A direct modifier is a linguistic element that establishes changes in another.
The concept of modifier is used in the field of grammar to refer to a linguistic element that allows a modification to be made in another. In the case of direct modifiers , these are adjectives and articles that complement the meaning of the core of the subject .
Specifically, we can establish that the direct modifier provides characteristics of the subject and that, in addition to being an adjective or article, it can be a pronoun.
Let's see an example . The phrase "The man opened the door" is a bimember sentence whose subject is "The man," while the predicate is "he opened the door." In the subject, meanwhile, we can recognize two terms: "The" and "man" . The noun "man" is the nucleus on which the direct modifier "The" acts.
Direct Modifier Features
Known as MD , direct modifiers agree with the nucleus in number and gender . Returning to our example, the article "The" is singular and masculine, just like the noun "man" .
The direct modifier always links to the core without intermediaries. It may be an article that comes before it or an adjective that qualifies it.
A direct modifier is an article or adjective that functions as a complement to the meaning of the subject's core .
Different cases
Let's take another case. "The black cat scared the boy" is a sentence whose subject is "The black cat." In this subject, "gata" is the nucleus and "La" and "negra" are the direct modifiers. As you can see, on this occasion the nucleus is related to two direct modifiers : an article ( "The" ) and a qualifying adjective ( "black" ).
"The Argentine player scored three goals" , meanwhile, is another two-member sentence with two direct modifiers . Its subject is "The Argentine player" and its predicate is "he scored three goals." In the subject we can distinguish the nucleus "player" and, as direct modifiers, the article "The" and the adjective "Argentine" .
Another example of a direct modifier can be the following phrase: "This rainy summer seems more like an autumn." In this case, there are two direct modifiers such as "this" and "rainy" .
Direct modifier vs. indirect modifier
In the same way, it is important not to confuse the direct modifier with the indirect modifier . The latter, also known as MI , we can state that it modifies what is the core of the subject through a preposition , acting as a coordinating link.
Examples to understand this indirect modifier are the following sentences:
– «The Social Studies teacher is very nice and pleasant.» In this case, the MI would be "Social" .
– «Manuela's brother-in-law has said he will come home this weekend» . In this sentence, the indirect modifier is "Manuela's."
– «This detective novel has managed to hook me and keep me on edge all the time» . In this example, "detectives" is the indirect modifier.
– «The boy in the green jacket who is at the nightclub winked at me» . In this case, "of the green jacket" is the MI mentioned.
Therefore, the main way to differentiate a direct modifier from an indirect one is knowing that the latter is preceded by a preposition and that the former is usually a pronoun, an article or an adjective.