The continental United States receives an average of 30 inches of

Hey AOD ,

Actually NO.

If I talk about Independent Clause construction, this is how D and E are structured.

Sentence 1 ; Modifier, Independent Clause.

This construction is perfectly fine.

Does that make sense?
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Hello AOD,

Although your question has been answered, here is my input.
mea
It is true that there should be an independent clause on either side of the semi-colon. But that does not mean that the semi-colon must be immediately followed by the independent clause and nothing else.

In Choice D, we see modifier + independent clause after the semicolon. This structure is absolutely correct as we have an independent clause after the semicolon.

In Choice E, we have DC + IC that together make one IC. Hence, this structure is also valid.

So, as long as the semicolon is followed by an independent clause, the structure stands valid.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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The continental United States receives an average of 30 inches of precipitation a year; transpiration from soil and from plants returns approximately 21 of the 30 inches to the atmosphere, while the balance of 9 inches contributes to the flow of streams and rivers.


(A) transpiration from soil and from plants returns approximately 21 of the 30 inches to the atmosphere, while the balance of 9 inches contributes to the flow --> CORRECT, mostly based on S-V agreement in both clauses

(B) even though transpiration from soil and from plants returns approximately 21 of the 30 inches to the atmosphere, the remainder of 9 inches contribute to the flowing --> should be singular verb tense

(C) although transpiration from soil and from plants return approximately 21 of the 30 inches to the atmosphere, the balance of 9 inches contribute to the flowing --> both should be singular verb tense

(D) with transpiration from soil and from plants to return approximately 21 inches to the atmosphere, the rest of the 9 inches contributes to the flow --> First, "to return" implies some intended action in the future which doesn't make sense here. Second, the rest of the 9 inches means some unspecified part OF the 9 inches and in this context, the construction doesn't make sense

(E) as transpiration from soil and from plants return approximately 21 of the 30 inches to the atmosphere, the rest of the 9 inches contribute to the flow --> First, should be singular verb tense for "return". Second, the rest of the 9 inches leaves the same problem as in D.

Although I choose A over D because A has better structure in terms of meaning expression but I am looking for a strong reason to reject D.
Could you please suggest your reason to reject D?
DmitryFarber AnthonyRitz GMATRockstar

thanks!

Hi mSKR,

As per RonPurewal, strong reasons to eliminate D (in the same quote) are:

1) The real problem with D is "the rest of the 9 inches". This construction implies that 9 inches is the total.

E.g., Here is $100. Buy gas for your trip, and then use the rest of the $100 to buy food.
"”> Note how this works. $100 is the total. The amount you'll have to spend on food is not $100, but $100 minus $(whatever you pay for gas).

2) "With ... to ___" usually describes anticipated events, E.g., The studio has released three movies featuring the XXX character, with at least three more to come.
So, in this context, it doesn't make sense; both parts should be described in the present.

Hope it helps.

This is exactly my thought as well. Can an expert comment on this? GMATNinja GMATninja2

With a semicolon, you just need to make sure you have a complete grammatical sentence (independent clause) on either side. But that does NOT mean that the clause on either side needs to make sense on its own.

For example:

"On his 40th birthday, Tim was teased by a group of third-graders at the mall; as a result, he is afraid to go there alone."

The second half ("as a result, he is afraid to go there alone") doesn't make any sense without the first half. But the second half has a subject ("he") and a verb ("is"), and is a complete grammatical sentence. So this example is perfectly fine.

In other words, the clauses on either side of a semicolon must be able to stand alone grammatically, but that doesn't mean that each clause must be able to stand alone meaning-wise.

For more on GMAT punctuation, check out this video.

I hope that helps!
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VeritasKarishma, GMATNinja mikemcgarry Souvik and other respected moderators and experts

I am a bit confused here as should ' transpiration from soil and from plants' not be considered as 2 separate quantities and hence be taken as plural ?

Thanks
PS : Pl help I have my gmat in a week

Transpiration is a single process. Its sources could be multiple.

For example,
Admiration from millions of her fans has gone to her head.

What has gone to her head? Admiration.
Whether it came from one person or millions of people doesn't matter.

Similarly, when we use "transpiration from soil and from plants", the subject remains transpiration.
"from soil" and "from plants" are prepositional phrases modifying the subject "transpiration".

Had the sentence said ""transpiration from soil and transpiration from plants" then it would be a plural subject.

Thanks
I guess my doubts are cleared

Correct Option A.

Original and Correct sentence:
The continental United States receives an average of 30 inches of precipitation a year;
transpiration (from soil and from plants) returns approximately 21 of the 30 inches to the atmosphere, while
the balance of 9 inches contributes to (the flow of streams and rivers).

- Majority of SC with semicolon and with two correct Independent clause, are always correct, precautions, others can also be true, kindly do not ignore them.

(B) even though transpiration from soil and from plants returns approximately 21 of the 30 inches to the atmosphere, the remainder of 9 inches contribute to the flowing
- Flaws
*Even though - used to indicate contrast between cause, Not reguired for intended meaning of the sentence
* The reminder - apart from Maths division rule, normally it means as "something calls a memory of thoughts for mind" - creates contrast meaning for one, who has no relevance to it.
*Flowing - present participle of verb "Flow", (contribute to flowing of streams and river - has error with intended meaning)

(C) although transpiration from soil and from plants return approximately 21 of the 30 inches to the atmosphere, the balance of 9 inches contribute to the flowing
- Flaws
*although - used to indicate contrast between cause, Not reguired for intended meaning of the sentence
*Flowing - present participle of verb "Flow", (contribute to flowing of streams and river - has error with intended meaning)

(D) with transpiration from soil and from plants to return approximately 21 inches to the atmosphere, the rest of the 9 inches contributes to the flow
Flaw :
*With - usage is for additional to something or along something
*To return - prepositional phrase
* As nouns
- balance is (uncountable) a state in which opposing forces harmonise
- rest is (uncountable|of a person or animal) relief from work or activity by sleeping; sleep or rest can be (uncountable) that which remains.
As verbs
- balance is to make (items) weigh up
- rest is to cease from action, motion, work, or performance of any kind; stop; desist; be without motion or rest can be (obsolete) to remain.

(E) as transpiration from soil and from plants return approximately 21 of the 30 inches to the atmosphere, the rest of the 9 inches contribute to the flow
Flaw
- usage of "As" is a degree of comparison for one to another

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Hi VeritasKarishma, egmat DmitryFarber GMATNinjaTwo

Hope you all are doing great!!

I have a doubt regarding the Subject-verb agreement w.r.t "the balance of 9 inches contributes" in option A. Quantity prepositional phrases such as some, most can determine the verb of the sentence. Examples below:

Most of the voters are extending their support.
Some of the apples have fallen on the ground.

Could you please confirm, if words such as "balance" or "remainder" are not part of the above examples?

Good question!

It doesn't matter that there are multiple sources of transpiration; the transpiration itself is still a singular entity. The same is true of "pollution" in this example:

"Pollution from automobiles, factories, and cow belches is a leading cause of climate change."

Sure, we have multiple sources of pollution. But the pollution itself is still a singular entity.

If we wanted to refer to two separate transpirations, we'd have to do something like this:

"Transpiration from soil and transpiration from plants return approximately 21 of the 30 inches..."

Now we have a compound, plural subject.

In (A), what is it that does the job of returning precipitation or water to the atmosphere? Transpiration (singular). Where does that transpiration come from? Soil and plants (plural). But again, having multiple sources in the modifier doesn't change the fact that the transpiration itself is singular.

I hope that helps!
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Deadpool3:

"the balance of 9 inches contributes" has a singular subject "the balance"
Even if we remove "of 9 inches", still "the balance contributes..." is correct.

"of 9 inches" is a prepositional phrase modifying the subject "balance". How much was the balance? 9 inches.

Hi ryanstarr! Why D is wrong? Is the construction "as transpiration from soil..." wrong in E? I noticed the SVA error, but I was wondering about the "as" construction... tks!

Hello Will2020,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

Option D is incorrect because it uses the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb" - "to return" in this sentence) to refer to a statement of universal fact; please remember, statements of universal fact are best conveyed through the simple present tense.

In Option E the use of the "as transpiration from soil..." construction is incorrect because it changes the meaning; this usage incorrectly implies a cause-effect relationship between transpiration from soil and from plants returning approximately 21 of the 30 inches to the atmosphere and the rest of the 9 inches contributing to the flow of rivers and streams.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Hey!

I largely agree with what the very skilled ExpertsGlobal5 has said about this with just a couple of small amendments:

As ExpertsGlobal5 suggested, the infinitive form here (to return) kind of implies that the return is pending in some way (like it's going to happen), a meaning not suited to the general-truth intention. But to build on that, given the with at the beginning of this clause, the construction would probably have to involve returning to be correct. There's also a meaning issue in the second part of (D): the rest of the 9 inches implies that some of those 9 inches have already gone somewhere (leaving the rest of them to contribute to the flow). However, that's not the case here; rather, 21 of the 30 inches have already gone somewhere, and it's the remaining 9 inches that are contributing to the flow.

And ExpertsGlobal5 is again correct on (E). I'll only add that as can be used either as a substitute for because/since or as a time marker meaning at the same time as. Of course, neither meaning is correct here, so no matter what the as will be wrong, but I just thought it should be mentioned. The trap the question is trying to lay with as is that it has an overlap in meaning with while, which can also mean at the same time as. However, that's not the intended meaning of the while that appears in the correct answer; instead, the while in (A) is meant to highlight the contrast between the two parts of the clause after the semicolon.
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I have a different question here wrt the usage of "while" as the coordinating conjunction. I understand the question and the correct choice, so no queries on that.

We use FANBOYS to connect two independent clauses. So, in the second part of the sentence, after the the semi-colon, I understand that any of the conjunction from FANBOYS would not fit in.

transpiration from soil and from plants returns approximately 21 of the 30 inches to the atmosphere, while the balance of 9 inches contributes to the flow


Hence, we need "while", as the most apt conjunction here. Perfect! However, I read this short article that succinctly explains the difference between FANBOYS and WABBITS conjunctions, and that mentions that WABBITS are used for joining a clause with a phrase. I think this article is missing the point that WABBITS can also be used to coordinate two "clauses", just as in this official GMAT Prep question "while" has been used. Can you please correct me if I am missing anything here and please enlighten me. Thank you!

AndrewN

Hello, Pankaj0901. I have little to add other than to say that I have never heard of the WABBITS acronym until now, and that it is probably best not to tell conjunctions the way they "need" to behave. Think about the meaning conveyed in a given sentence and ask yourself whether that meaning is reasonable. Here, while is, to use your own words, the most apt conjunction, and whether a phrase or clause follows it is beside the point. I am a proponent of analytical reasoning. If you find yourself drifting into autopilot, maybe it would be better to take control again and start thinking your way through the issues at hand.

Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew
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