Subhrajyoti wrote:
Hello All,
I have a doubt as when to use verb-ing modifier and when to use a verb form.
for eg, kindly look at the sentence below:
A New York city ordinance of 1897 regulated the use of bicycles, mandated a maximum speed limit of 8 miles an hour, required of cyclists to keep feet on pedals and hands on handlebars at all times, and it granted pedestrians right-of-way.
The correct choice is " regulating the use of bicycles mandated a maximum speed of eight miles an hour, required cyclists to keep feet on pedals and hands on handlebars at all times, and granted".
In the above sentence i can readily figure out that "required of cyclists" is incorrect , it should be in parallel to ",and it granted pedestrians".
My doubt is why "regulated the use of bicycles" is incorrect and why it should be "regulating".
In general my confusion is around when to use verb-ing modifier and when to use verb form in parallel with other verbs.
Appreciate any help here.
Thanks
Subhro
Dear
Subhro,
I'm happy to respond.
I have several things to say.
First of all, please do not post a
part of a GMAT SC question on this site without posting the entire question. A SC question doesn't make sense if we can't see the entire question. Here is a thread displaying the entire question:
a-new-york-city-ordinance-of-1897-regulated-the-use-of-70924.htmlAlso, please do not start new threads when there are already are threads discussing a question. It's much better to keep all discussion of a question focused in the same thread.
Next, I will say: for your own good, do not refer to the "-ing" form of a verb. That's very imprecise, and imprecise language supports imprecise thought. Learn to distinguish the different verb forms that end in "-ing"
1) the
present participle:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/participle ... -the-gmat/2)
gerundshttps://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... d-phrases/3) the
present progressive tensehttps://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-verbs ... ive-tense/You will not understand the role that an "-ing" form of a verb is playing unless you can distinguish these three functions.
In many ways, the challenging posed by this SC question does not have to do with the use of the participle in particular, but has to do with the grammatical organization of the sentence as a whole, and I suspect that's where your real question lies. Here't the deal. You cannot learn any compendium of rules that will lead you to mastery of this. Understanding how complex sentences are put together is a right-brain skill, and the only way you can build this skill is by exposing yourself to many many different sentences. In other words, the very best thing you can do to build this understand is to develop a daily habit of reading. See
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/how-to-imp ... bal-score/Finally, it sounds as if you need a thorough course in grammar in context, and I think
Magoosh can really help you with this. Here's a free SC lesson:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/lessons/916-run-on-sentencesHere's a free SC question:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/3586When you submit your answer, the following screen will have a complete video explanation of the question. Each
Magoosh question has its own VE. This kind of instant feedback is exactly what you need to make progress with these sorts of issues.
Please let me know if you have any more questions.
Mike
close
03 Jun 2015, 07:50
