Based on the recent decline in enrollment (SC Ch 5 #11)

[CD]

"Based on the recent decline in enrollment, the admissions office decided to reevaluate its recruitment strategies."

The correct answer changes "based on" to "because of". The book says that based on modifies the subject which is incorrect and because of correctly modifies the verb.

A couple of questions:

1. I must not understand the explanation, because I though the modifier is supposed to modify the word after the comma, which is the subject. Can someone please explain this?

2. Can someone give an example of a construction similar to this in which "Based on" is correct?

Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

Noun modifiers must be placed next to the nouns they modify. Verb or clause modifiers do not have the same requirement.

What was "based on" or "because of" the decline in enrollment? Not the admissions office itself, but the decision that was made. So you need to modify the verb decided, not the noun office.

She believed that her success was based on her habit of closing her eyes, clicking her heels together, and repeating, "there's no place like home."
:)

[anirudhdixit26]

HI
in this question could u please explain why" based on the recent decline in enrollment" phrase cannot act as a verb modifier.It clearly cannot modify admissions office and refers to the verb or action of decided.
Verb modifiers can be placed more freely(not necessarily next to the verb they modify)
However if we know that this phrase is only a noun modifier then the above given explanation would be wrong.If this is the case,plz explain y the above mentioned phrase can act only as a noun modifier

[Ben Ku]

HI
in this question could u please explain why" based on the recent decline in enrollment" phrase cannot act as a verb modifier.It clearly cannot modify admissions office and refers to the verb or action of decided.
Verb modifiers can be placed more freely(not necessarily next to the verb they modify)
However if we know that this phrase is only a noun modifier then the above given explanation would be wrong.If this is the case,plz explain y the above mentioned phrase can act only as a noun modifier

"Based on" is a phrase with a past participle. Past participles are noun modifiers, because they describe the condition of a noun. For example, here, "based on the recent decline in enrollment" begs the question, "what was based on the recent decline?" Because the answer is a noun, this phrase is a noun modifier.

If you wanted to use "based on," you can rewrite the sentence this way:
"Based on the recent decline in enrollment, the recruitment strategies was reevaluated by the admissions office." (although this has a slightly different meaning)

Hope that makes sense.

[igordudchenko]

"Based on the recent decline in enrollment, the recruitment strategies was reevaluated by the admissions office." (although this has a slightly different meaning)

Ben, should not it be 'strategies WERE reevaluated by...'?

[jnelson0612]

"Based on the recent decline in enrollment, the recruitment strategies was reevaluated by the admissions office." (although this has a slightly different meaning)

Ben, should not it be 'strategies WERE reevaluated by...'?

igor, yes. That is a typo on Ben's part.

[mcmebk]

Since "Based on the recent decline in enrollment " is used as verb modifier, is it possible to change it to "Basing on the recent decline in enrollment + comma"?, so the subject of the main sentence "the admissions office" is the doer of the activity and it makes sense to describe how the decision is made...though it sounds a bit funny.

[tim]

no, pretty much anytime you use "basing" you are going to need a noun or pronoun to follow it..

[khandelwalprateek]

NOW I HAVE QUESTION

in the book, modifiers chaper, in ques 12 , why a past participle ( unaccustomed) is the correct modifier over here??

requesting all the instructors to please evaluate 11 and 12 together. this will be of great help

[Chelsey Cooley]

Would you mind reproducing the question here for everyone to see?

[khandelwalprateek]

Would you mind reproducing the question here for everyone to see?

11. Based on the recent decline in enrollment. the admissions office decided to reevaluate
its recruitment strategies.

12. Unaccustomed to the rigors of college life, James's grades dropped.

Below is the official explanation and answers : ( both are contradicting each other )

11. Based on the recent decline in enrollment, the admissions office decided to reevaluate its recruitment
strategies.
Based on ... enrollment: INCORRECT. As a noun modifier, the past participle based modifies admissions
office. However, the intention of the sentence is not that the admissions office itself is based on the
recent decline in enrollment. The phrase based on X is often incorrectly used in place of the prepositional
phrase because of, which can correctly modify the verb phrase decided to reevaluate.
Correction: Because of the recent decline in enrollment, the admissions office decided to reevaluate
its recruitment strategies.


12. Unaccustomed to the rigors of college life, James's grades dropped.
Unaccustomed to... college lifo: INCORRECT. As a noun modifier, the past participle unaccustomed modifies
the noun phrase James's grades. However, the author of the sentence obviously intends for unaccustomed
to modify James himsel£ If we wish to begin the sentence with the noun modifier, we
must rephrase the sentence to make James the subject.
Correction: Unaccustomed to the rigors of college life, James allowed his grades to drop.

[tim]

What seems to be the problem? You mentioned a contradiction, but I don't see one. "Based" doesn't describe the admissions office, but "unaccustomed" does describe James.