How can you tell whether or not a referential is identifying a thing earlier or later in the sentence? Sentence 2 example really tripped me up because i thought 'its support base" was referring to 'democracy' and not 'the authoritarian regime'

@yjb1011 If it is part of a prepositional phrase, its a modifier. if it is not part of a prepositional phrase, it is the predicate object.

Example: Bears eat berries for breakfast.

berries is the predicate object because it is not part of a prepositional phrase.

If you think something is a predicate object, but you see it is part of a prepositional phrase, then it is not a predicate object, it is a modifier.

@AlyaElalaoui I think it is because it is a preposition. By is the preposition, and existence is object of the preposition. of is a preposition, and black holes is the object of the preposition. If it is a preposition and not a direct object of the main sentence's verb, then it is just a modifier. I also think that all of the prepositions are modifiers tbh.