Although the counselor recommended that Mary be permitted to work out

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



THE PROMPT

• Meaning?
The counselor believed that 13-year-old Mary should be allowed to create a sensible schedule.
The counselor's opinion was qualified.
That is, the counselor believed that some limitations should be placed on Mary's freedom to create this schedule.

• Issues?
→ Subject/verb agreement
→ Diction (had to be in option B, for example, is grammatical—and 100% wrong)
→ Meaning: one of these sentences is utterly nonsensical.
→ Style/usage
→ THERE (See Notes) - presentational there and existential there

Diction, style and usage, and syntax questions are challenging, but you can learn how to tackle them.
Start by reading every day for 15 minutes (preferably more).


• Subject/verb agreement error: has should be have
→ . . . limits . . . have to be

• the word there is not the subject.

• The word there does not require an antecedent or a referent.

• This construction is called a presentational there.
There gets the sentence started.
By custom, there signals that it is about to "present" the focus of the sentence.
That focus of the sentence then comes after there; the subject and verb of the sentence are inverted in that focus clause.
The subject and verb should agree.
→ the word limits is plural. We need the verb have, not has.

• For more on "there are/there is," (existential there) and "there VERB/VERBS" (presentational there) see Notes
ELIMINATE A

• had to be is grammatical but creates a ridiculous sentence.
The sentence, shortened:
→ The counselor agreed that some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old had to be.

→ We could theoretically translate that sentence to mean that "some limits [on freedom] had to exist."
Just one problem.
No one speaks or writes that way in English.

We use the word exist, not be, to talk about things that are required.
→ Correct: To guard the environment, regulations to protect forests must exist.
→ Wrong: To guard the environment, regulations to protect forests must be.

• Had/have/has + TO BE
is followed by at least one more word.
→ Adjective/Participle (verbED): Some limits on the freedom given to a 13-year-old had to be established.
→ Noun/Object: In order to sign for the package, I had to be home.
→ Adjective: I had to be early.
→ Participle (verbED) adjective: I had to be persuaded to try that yucky looking but delicious appetizer.
→ Noun/object: It had to be you.
ELIMINATE B

• this sentence is nonsensical.
→ "Limitations" are not given to freedom!
→ Limitations are imposed upon freedom.
→ Freedom is given to a teenager.
This sentence is a logical disaster.

→ to be should be on
The intended meaning is limitations on freedom.

→ given to should follow freedom and replace of, or "given to" should be excluded entirely
ELIMINATE C

• cut the fluff: some limitations . . . were necessary.
That phrasing works.
• the logic of the sentence works; "although" signals that a contrast or limit is coming
→ Although the counselor thought that XYZ was a good idea, she thought that ABC limits were necessary [too].
KEEP D

• it is necessary that adds nothing. At times, that clause may add something.
Not in this case.
Compare to option D. (E) is unnecessarily wordy.

• just as in option B, have to be should be followed by another word such as "placed" or at the least (not great), should state have to exist
→ Good: . . . some limits have to be placed on the freedom given to a 13-year-old.
→ Rearranged, acceptable: . . . some limits on the freedom given to a 13-year-old have to exist.
→ Horrible diction: . . . some limits have to be on the freedom given to a 13-year-old.
ELIMINATE E

The best answer is D.

NOTES

EXISTENTIAL THERE and PRESENTATIONAL THERE

• "Existential there" is seen in the expressions there is and there are.
→ "Existential there" just says that something exists. That's all.

→ We use the construction to highlight certain information by putting it in the final position in the sentence.
English is naturally an "end-weighted" language.
If we want to emphasize the subject, we rearrange the words and place the subject at the end.
In this type of arrangement, we add "there is" or "there are."

→ Existential there follows a pattern:
→ THERE + to be verb + noun, noun phrase, or noun clause
There is relief coming soon.
There is rank corruption at the highest levels of government.
There are five kinds of truffles in that package.

You can't really invert this kind of there. Let's use my second example.
→ Rank corruption is at the highest levels of government there? NO.

• "Presentational there" is very similar to existential there. It, too, follows a similar pattern.

→ Existential there uses [THERE + to be verb]
→ Presentational there uses [THERE + some other kind of verb]

Presentational there examples:
→ There appear to be two or three promising vaccines.
→ There exists remarkable courage among first responders.

• There in both existential and presentational "there" sentences does nothing more than set the stage to present the information.
→ This "there" has no referent. Sometimes this "there" is called a "dummy pronoun."

Remember that the subject is not the word "there."

The subject is in the clause that follows the word there.
The verb and subject are inverted in these clauses.

→ if the subject is singular, use there has:
Correct: There has to be a limit on how much a government can tax poor people.
→ if the subject is plural, use there have:
Correct: There have to be limits on "emergency" government disbursements that make billionaires richer.

COMMENTS

carouselambra and TarunKumar1234 , welcome to SC Butler.

I am impressed by everyone who posted about this question, even if some analysis went slightly astray.
Well done.
You took a risk.
This kind of question can be really challenging to digest, let alone answer, let alone explain.

I want people to be brave.
Bravery is good.
You have nothing to lose except the chance to learn and to contribute.

Everyone gets kudos on this question because it is hard and a bit intimidating.
That said, a few of these answers are especially insightful—and especially well done.
Nice work, everyone.

IMO D

Although the counselor recommended that Mary be permitted to work out a sensible schedule, she agreed that there has to be some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old.

Skeleton of the sentence: Although X recommended that Y be permitted to work..., she agreed that <some applicable rule in verb form>
Please note that the sentence would have been altered had it been agreed to.


A) there has to be some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old

B) some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old had to be

C) there have to be some limitations to be given to the freedom of a thirteen-year-old

D) some limitations on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old were necessary
Now read this as : ..... she agreed that some limitations .....were necessary.
Correct.

E) it is necessary that some limits have to be on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old

IMO A
I think the split is between
# limits on the freedom
# limitation on the freedom

Limitation means shortcoming & in the present context won’t make sense.

So, C and D out
E - agreed that - it is necessary that - is too wordy
B- “had to be” - something is missing after this probably “there”. Also use of “had” is not proper.

A is the best among avl choices

Posted from my mobile device

Although the counselor recommended that Mary be permitted to work out a sensible schedule, she agreed that there has to be some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old.

A) there has to be some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old-> "limits to the noun" is correct idiom.

B) some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old had to be-> "limits to the noun" is correct idiom.

C) there have to be some limitations to be given to the freedom of a thirteen-year-old-> "limitations on the noun" is correct idiom.

D) some limitations on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old were necessary-> Idiom is corrected and were is used for limitations (plural). Let's keep it.

E) it is necessary that some limits have to be on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old-> some limits "had" to be given and "she agreed that it is necessary that" doesn't make sense.

So, I think D.

Although the counselor recommended that Mary be permitted to work out a sensible schedule, she agreed that there has to be some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old.

I boiled it down to either A or D. (This was tricky)

A) there has to be some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old
Looks fine with me.

B) some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old had to be
This does not complete the idea of the sentence.

C) there have to be some limitations to be given to the freedom of a thirteen-year-old
'have' is incorrect. It should be 'has' since 'has' is referring to the idea from the dependent clause.

D) some limitations on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old were necessary
I think A is the better choice since since D slightly changes the meaning of the sentence: where A states that there needs to be some limits on freedom whereas D states that limitations are necessary.

E) it is necessary that some limits have to be on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old
This is wordy and some of the other choices are better at showcasing the idea.

Tough one .. A V D

IMO D

A is wrong because Has doesnt tally with Plural Limits ... hence the answer is D


Although the counselor recommended that Mary be permitted to work out a sensible schedule, she agreed that there has to be some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old.

A) there has to be some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old - Singular plural error

B) some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old had to be - Tense error

C) there have to be some limitations to be given to the freedom of a thirteen-year-old - meaning error

D) some limitations on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old were necessary - ok

E) it is necessary that some limits have to be on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old -- wrong construct

IMO D

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Although the counselor recommended that Mary be permitted to work out a sensible schedule, she agreed that there has to be some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old.

A) there has to be some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old Incorrect

SV error - some limits plural, has singular
tense error - past form require

B) some limits on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old had to be Incorrect

tense error- had to be uses wrong

C) there have to be some limitations to be given to the freedom of a thirteen-year-old Incorrect

tense error - past form require
some limitations uses wrong, some limits correct in this choice

D) some limitations on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old were necessary Correct

E) it is necessary that some limits have to be on the freedom given to a thirteen-year-old Incorrect

wordy choice
tense error - past form require
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The official explanation is here.

generis - Genuinely wanted to thank you for such a beautiful explanation. Even though my answer was correct in line with the reasons, your explanations always teach us something new.

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