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Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which

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Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   26 Oct 2014, 10:31
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Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which is grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, for example "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time.

A) Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which is grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, for example "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
B) Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, for example "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build his or her understanding of a sentence one word at a time
C) Psycholinguistics uses grammatically correct but requiring reinterpretation by the end "garden path sentences," as "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
D) "Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
E) "Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build his or her understanding of a sentence one word at a time

Source : Grockit Mocks
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   26 Oct 2014, 10:59
D it is : "Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time---->there is a parallelism between bold portions .the 1st parallelism is between "are correct" BUT "require" & 2nd parallelism is between "are correct" AND "are used"

why others are wrong; faults in bold:

A) Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which is grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, for example "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
B) Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, for example "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build his or her understanding of a sentence one word at a time
C) Psycholinguistics uses grammatically correct but requiring reinterpretation by the end "garden path sentences," as "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
D) "Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time----------->correct !
E) "Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build his or her understanding of a sentence one word at a time
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   28 Mar 2015, 21:23
Is it incorrect to use his or her with people?
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   28 Mar 2015, 22:50
animesh_an wrote:
Is it incorrect to use his or her with people?

I was having the same question. I blindly went with the option D because I felt people was plural and chose their.
If it was person, then his or her should be correct.

On second thoughts, Collective nouns generally take singular verbs. So I am confused a bit.

Anyways, it will be great if someone can explain if people is considered singular or plural in American English.
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   28 Mar 2015, 23:55
people is always plural in GMAT landscape
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   29 Mar 2015, 02:55
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AVRonaldo wrote:
animesh_an wrote:
Is it incorrect to use his or her with people?

I was having the same question. I blindly went with the option D because I felt people was plural and chose their.
If it was person, then his or her should be correct.

On second thoughts, Collective nouns generally take singular verbs. So I am confused a bit.

Anyways, it will be great if someone can explain if people is considered singular or plural in American English.


hi animesh_an and AVRonaldo,

people is plural and cannot be substituted by his or her but by their..
person is used instead when we are talking in singular...
people is not collective noun but a plural noun...
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   07 May 2015, 13:14
kinjiGC wrote:
Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which is grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, for example "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time.

A) Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which is grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, for example "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
B) Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, for example "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build his or her understanding of a sentence one word at a time
C) Psycholinguistics uses grammatically correct but requiring reinterpretation by the end "garden path sentences," as "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
D) "Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
E) "Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build his or her understanding of a sentence one word at a time

Source : Grockit Mocks


As I understand "garden path sentences" is used as a term which makes it singular and would also make Answer Choice A correct. Now Im confused. Why is "garden path sentences" marked with inverted commas?
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Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   03 Aug 2015, 00:17
reto Even i answered this question with the same reasoning as yours, i think the inverted marks should be only for garden path and sentences should be outside the marks - "garden path" sentences. Only then it would make sense.
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   03 Aug 2015, 05:51
reto, seems like it :)

Regards.
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   11 Mar 2016, 00:38
clearly a 3/2 pattern
hence A B C go off...
then comes choice between D and E...
the only difference is
D: people...their
E: people.. his or her..

D gives clear meaning while E goes unidiomatic.

Hence, IMO D
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   11 Mar 2016, 07:30
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A) Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which is grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, for example "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
B) Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, for example "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build his or her understanding of a sentence one word at a time
C) Psycholinguistics uses grammatically correct but requiring reinterpretation by the end "garden path sentences," as "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
D) "Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
E) "Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build his or her understanding of a sentence one word at a time

The key splits are 1. “their” vs “his or her” And 2. the use of the verb “is” vs “are. To qualify the subject garden path sentences.
People is plural and hence, we need to use the plural pronoun ‘their’; B and E are gone.
'Garden path sentences' is just a descriptive plural expression and not a singular collective noun. Hence, we do require ‘are’ as the matching verb. A is gone.
Between C and D: In C, the statement “uses grammatically correct but requiring reinterpretation” – is unparallel. So, D.
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   11 Mar 2016, 07:57
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daagh wrote:
A) Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which is grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, for example "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
B) Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, for example "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build his or her understanding of a sentence one word at a time
C) Psycholinguistics uses grammatically correct but requiring reinterpretation by the end "garden path sentences," as "The woman whistling tunes pianos," to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
D) "Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
E) "Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build his or her understanding of a sentence one word at a time

The key splits are 1. “their” vs “his or her” And 2. the use of the verb “is” vs “are. To qualify the subject garden path sentences.
People is plural and hence, we need to use the plural pronoun ‘their’; B and E are gone.
'Garden path sentences' is just a descriptive plural expression and not a singular collective noun. Hence, we do require ‘are’ as the matching verb. A is gone.
Between C and D: In C, the statement “uses grammatically correct but requiring reinterpretation” – is unparallel. So, D.


Could u pls explain th per usage of comma + and are. I always though after a comma + and, we need a subject +verb. In the right choice, it's comma + and + verb
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   11 Mar 2016, 09:19
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"Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time
It is an accepted norm that we can drop the subject of the second arm of a two-part sentence if the subject of the first arm can act as a fitting subject. It is a legal parallel formation. The subject here is ‘garden path sentences”. Now let me insert the subject wherever required to make the meaning clear.

"Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but ("Garden path sentences) require reinterpretation by the end, and ("Garden path sentences) are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time---
So now, to avoid repetition, the subject is elided and understood
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   11 Mar 2016, 10:43
Would u sentence still make sense if we removed the command before the "and"?

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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   11 Mar 2016, 19:51
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rahulkashyap wrote:
Would u sentence still make sense if we removed the command before the "and"?

Posted from my mobile device


Yes, it would make sense. I would say that the comma should not have been there at all. If the comma is there before and, a subject should have been used for the verb are used.

I play and sing... correct.
I play, and I sing....... correct.
I play, and sing.... wrong.

Similarly in this sentence:
Sentences are correct but require and are used..... correct.
Sentences are correct but require, and they are used...... correct.
Sentences are correct but require, and are used..... wrong.
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   12 Mar 2016, 01:39
So does the right answer have the wrong usage then?

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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   12 Mar 2016, 03:36
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rahulkashyap wrote:
So does the right answer have the wrong usage then?

Posted from my mobile device


Yes, the usage is wrong. Either the comma should not have been there, or there should have been a subject after comma (for the verb are used).
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   12 Mar 2016, 04:12
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For academic interest, please look into this

Quote:
https://faculty.deanza.edu/flemingjohn/stories/storyReader$16

C. Three or more of any parallel structures, including independent clauses, are separated by commas and one coordinating conjunction before the last item:
1. xxxx, yyyy, cc zzzz
2. wwww, xxxx, yyyy, cc zzzz
3. vvvv, wwww, xxxx, yyyy, cc zzzz
4. uuuu, vvvv, wwww, xxxx, yyyy, cc zzzz
Note that, when there are three or more parallel structures, a coordinating conjunction (cc) comes before the last item. Also, note that the final comma (the one before the conjunction) is optional. The parallel structures can be anything: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, subjects, predicates, subordinate clauses, independent clauses,...
Here are some examples of C.1. above (3 parallel structures):
He sings, she dances, and everybody claps. (independent clauses)

He won the lottery, quit his job, and bought presents for all his friends. (predicates)

He bought a car, a motorcycle, and a computer. (nouns)
The motorcycle is red, white, and blue. (adjectives)
Everybody wants to meet him, to talk to him, and to get some money from him. (infinitive phrases)


"Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time

The three parallel elements in this structure are predicates such as 1. are grammatically correct, 2. require reinterpretation, and 3. are used. Therefore, we need to use the comma.

If we do not use the comma before the last and, this choice must be wrong. If so, what is the correct choice for this question?
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Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   12 Mar 2016, 04:56
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daagh wrote:
For academic interest, please look into this

Quote:
https://faculty.deanza.edu/flemingjohn/stories/storyReader$16

C. Three or more of any parallel structures, including independent clauses, are separated by commas and one coordinating conjunction before the last item:
1. xxxx, yyyy, cc zzzz
2. wwww, xxxx, yyyy, cc zzzz
3. vvvv, wwww, xxxx, yyyy, cc zzzz
4. uuuu, vvvv, wwww, xxxx, yyyy, cc zzzz
Note that, when there are three or more parallel structures, a coordinating conjunction (cc) comes before the last item. Also, note that the final comma (the one before the conjunction) is optional. The parallel structures can be anything: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, subjects, predicates, subordinate clauses, independent clauses,...
Here are some examples of C.1. above (3 parallel structures):
He sings, she dances, and everybody claps. (independent clauses)

He won the lottery, quit his job, and bought presents for all his friends. (predicates)

He bought a car, a motorcycle, and a computer. (nouns)
The motorcycle is red, white, and blue. (adjectives)
Everybody wants to meet him, to talk to him, and to get some money from him. (infinitive phrases)


"Garden path sentences" such as "The woman whistling tunes pianos" are grammatically correct but require reinterpretation by the end, and are used in psycholinguistics to show that people build their understanding of a sentence one word at a time

The three parallel elements in this structure are predicates such as 1. are grammatically correct, 2. require reinterpretation, and 3. are used. Therefore, we need to use the comma.

If we do not use the comma before the last and, this choice must be wrong. If so, what is the correct choice for this question?


Thank you daagh Sir for the wonderful article and your explanation. :-D

I actually thought over the issue before questioning the supposedly correct choice:

If we consider that there are three elements, we must use a comma before the second element as well.
Correct: Sentences are correct, but require, and are used.

The 3 verbs refer to the same subject correctly.

However absence of a comma before the second element (but require) implies that we have just 2 elements, not 3:

first element: are correct but require
second element: are used

If these two elements refer to the same subject (sentences), we should not have the comma. However introducing a comma before are used (and not having a comma before but require) implies that the second element (are used) should have its own subject - isn't it?

Moreover as I understand, using comma before and (in case there are 3 or more elements) is optional, whereas using comma before and (in case there are 2 verbs referring to the same subject) would be wrong.

Kindly correct me if I am wrong.
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink] New post   12 Mar 2016, 05:11
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I feel that only Grockit should explain the muddle as Sayantan's views are also based on concrete evidence. Or we should take D as the best of the choices. The other alternative that we ignore this topic looks more pragmatic
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Re: Psycholinguistics uses "garden path sentences," which [#permalink]
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