Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring

Ans is D

Using had is incorrect because we dont have any other simple past in the question to benchmark.

It should be "wanted to return" instead of "wants" for the usage of had visited to be correct

Yes, correct..
If we have 'wanted', it will give one simple past to make 'had' correct..

Here is my input :
since the sentence mentions the time of the event "last spring" hence the tense must be Simple Past.
Only two contenders based on the verb - wants.
since have (present perfect) is not appropriate --- option D should be the correct answer.

Why E (my choice) is wrong.

....A time frame / phrase (last spring) that does not include the present PREVENTS the use of present perfect (have / has + past participle) - simple perfect instead.

Hi, Shouldn't present perfect be used here, as the activity "visited Venice" happened in past and still has the effect (as "Neither aunts wants to return"). Can you please explain in details. Thanks in advance!!

Hi,

When you say something happened last spring, it means the activity is already over and therefore PRESENT perfect is not valid here..

However if I modified this sentence as ---
Neither of my aunts, both of whom have not visited Venice since last spring, wants to return.
Now here, it is an on-going event, wherein they have not come till now... the PERIOD is continuing so PRESENT perfect is required..

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The underline is pretty short, so you may want to compare the answers before reading the question stem. There are two main splits in the answer choices: visited/have visited/has visited, and want/wants. In the original sentence, visited is correct.

The main verb want, however, is problematic. Any noun in a prepositional phrase, such as of my aunts, cannot be the subject of a sentence. Nor can a noun in a modifier (both of whom visited Venice last spring). The subject of the sentence must be neither, which is always singular (think of it as "neither one"), so the singular wants is the correct verb.

(A) The singular subject neither does not match the plural verb want.

(B) The singular subject neither does not match the plural verb want. In addition, have visited is the wrong tense. It is possible in general to say that two people have visited Venice. This construction, however, should not be attached to a specific time frame (last spring). Either they visited last spring or they have visited at some unspecified time in the past.

(C) The singular subject neither does not match the plural verb want. The construction had visited is also incorrect; the usage of past perfect requires a second past event or time marker that takes place later in the past than the past perfect event. Last spring is when they visited, not later in the past, and the sentence does not contain another past time marker or simple past tense verb.

(D) CORRECT. The singular subject neither matches the singular verb wants.

(E) The singular subject neither matches the singular verb wants. However, have visited is the wrong tense. It is possible in general to say that two people have visited Venice. This construction, however, should not be attached to a specific time frame (last spring). Either they visited last spring or they have visited at some unspecified time in the past.

Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring, want to return.

(A) visited Venice last spring, want
Neither of my aunts (singular) ...want (Plural) : SV error : Incorrect
(B) have visited Venice last spring, want
Same as A
Have visited last spring is incorrect ; use of present perfect with past time indicator is wrong
(C) had visited Venice last spring, want
SV error
Use of past perfect in not required ; No other event in past exists .so,simple past is ok
(D) visited Venice last spring, wants
Correct : SV is ok ; Visited(past tense) ... last spring(past time indicator) is correct
(E) have visited Venice last spring, wants
Have visited last spring is incorrect ; use of present perfect with past time indicator is wrong

I Still don't understand why the usage of present perfect with past time indicator is wrong in option E.
In manhattan GMAT sentence correction guide we have two examples:
1. This country has enforced strict immigration laws for thirty years.
2. They have know each other since 1987

DmitryFarber: Please help me understand the distinction between these two examples and option E.

The correct answer here is D. Neither/Either of makes the subject singular and hence should use singular verb. "Neither of my aunts..." is a singular and hence the singular verb wants.

PraktanP The problem with present perfect in E is that we already have a clear marker of when this action took place: last spring. I can say "I have visited Venice" to describe a general accomplishment, just as I might say "I have earned my Master's Degree" or "I have eaten a durian." But I can't say "I have visited Venice last spring" or "I have earned my Master's Degree in 2008" or "I have eaten a durian on my last trip to Singapore." Since all of those explain exactly when the action took place, there's no reason to use the present perfect. We should just say "visited," "earned," and "ate."

Accordingly, please explain how does the sentence then tell us that they are still in Venice. If we remove the present perfect ,the "both of whom" part becomes a general information about the two women. But the intended meaning is that they are still in Venice and do not want to return. The purpose of present perfect is not only to show a time frame but also to tell us that the effect is still going on.

For eg: The shop I founded last summer has made a lot of progress. Here the action started in the past and is still going on.

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Understand the subtle difference.
When you mark a specific time in the past--In 1964
Last summer
In December

It means the time is no more existing now.
Eg: Ram saw Taj Mahal last summer
( simple past is used instead of present prefect because we are defining action in a past time that is over)

Now consider this -
Since 1947, India has been independent.
( be patient, don't be confused - - since 1947, this time is going on----> so present perfect is used to show
A) action started in the past and continue now ( time is continuing since 1947)
Or
B) finished action in unfinished time in the past.
Eg: I have learnt English this year
This year is still continuing and you have learnt English ( finished action in unfinished time)

Consider kudos if that helped.
Feel free to counter as I am not an expert.

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sumit411 Perfect explanation bro

Thanks for the encouragement

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AdityaHongunti There's no indication that they are still in Venice. On the contrary, since the sentence says that they visited last spring and talks about "returning," it's clear that they are not in Venice now and do not want to go there again. If they were still there, we could say they "have been visiting since last spring."