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Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons

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ronr34
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Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink] New post   18 Aug 2014, 07:37
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Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons of the Weak interaction, and like the gluon, do not act over distances larger than the scale of the atom.

(A) and like the gluon, do not act
(B) and like the gluon, act
(C) nor the gluon, does not act
(D) nor the gluon, act
(E) nor the gluon acts
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E
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mikemcgarry
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Re: Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink] New post   18 Aug 2014, 13:23
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ronr34 wrote:
Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons of the Weak interaction, and like the gluon, do not act over distances larger than the scale of the atom.

(A) and like the gluon, do not act
(B) and like the gluon, act
(C) nor the gluon, does not act
(D) nor the gluon, act
(E) nor the gluon, acts

Dear ronr34,
I'm the author of this question, so I am happy to help. :-)

This question is discussed in detail at this blog:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/subject-ve ... orrection/

First of all, the idiomatic pairing is not "neither ... and like" but "neither ... nor." Choices (A) & (B) are completely out.

Choice (C) involves a double negative --- nor the gluon, does not act. This is incorrect.

Then, it boils down to a SVA issue, between (D) & (E). When the subject of a sentence is of the form:
P or Q
or
Either P or Q
or
Neither P nor Q,
then the rules of SVA say that the verb should agree in number with the latter element, the element closer to the verb. Thus, in these examples, Q would determine whether the verb is singular or plural, regardless of what P is.

In this sentence, "the gluon" is singular, so we have to take the singular verb. OA = (E).

BTW, if you're curious about the science in this sentence --- gluons are the particles that make the Nuclear Binding Force happen. In an atom's nucleus, there are a bunch of neutrons and a bunch of positively charged protons all stuck together in a really really small space. How can we have all those mutually repellent positive charges stuck together in a really tiny place? Well, there must be some super-strong "glue" holding them together --- essentially, that's what "gluons" do.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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Re: Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink] New post   18 Aug 2014, 08:09
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ronr34 wrote:
Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons of the Weak interaction, and like the gluon, do not act over distances larger than the scale of the atom.

and like the gluon, do not act
and like the gluon, act
nor the gluon, does not act
nor the gluon, act
nor the gluon, acts

Like this? Consider Kudos


Seeing "neither" at the beginning makes me think that this is a "Neither...nor..." sentence type. "Neither...and..." is not correct sentence construction. Therefore, I eliminated A and B.

Answer choice C is wrong because neither/nor implies a negative. You don't need to have a "does not" to make it negative. Therefore, I eliminated C.

Now the question comes between using a plural verb (act) or singular (acts). I start by breaking out the sentence into its essential elements to see what verb fits the best:

The particles act. (plural noun with plural verb)
The gluon acts. (singular noun with singular verb)

Since the gluon (singular noun) is mentioned last, I went with the singular verb. This is probably the most confusing part since you have a mix of plural/singular nouns in the neither/nor statement.

Correct answer E.
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ronr34
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Re: Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink] New post   25 Sep 2014, 14:29
ronr34 wrote:
Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons of the Weak interaction, and like the gluon, do not act over distances larger than the scale of the atom.

and like the gluon, do not act
and like the gluon, act
nor the gluon, does not act
nor the gluon, act
nor the gluon, acts

Like this? Consider Kudos

Having trouble with D vs E.
Why are we taking the singular form?
Neither this nor that.... and from here on in we're taking the singular?
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Re: Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink] New post   25 Sep 2014, 15:16
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ronr34 wrote:
ronr34 wrote:
Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons of the Weak interaction, and like the gluon, do not act over distances larger than the scale of the atom.

and like the gluon, do not act
and like the gluon, act
nor the gluon, does not act
nor the gluon, act
nor the gluon, acts

Like this? Consider Kudos

Having trouble with D vs E.
Why are we taking the singular form?
Neither this nor that.... and from here on in we're taking the singular?


Yes, this does get confusing. The singular/plural rule here stems from the rule about how to handle singular/plural with "or". When "or" is part of the subject, you match the verb to the case of the closest noun. Here is an example: 1) The head coach or the assistants plan to run the practice. 2) The assistants or the head coach plans to run the practice. Notice how the case of the verb "plan" changes depending on which noun is closer, "assistants" or "head coach".

The same thing is happening here with "particles" and gluon. Neither the ... particles... nor the gluon, acts... We use the singular form "acts" to match the case of the singular noun "gluon".

KW

As a reminder, when using "and" in a subject you create a compound noun and the verb will take the plural case.
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Re: Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink] New post   26 Sep 2014, 00:04
KyleWiddison wrote:
ronr34 wrote:
ronr34 wrote:
Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons of the Weak interaction, and like the gluon, do not act over distances larger than the scale of the atom.

and like the gluon, do not act
and like the gluon, act
nor the gluon, does not act
nor the gluon, act
nor the gluon, acts

Like this? Consider Kudos

Having trouble with D vs E.
Why are we taking the singular form?
Neither this nor that.... and from here on in we're taking the singular?


Yes, this does get confusing. The singular/plural rule here stems from the rule about how to handle singular/plural with "or". When "or" is part of the subject, you match the verb to the case of the closest noun. Here is an example: 1) The head coach or the assistants plan to run the practice. 2) The assistants or the head coach plans to run the practice. Notice how the case of the verb "plan" changes depending on which noun is closer, "assistants" or "head coach".

The same thing is happening here with "particles" and gluon. Neither the ... particles... nor the gluon, acts... We use the singular form "acts" to match the case of the singular noun "gluon".

KW

As a reminder, when using "and" in a subject you create a compound noun and the verb will take the plural case.

Thanks a lot.
I'm very clear on that now.
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Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink] New post   26 Jun 2016, 08:26
Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons of the Weak interaction, and like the gluon, do not act over distances larger than the scale of the atom.

and like the gluon, do not act
and like the gluon, act
nor the gluon, does not act ----------- double negative
nor the gluon, act
nor the gluon, acts

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Neither X nor Y

Verb is as per Y , If Y is singular Verb singular .else plural.
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Re: Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink] New post   23 Feb 2017, 11:23
Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons of the Weak interaction, and like the gluon, do not act over distances larger than the scale of the atom.

(A) and like the gluon, do not act
(B) and like the gluon, act
(C) nor the gluon, does not act
(D) nor the gluon, act
(E) nor the gluon, acts. correct


correct idiom is Neither X nor Y & verb should agree with the closest subject i.e. Y. Here Gluon (god/google knows what it means :-D ) is singular so we should use "äcts" rather than "äct"
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Re: Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink] New post   02 Mar 2017, 06:23
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I believe there shouldn't be any comma after gluon in "nor the gluon, acts".

Experts, what do you think?
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Re: Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink] New post   02 Mar 2017, 12:05
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abhimahna wrote:
I believe there shouldn't be any comma after gluon in "nor the gluon, acts".

Experts, what do you think?

Dear abhimahna,

My friend, you are 100% correct. :-) This question was miscopied from the Magoosh website to this thread on GMAT Club. Choice (E) does not contain a comma. I corrected the question above. Thank you for pointing this out.

Mike McGarry :-)
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Re: Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink] New post   03 Sep 2019, 16:35
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ronr34 wrote:
Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons of the Weak interaction, and like the gluon, do not act over distances larger than the scale of the atom.

(A) and like the gluon, do not act
(B) and like the gluon, act
(C) nor the gluon, does not act
(D) nor the gluon, act
(E) nor the gluon acts


(E) is the correct answer.

A. Incorrect idiom. The idiom is "neither X ... nor Y." "Does not" is redundant as "neither" indicates the negative. Subject-verb disagreement in "act" as the count of the verb "act" should match the count of the second noun in the "neither ... nor" construction, i.e. "the gluon."
B. Incorrect idiom. The idiom is "neither X ... nor Y." Subject-verb disagreement in "act" as the count of the verb "act" should match the count of the second noun in the "neither ... nor" construction, i.e. "the gluon."
C. Incorrect idiom. "Does not" is redundant as "neither" indicates the negative.
D. Subject-verb disagreement in "act" as the count of the verb "act" should match the count of the second noun in the "neither ... nor" construction, i.e. "the gluon."
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Re: Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink] New post   14 May 2023, 11:31
A, b c can be eliminated straight away....
Bw d and E ... I go with E... since gloun is singular... so ""Acts"" make sense..

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Re: Neither the W± and Z particles, the massive gauge bosons [#permalink]
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