Citing

Question

The NCSBN has removed all brand and trade names from the NCLEX exam citing “the generic name is more consistent while a brand/trade medication name may vary.”

http://blog.nclexmastery.com/drug-stems-prefixes-roots-suffixes/
Is "citing..." a participial phrase? What does it modify here ?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

JigneshbharatiThe NCSBN has removed all brand and trade names from the NCLEX exam [citing “the generic name is more consistent while a brand/trade medication name may vary.”]

The bracketed portion is a participle clause. Like most participle clauses, it does not modify anything. It's more like a second sentence about the same subject: The NCSBN cited "the generic name ...".

CJ

BillJ · Answer

The NCSBN has removed all brand and trade names from the NCLEX exam citing “the generic name is more consistent while a brand/trade medication name may vary.

It’s actually a clause, not a phrase; more specifically a gerund-participial clause.

Its function is that of supplementary adjunct, a loosely attached expression set off by intonation (and usually punctuation*) presenting supplementary non-integrated content.

Supplements are not modifiers; rather, they have a semantic ‘anchor’ that they refer to. In your example, the anchor is probably "The NCSBN", though a case could be made for it being the entire main clause.

*My preference would be to add a comma after "exam" to mark the boundaries of the NP ("the NCLEX exam") and the adjunct.

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