groups of terms - adjectives, participles, prepositional phrases, appositives, and more. 7Modifiers can appear before or after a noun. 8A noun and its modifiers can create a noun phrase - a group of words that acts like a noun in a sentence. 9Let's consider an example. 10You might read about "an interesting study." The words "an interesting study" make up a noun phrase. The word "an" shows the beginning of the noun phrase. The modifier is "interesting." It is an adjective that comes before the noun "study." 11Modifiers can also come after a noun. Imagine you read a science story that says something like this: 12Scientists found evidence of a large black hole. 13In the example, the noun evidence is followed by a kind of modifier known as a prepositional phrase - the words of a large black hole. 14In speaking, noun phrases commonly only have a noun, pronoun, or noun and determiner - a word such as the, this, a, and so on. So, you might hear someone say: 15I called my friend. 16In the example, the noun phrase is my friend. It has the noun, friend, and the determiner, my. 17In writing, noun phrases are more likely to have modifiers that come before and after the noun. These modifiers are often more complex than what you hear in everyday speaking. 18Writing and modifiers in science news 19Let's explore some science stories that have appeared recently on VOA Learning English's website. You will see that modifiers play an important part in giving information about scientific studies. 20For example, here is one story that reports findings from a study. The study used a high-tech sensing device known as lidar. 21A careful study of a large area in Mexico has found hundreds of ancient ceremonial centers. 22The important noun is the word study. It forms the base of the sentence's subject. If the modifiers were taken out of the first part of the sentence, it would be this: 23A study has found hundreds of ancient ceremonial centers. 24Note that the sentence is still complete. Some of the details have been removed, but the sentence still has the elements of a complete sentence - subject, verb, object. 25Note that the modifiers in the original report come both before and after nouns. 26A careful study of a large area in Mexico ... 27The adjective careful comes before the noun study. The phrase of a large area comes after study, and the phrase in Mexico comes after the noun area. 28Let's see how modifiers play an important part in another science story. 29Astronomers say they have found evidence for the first time of a planet orbiting a star outside our Milky Way galaxy. 30Notice here that the subject of the sentence is very short - astronomers. But modifiers play an important part in the sentence's predicate. 31The noun evidence is followed by the modifier for the first time, which is in turn followed by more modifiers - of a planet... and so on. 32Closing thoughts 33One way to think about the central idea of today's report is to imagine a skeleton - the bones that make up the basic structure of a person or animal. 34On top of the basic structure there are increasing levels of complexity that create a living being - fat, nerves, muscles, blood vessels, and so on. 35In grammar, we have a basic structure that makes up the central meaning of a sentence - subject and predicate, noun or noun phrase and verb. Modifiers add weight or detail to the basic structure. The modifiers bring sentences to life. 36The next time you are reading science news, scientific research, or really any kind of writing in English, pay careful attention to how the writer uses modifiers. Identify the basic structure of a sentence and then make note of how modifiers play a part in it. 37I'm Jonathan Evans. 38John Russell wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 39_____________________________________________________________ 40Words in This Story 41participle - n. grammar : a form of a verb that is used to indicate a past or present action and that can also be used like an adjective 42prepositional phrase - n. grammar : a phrase that begins with a preposition and ends in a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase 43appositive - n. grammar standing in grammatical apposition - an arrangement of words in which a noun or noun phrase is followed by another noun or noun phrase that refers to the same thing 44determiner - n. grammar: a word (such as "a," "the," "some," "any," "my," or "your") that comes before a noun and is used to show which thing is being referred to 45predicate - n. grammar: the part of a sentence that expresses what is said about the subject