In an effort to reduce their inventories, Italian vintners have cut

(A) have been priced to sell, and they are selling

the omitted word is selling

(B) are priced to sell, and they have sold
Wrong tense the omitted word is Sold


(C) are priced to sell, and they do sell

best answer, do is correctly used in place of the full verb do sell; in this verb, do is a conjugated
form and sell is in the infinitive form


(D) are being priced to sell, and have sold

Wrong tense the omitted word is Sold

(E) had been priced to sell, and they have sold

Wrong tense the omitted word is Sold

In an effort to reduce their inventories, Italian vintners have cut prices; their wines have been priced to sell. and they are.

(A) have been priced to sell, and they are
(B) are priced to sell, and they have
(C) are priced to sell, and they do
(D) are being priced to sell, and have
(E) had been priced to sell, and they have

this question is an ellipsis question and therefore verbs must match
(A) have been priced to sell, and they are selling

(B) are priced to sell, and they have sold(

C) are priced to sell, and they do sell
(
D) are being priced to sell, and have sold

(E) had been priced to sell, and they have sold

Only C makes the good elipsis.

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Tenses

• Correct present perfect tense verb construction is "have + been + past participle" or "have + been + past participle" in the passive voice.
• The present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.
• The Past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses the present perfect tense verb "have been priced" to refer to an action that takes place in the current time frame; please remember, the simple present tense is used to refer to actions that take place in the current time frame, and the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.

B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the present perfect tense verb "have (sold)" to refer to an action that takes place in the current time frame; please remember, the simple present tense is used to refer to actions that take place in the current time frame, and the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present. Further, Option B fails to maintain the correct present perfect tense verb construction; please remember, the correct present perfect tense verb construction is "have + been + past participle" or "have + been + past participle" in the passive voice.

C: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the simple present tense verbs "are priced" and "do" to refer to actions that take place in the current time frame. Further, Option C avoids the verb construction error seen in Options B, D, and E, as it does not use a present perfect tense verb.

D: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present continuous tense verb "are being" to refer to an action that takes place in the current time frame but is not continuous; please remember, the simple present tense is used to refer to actions that take place in the current time frame, and the simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature. Further, Option D incorrectly uses the present perfect tense verb "have (sold)" to refer to an action that takes place in the current time frame; please remember, the simple present tense is used to refer to actions that take place in the current time frame, and the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present. Additionally, Option D fails to maintain the correct present perfect tense verb construction; please remember, the correct present perfect tense verb construction is "have + been + past participle" or "have + been + past participle" in the passive voice.

E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect tense verb "had been priced" to refer to an action that takes place in the current time frame; please remember, the simple present tense is used to refer to actions that take place in the current time frame, and the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past". Further, Option E incorrectly uses the present perfect tense verb "have (sold)" to refer to an action that takes place in the current time frame; please remember, the simple present tense is used to refer to actions that take place in the current time frame, and the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present. Additionally, Option E fails to maintain the correct present perfect tense verb construction; please remember, the correct present perfect tense verb construction is "have + been + past participle" or "have + been + past participle" in the passive voice.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Simple Continuous Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

given the choice needs something || to sell

(A) have been priced to sell, and they are -- Selling not ||
(B) are priced to sell, and they have - will have sold, not ||
(C) are priced to sell, and they do - sell, and || -> correct choice
(D) are being priced to sell, and have - sold same as B, no subject
(E) had been priced to sell, and they have - sold same as B

So C.

If you rewrite using proper noun then it will be

Italian vintners wines are priced to sell, and Italian vintners do sell

87. In an effort to reduce their inventories, Italian vintners
have cut prices; their wines have been priced to sell,
and they are.

(A) have been priced to sell, and they are
(B) are priced to sell, and they have
(C) are priced to sell, and they do
(D) are being priced to sell, and have
(E) had been priced to sell, and they have

In the OG explanation "the second verb does not need to repeat the word sell because it is understood from the previous verb phrase priced to sell..."

I seem to constantly miss these problems types where key words do not need to be repeated. Any suggestions of improving on these question types?

In general, words being left out or ellipsed is one of the most difficult tricks that English grammar plays, and certainly one of the weirdest that shows up in SC. A couple of general tips:

1) Think as often as you can of the rules of parallel structure. Many different kinds of words can "distribute" to all parts of parallel constructions. The most common are auxiliary (helping) verbs, but other words can also be ellipsed comfortably. For instance:

"My sisters, brothers, and cousins all are coming over." (the adjective "my" is distributed)
"I am, was, and always will be, living in the shadow of my father." (the "living" completes all three verbs -- it's like it's distributed backwards)

2) Think of the word "do" as a "pro-verb." Much as pronouns stand in for nouns, "do" often stands in for a present-tense verb. This is especially common in comparisons:

"As do crickets in the countryside, cars fill up the cityscape with constant background noise." Here, the entire second phrase, but mostly the verb "fill up," is contained within the simple word "do." It may seem weird, but it's very common and totally legitimate.

Please keep in mind that there's no such thing as a "pro-verb" -- it's just something I made up to simplify the explanation of sentences like these. Please don't tell the folks at the Modern Language Association or I'll be in big trouble!

A: wines...priced to SELL, and they are [SELLING].
Selling and sell are different forms.
Eliminate A.

B, D, and E: wines...priced to SELL, and they have [SOLD].
Sold and sell are different forms.
Eliminate B, D and E.

The correct answer is C:
wines priced to SELL, and they do [SELL].
Here, do is standing in for sell.
Both verbs are in the same form.

I agree with AdeelSilat, how on earth can wines sell themselves. So A can be the only correct answer. I know this is not OA however this questions is full of ****!

The word " sell" is not in the last part because of ellipsis (where certain words can be omitted without breaking parallelism). However, the omitted word(s) must already appear in the sentence and must make sense when substituted back in (sub in and check).

Regarding what you mentioned about tense mismatch, parallelism can be done in a variety of ways, so it doesn't always hold that the tenses must be parallel (but they must be logical)

Just looking at parallelism:
(A) have been priced to sell, and they are (priced to sell -> repeating info in first bit so redundant)
(B) are priced to sell, and they have (priced to sell -> nonsense when slotted back in)
(C) are priced to sell, and they do (sell- makes sense)
(D) are being priced to sell, and have (priced to sell -> again nonsensical)
(E) had been priced to sell, and they have (been priced to sell -> ditto)

Question from OG, seeking explanation to the OG explanation

Q. In an effort to reduce their inventories, Italian vintners
have cut prices; their wines have been priced to sell,
and they are.

(A) have been priced to sell, and they are
(B) are priced to sell, and they have
(C) are priced to sell, and they do
(D) are being priced to sell, and have
(E) had been priced to sell, and they have

OG says wrt answer D : omitting the subject they requires that the comma be omitted as well.

that means D (if correct) should be:
"are being priced to sell and have sold"

Can someone explain me the omission of comma + that , theory ?

Hi eski,

There are two uses of comma before "and"

i) As a serial comma, used in lists with three or more items.

e.g. Our supermarket sells eatables, cosmetics, hardware, and furniture.

ii) To join (or coordinate) two clauses; this usage is mentioned in the OG.

To illustrate lets consider a simple example:

Joan went to the supermarket, and she bought groceries. --> Correct, comma + and is used to join two clauses. As OG mentioned, subject is required after and
if comma is used.

Joan went to the supermarket and bought groceries. --> Correct, comma is omitted so is the subject after "and"

Joan went to the supermarket; she bought groceries. --> Correct, Semicolon correctly connects independent clauses.

Joan went to the supermarket, and bought groceries. --> Incorrect, this sentence has the same problem as in (D)

Joan went to the supermarket, she bought groceries. --> Incorrect, only a comma can not join two independent clauses. Comma or semicolon should be used.

In the question above if (C) would have been worded as "are priced to sell and do" then also this choice would have been correct.

Hope that helps,

Vercules

"Have been priced to sell, and they do" will still be incorrect. ‘Have been priced’ means, they have been priced from quite some time. ‘Are priced’ means, they are priced at the moment, (after the prices have been slashed). The logic is that if they have been priced to sell from the past, why did they not then sell in the past, necessitating a price slash” It is clear that the wines are selling only now. So the use of present perfect tense ‘have been priced’ changes the intent of the clause.

Hi daagh,

Request you to please validate my reasoning on the question posted above.

In an effort to reduce their inventories, Italian vintners have cut prices; their wines have been priced to sell.
and they do(sell).

I believe, that their wines have been priced to sell is correct usage of tense, since it shows the time frame of pricing the wines is same as that of cutting the prices. Obviously, Dealers must have cut prices in order to have a new discounted price that will cause the wines to sell. i.e Both actions must happen simultaneously.
However, the problem is with "do sell". Now, the phrase " do sell" shows that the action is happening at this moment. This is incorrect. The action must have started when the action of "pricing" started. i.e Cause -Effect must have started at the same time.

Thanks
H

To answer your query, let ma ask you 1. to give a suitable verb that describes your reasoning. 2. Is that verb is applied in any of the choices here. 3 what verb you will use for a generalization that happened in the past or started in the past, continues today and is likely to do so in the future too. Let me give you some examples

The first example will be “ Messi has played well in the past, plays well now too and will do so in the future. Are we right in saying that Messy plays well;

The second example will be: The Sun rose in the east in the past; it rises in the east everyday and it will rise in the future too in the east. How can we describe such a phenomenon? Which is a better sentence?
The Sun has been rising in the east (or)
The Sun rises in the east
Apart from the nit-picking of the grammar issue here, I do believe that the modern concise writing style will take chocie C as the most appropriate.
Finally, isn't this Sentence Correction rather than Critical Reasoning?

Hi,

Though it is clear why C is the correct answer, I would like to know if "their" in their wines and "they" could refer to two entirely different nouns.

IMO, their would refer to Italian Vintners while they would refer to wines, & since both the pronouns refer to different nouns, is the structure of the sentence as per GMAT rules (pronoun ambiguity) acceptable?

Thanks GMATNinja GMATNinjaTWO

Public Service Announcement: anytime you're asking whether the construction in an official, correct answer is acceptable, the answer is always "yes."

There are two things you ideally want to notice here. First, four of the five answer choices contain "they." If you can see that (D) has both a verb tense and a logic issue, this option is out, and you know that you're going to be left with "they" in the correct answer. So there's no reason to waste brain cells worrying about "they", because you basically don't have a choice once you eliminate (D).

Secondly, the construction might not be ideal, but it's pretty logical. Often, when we use a pronoun in the subject of a clause, that pronoun will refer back to the subject of the previous clause (see this video for more on this particular pronoun issue). The sentence starts with "Italian vintners have cut prices; their wines are..." "Their wines" is the subject of the second clause, and the subject of the first clause was "Italian vintners". So there's no problem there.

Next, we have: "their wines are priced to sell, and they do." Again, "they" is the subject of a clause, and the subject of the previous clause was "their wines." Makes sense for "they" to refer to those wines. (And it's worth reiterating: if we'd been able to get rid of (D), we wouldn't waste any time with the above analysis.)

I hope that helps!