GC14 wrote:
Hi, while going through
Manhattan GMAT SC material, I found below example:
Tabacco companies, shaken by a string of legal setbacks in the United States, but which growth prospecretain strong ts in the developing world, face an uncertain future.
Parallel Marker: But
Parallel Elements: Relative Pronoun
Shaken by -> Which have been shaken by
Which retain strong growth
As per solution it says "shaken" should be "which have been shaken".
I thought BEEN should be used in present continuous tense But here "been" is made parallel to present tense(which retain strong growth).
Can you please explain me the use of "been" in detail. I searched in google but i didnt get proper answer..
Hi GC14,
IMHO ,'Been ' can never be used in present continuous tense. It is used in present perfect/past perfect/present perfect continuous/past perfect continuous.
Examples:
present perfect : I have been shaken strongly.
past perfect : I had been shaken strongly.
present perfect continuous: I have been going to the Gym since a couple of months.
past perfect continuous: I had been going my homework regularly.
In the example you mentioned, 'Which have been shaken by' is in present perfect tense and 'which retain strong growth prospects ' is in presnet tense.
IMHO Tenses needn't be parallel. In this case, perfect tense is used to emphasize that companies have already been shakened by something and then present tense is used to generalise that they retain strong prospects. bla bla..
The change in tense is necessary to emphasize correct intended meaning..
Hope this helps.
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