English · Grammar · HSC
Modifiers — Rules, Types & HSC Exercise
Pre-modifiers and post-modifiers, what each type looks like, and how to fill a modifier blank.
A modifier is a word, phrase or clause that adds information to a noun or a verb. It is a pre-modifier when it comes before the word it describes and a post-modifier when it comes after. In the exam each blank is labelled with the type wanted, so the task is to produce the right grammatical form — an adjective, a participle, an infinitive phrase, a prepositional phrase or a relative clause.
Where it is set: HSC English 2nd Paper — Grammar
What a modifier is and where it sits
A modifier is any word, phrase or clause that adds information to another word. If it stands before the word it describes it is a pre-modifier; if it stands after, it is a post-modifier. That position is the whole basis of the exam question, because each blank is labelled with the type wanted.
So the task is never "what would sound good here" but "what grammatical form is being asked for, and where does it go". Read the instruction in brackets first, then build that form.
- ✓ The beautiful girl sang a song. — beautiful is an adjective pre-modifying girl
- ✓ The girl with long hair sang a song. — a prepositional phrase post-modifying girl
Pre-modifiers: the forms that go before
Types of pre-modifier and how to build one
| Type | How to build it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective | a describing word | a tall boy |
| Determiner | a, an, the, this, some, many | many students |
| Noun adjective | a noun used to describe another noun | a school bag |
| Present participle | verb + -ing | a running train |
| Past participle | verb + -ed / third form | a broken chair |
| Intensifier | very, quite, too, rather, extremely | very beautiful |
| Adverbial (of manner/time) | an adverb before the verb | He quickly finished the work. |
| Possessive | my, his, their, Rahim’s | Rahim’s book |
- ✓ The ___ (use a participle) boy could not walk. → injured
- ✓ ___ (use an intensifier) beautiful scenery attracted us. → Very
Post-modifiers: the forms that go after
Post-modifiers are usually longer than pre-modifiers because they carry more information. Four forms cover almost every question the board sets.
| Type | How to build it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Prepositional phrase | preposition + noun | the man in the blue shirt |
| Relative clause | who / which / that + verb | the man who came yesterday |
| Infinitive phrase | to + verb | a chance to prove himself |
| Participle phrase | verb + -ing / -ed + words | the boy standing at the gate |
| Appositive | a renaming noun phrase | Rahim, our monitor, is absent. |
| Adverbial phrase | how, when, where, why | He worked with great care. |
- ✓ The book ___ (use a relative clause) is mine. → which is on the table
- ✓ He went to the market ___ (use an infinitive phrase). → to buy some vegetables
Reading the instruction in the bracket
Every blank in the HSC modifier item comes with an instruction. Learning to translate those instructions into forms is most of the work, because the instructions are worded in a fixed, repeating way.
- use an adjective / adjectival → a single describing word before the noun.
- use a participle → an -ing or -ed form; check whether the noun does the action (-ing) or receives it (-ed).
- use an infinitive phrase → begin with to plus a verb.
- use a relative clause → begin with who, which or that and include a verb.
- use a prepositional phrase → begin with a preposition, no finite verb.
- use an appositive → a noun phrase renaming the one before it, set off by commas.
- use a noun adjective → a plain noun placed before another noun.
- use an intensifier → very, quite, too, rather, extremely before an adjective or adverb.
- ✓ Dhaka, ___ (use an appositive), is a crowded city. → the capital of Bangladesh
- ✓ The ___ (use a noun adjective) room was full. → examination
Keep the modifier next to what it modifies
A modifier placed far from its noun attaches itself to whatever is nearest, which produces a sentence that means something the writer did not intend. This is called a misplaced modifier, and it costs marks in the writing sections even when the modifier item itself is answered correctly.
A dangling modifier is worse: the word it should describe is missing from the sentence altogether. Fix it by naming the doer immediately after the comma.
- ✗ Running down the road, the bag fell from his hand. ✓ Running down the road, he dropped the bag. — the bag was not running
- ✗ He almost drove his children to school every day. ✓ He drove his children to school almost every day. — almost must sit next to what it limits
Practice
Work through these before you check the answers — the reasoning matters more than the answer.
- The ___ (use an adjective) boy won the prize.
- The girl ___ (use a relative clause) is my sister.
- He came here ___ (use an infinitive phrase).
- ___ (use a participle), the child fell asleep.
- The man ___ (use a prepositional phrase) is a doctor.
- Rahim, ___ (use an appositive), scored the highest marks.
- It was a ___ (use an intensifier) hot day.
- The ___ (use a noun adjective) bag is expensive.
Answers
- intelligent — a single describing word before the noun.
- who is wearing a red dress — begins with a relative pronoun and contains a verb.
- to meet the headmaster — begins with to plus a verb.
- Being tired — a participle phrase describing the child.
- in the white coat — a preposition plus a noun, no finite verb.
- the captain of our team — a noun phrase renaming Rahim.
- very — an intensifier before an adjective.
- leather — a noun used to describe another noun.
Frequently Asked Questions
Only position. A pre-modifier comes before the word it describes (a broken chair) and a post-modifier comes after (the chair that is broken). The same information can usually be expressed either way, which is why the exam specifies which one it wants — the instruction in the bracket is the real question.
Ask whether the noun performs the action or receives it. A running boy is doing the running, so -ing. A broken chair received the breaking, so -ed. If you can rewrite it as “the boy who is running” or “the chair that was broken”, the correct participle follows directly.
A modifier whose intended subject is missing from the sentence, so it attaches to the wrong word. In “Running down the road, the bag fell”, the modifier attaches to bag, implying the bag ran. Fix it by making the intended doer the subject of the main clause: “Running down the road, he dropped the bag.”
Yes, indirectly and substantially. Every paragraph, composition and application you write is judged partly on sentence variety, and post-modifiers — relative clauses, participle phrases, appositives — are the main way to build longer, more varied sentences. Practising them here improves the writing sections too.
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