While the Eastern Whip-poor-will a nocturnal bird that feeds

Veritas Prep Official Explanation:

The first thing to do on this problem is to get rid of all the garbage by using the slash and burn technique. The sentence starts with lots of unnecessary information and should be read like this: “While the two birds appear...”

After simplifying that, the easiest answer to eliminate is (C). You cannot start a sentence with “While the two birds appear...” and then have a semicolon. When a semi-colon is used in a sentence like this, each portion on either side of the semi-colon must be a stand-alone sentence.

In (A), (B), and (D) there appears to be a choice between “each other” and “one another” but that is a false decision point. “Each other” is used when there are two distinct entities or groups and “one another” is used when there are multiple entities or groups. It is unclear and unimportant in this sentence whether many birds are being referred to or each group of birds distinctly. The big problem in (A), (B) and (D) is the meaning: in those three sentences, the language infers that the birds only look this way to each other/one another when they are in certain situations. From the end of the sentence, it is clear that the goal of the sentence is to show the difference in how they look to anyone/anything when they are sitting on a branch or a nest vs. in the air. Also, in (A) and (B) “due to” is incorrect: when you are answering the question why, you should use “because” or a proper synonym. “Due to” means attributable to and can only be used with a linking verb: for instance, “x is “due to” y”.

Correct answer is (E). The birds appear equal in size when they are seen (not when they are looking at each other/ one another) by anyone and in the air one appears larger “because” of its wingspan.

While the Eastern Whip-poor-will–a nocturnal bird that feeds mostly in the very early morning–and the Common Nighthawk–a nocturnal bird from the same family that, despite its name, feeds mostly during the morning and evening–appear equal in size to each other when sitting on a branch or in a nest, in the air, the Common Nighthawk appears much larger due to its greater wingspan.

"due to" is correctly used if can be replaced by "caused by"
much larger due to (caused by) its greater wingspan. sounds really wrong and is not correct

Option C uses a semicolon and can be eliminated (no need to use it). D and E remain:

4 appear equal in size to each other when they are sitting on a branch or in a nest, in the air, the Common Nighthawk appears much larger because of its greater wingspan
5 appear equal in size when they are seen on a branch or in a nest, in the air, the Common Nighthawk appears much larger because of its greater wingspan.

both seem correct, so I would focus on which of the two convey the meaning better.
D uses " appear equal in size to each other", correct, but redundant

This was tough one I picked D for this one... The official explanation said that E conveyed the meaning better since its the people who are viewing the birds rather than the birds viewing each other...

It's a meaning question.

Do the birds look at each other, and think they're the same size? no... that rules out ABC and D.

Well as explained above 'due to' eliminated A and B. C is incorrect because semi-colon is used to separate two sentences which are independent , but have related meaning. The 1st sentence, although long , is in-complete.
While X and Y appear appear equal in size to each other when sitting on a branch or in a nest [this is an incomplete thought or it's a subordinate clause. Semi-colon can't connect subordinate or dependent clauses. Hence this option is out]
D as explained above is out because of redundandancy.

Hence E.

Although E conveys best meaning, E is not 100% correct. A prepositional phrase is placed between two clauses and such construction is technically ambiguous. phrase is eligible to modify any clause.

Subordinate clause, prepositional phrase, main clause.

Thanks for the reply.

I think comma after in the air is not required.

Here is one official question in which an adverbial phrase is placed in between. Could you please help juxtapose current question with following question.
although-various-eighteenth-and-nineteenth-century-american-88063.html

Although various eighteenth and nineteenth-century American poets had professed an interest in Native American poetry and had pretended to imitate Native American forms in their own works, until almost 1900,scholars and critics did not begin seriously to study traditional Native American poetry in native languages.
(incorrect because of until almost 1900)

'in the air' is an adverbial phrase in the beginning of the main clause. It usually comes with a comma.

While Sub Clause, Main Clause.

Although various eighteenth and nineteenth-century American poets had professed an interest in Native American poetry and had pretended to imitate Native American forms in their own works, until almost 1900, scholars and critics did not begin seriously to study traditional Native American poetry in native languages.

You don't need a comma for an adverbial phrase that comes after the verb. There is a comma before 'until almost 1900' which shows that the subordinate clause is over. 'Until almost 1900' is a part of the main clause only which starts with an adverbial phrase - no problems here.

The issue with this sentence is "did not begin seriously to study". It should be "did not seriously begin to study..."

@Karishma,

Problem I shared is from OG-12, Q-3.

Official explanation :
The placement of the phrase until almost 1900 at the beginning of the second clause is confusing. Does it refers back to the first verb or forward to the next verb.

A The tense are fine in this version, but the placement of until almost 1900 is problematic.

Placement of seriously is not even considered in this explanation. OG has emphasized on the placement of modifier.

I know that we can use prepositional phrases at the beginning of a sentence such as :

In the air, bird clause.

but construction like: clause, in the air, clause is creating similar problem as highlighted by OG. I mean what is the grammatical requirement of placing comma after in the air.

Here is the thing - I know that whatever GMAC says has to be taken to be inviolate, but understand that grammar is less about rules and more about logic. No two sentences are the same and it all depends on the context.

Look at two sentences:

Various poets pretended to imitate Native American forms in their own works, until almost 1900.
or
Various poets pretended to imitate Native American forms in their own works until almost 1900.

Do you need the comma? Do you use the comma? No.

Now look at two more sentences:

Until almost 1900, scholars and critics did not begin ...
or
Until almost 1900 scholars and critics did not begin ...

You almost always use a comma when an adverbial phrase starts the sentence.

Now the point is that "until almost 1900" could logically go with both clauses and even though the commas clarify the sentence, it may still be considered unclear because there is a better option available. Also, "begin to study" should not be split up since it becomes awkward. So the adverb "seriously" should come before "begin".
Note that official explanations will not point out all errors with a sentence so don't put too much faith in them.

As for the original question, notice that
The Eastern and the Common appear equal in size when they are seen on a branch or in a nest, in the air.

This makes no sense and it is obvious that 'in the air' belongs to the main clause. The commas also clarify this situation. Hence there is nothing wrong with this sentence.

Hi,
the Q tests following concepts..
1) follows proper verb.. all follow correctly
2)since there are two, each other is correct and one another is wrong.. B out
3) sitting on a branch may refer to these birds and illogically refer to some one watching them.. only E stands out..
4) 2 commas in E may not look correct but are required as the sentence is showing contrast
ans E

Point1. 'Due to' must modify a noun before it; it cannot modify a verb as 'appears'. On the contrary, ‘because of’ modifies the entire clause before it namely ‘the Common Nighthawk appears’. So, A and B are out.

Point 2. C is an outright fragment with no verb for the first part.

Point 3. Birds are not looking at each other and appearing larger to each other. It for the beholders to whom they appear larger. Remove D.

E is the best.

Hi daagh,

There is no 'than' for 'much larger' here. My concern is whether we can skip the 'than' when we are using comparison signal 'much larger' or 'much smaller' . Is it allowed on GMAT?
Please help me with clarification.

Thanks!

Staybish:
Are you implying that this question itself isn't gmattish, since none of the choices has the 'than' element?
Hi, Come on, look for the best among the lot.

Hi,
it is fine..
if you look at the statement, it is not comparing it with some thing else...
it says that the bird looks much larger than what it is actually....
example ..
the model of the car looks much smarter from sides...
it is compaaring with itself and this is what is being said about this bird..
it appears bigger when it opens its wing..

Hi Experts / chetan2u / VeritasPrepKarishma ,

I opted for D because this option tries to maintain the original meaning "Birds look similar when SITTING on branch" .But if I talk about option E, in this option "Birds look similar when they are on a branch".

So, option E slightly changes the meaning. Therefore I opted option D.

Can you please provide strong reason to eliminate D.

Please assist,
Thanks and Regards,
Prakhar

hi PrakharGMAT,

lets look at D..

appear equal in size to each other when they are sitting on a branch or in a nest, in the air, the Common Nighthawk appears much larger because of its greater wingspan

'each other' is redundant and also changes the meaning slightly..
It seems that they look equal to each other.. that is when they are sitting on branch, EACH sees the OTHER equal to itself..
Ofcourse thats illogical, it appears to others, so EACH other should be removed..