A bill, to be introduced next month, would stipulate that ev

Question

A bill, to be introduced next month,  would stipulate that every downtown parking meter shuts off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking and refuse drivers’ payments when they are out of paper for receipts.

A. would stipulate that every downtown parking meter shuts off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking and refuse drivers’ payments when they are out of paper for receipts.
 
B. stipulates that every downtown parking meter shuts off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking and refuse drivers’ payments when it is out of paper for receipts.

C. stipulates that every downtown parking meter shut off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking and refuse drivers’ payments when they are out of paper for receipts.

D. would stipulate that every downtown parking meter shut off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking and refuse drivers’ payments when it is out of paper for receipts.

E. would stipulate that every downtown parking meter shuts off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking and refuses drivers’ payments when they are out of paper for receipts.

blueseas · Accepted Answer

here the catch is in THE NON UNDERLINED PART .

A bill, to be introduced next month ,  would stipulate that every downtown parking meter shuts off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking and refuse drivers’ payments when they are out of paper for receipts. 
 
TO BE INTRODUCED NEXT MONTH  ==> this gives you idea that BILL will be passed next month...so you need WOULD for conditional SENTENCE.
without WOULD THE SENTENCE meaning will be that BILL is already in action which is not correct .

hence basing this we can eliminate options B AND C

NOW WE KNOW  SUBJUNCTIVE FORM NEEDS VERB IN SIMPLEST FORM .(BECAUSE OF USE OF  STIPULATE THAT WE NEED VERB IN SIMPLEST FORM )

A. would stipulate that every downtown parking meter  shuts  off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking and refuse drivers’ payments when they are out of paper for receipts.
  WRONG  
== AS THE VERB is not in simplest form....we need STIPULATE THAT....... SHUT  OFF......AND  REFUSE ....
 
B. stipulates that every downtown parking meter  shuts  off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking and refuse drivers’ payments when it is out of paper for receipts.
  WRONG  
==WOULD IS MISSING.
==AS THE VERB is not in simplest form....we need STIPULATE THAT....... SHUT  OFF......AND  REFUSE ....
 
C. stipulates that every downtown parking meter shut off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking and refuse drivers’ payments when they are out of paper for receipts.
  WRONG  
====WOULD IS MISSING.

D. would stipulate that every downtown parking meter shut off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking and refuse drivers’ payments when it is out of paper for receipts. 
  CORRECT.

E. would stipulate that every downtown parking meter  shuts  off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking and  refuses  drivers’ payments when they are out of paper for receipts.
  WRONG  
==AS THE VERB is not in simplest form....we need STIPULATE THAT....... SHUT  OFF......AND  REFUSE ....

NOTE:  
......WOULD + (DEMAND/DICTATE/STIPULATE ..etc) + THAT + NOUN + VERB IN SIMPLEST FORM ====> THIS IS CORRECT (IF MEANING NEEDS WOULD)
BUT
.......(DEMAND/DICTATE/STIPULATE ..etc) + THAT + NOUN +  WOULD  VERB IN SIMPLEST FORM ==>(THIS FORM IS NEVER CORRECT IN SUBJUNCTIVE FORM)
 
Hope it helps.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  kaustav04 . Choice (B) is incorrect because it misses the correct verb tense in the subjunctive that is triggered by a command word such as  stipulate(s) .  Here  is an article, short but sweet, from  The Economist  on the topic. The correct iteration of (B) should read,

stipulates that every downtown parking meter   shut  off  during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking  and   refuse  drivers’ payments when it is out of paper for receipts.

Notice the parallel subjunctive verbs in  shut off  and  refuse . You would expect  refuses  instead if the subjunctive tense were unnecessary. Only choice (E) presents such parallel elements in the simple present tense, and it includes a problematic  they . You can test for the subjunctive tense by inserting  be  in front of the verb in question. In this case, although such an insertion would change the meaning of the sentence (since  shut off  implies that the device turns itself off, while  be shut off  opens the door to someone or something else doing the shutting), you can still appreciate why  shuts  will not work:

stipulates that every downtown parking meter    shuts  off...

I guess it comes down to knowing when to invoke the subjunctive tense, as well as understanding that regardless of a singular or plural noun, the infinitive form of the verb will be used.

1)  The city mandates that  parking meters     shut off  between 6.00pm and 8.00am.

2)  I demand that  the light   be shut off  before I go to bed.

I hope that helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

- Andrew

nave · Answer

Eminating A, C and E was easy, but I could not nail down to one between B and D

OA has an explanation "After “subjunctive” verbs such as demand, insist, mandate, etc. (and in this case of course “stipulate”) you must use the subjunctive mood, which means that you do not conjugate the verb (leave the verb in its base form)." :shock:

Could someone (perhaps from GMATPill / E-Gmat) please explain in Plain English what is the difference between B and D?

Cheers

Could someone (perhaps from GMATPill / E-Gmat) please explain in Plain English what is the difference between B and D? Cheers

mau5 · Answer

As you rightly said, "stipulate" is a "Bossy Verb", i.e. a fancy word for verbs which instruct someone to do something. In plain english , whenever you come across bossy verb(keep the context in mind, there are some verbs which may/may not take the comman subjunctive form all the time), the structure to be followed is :

Bossy Verb+That+Subject+(Infinitive form of the verb sans the "to")

Ex: I insist that you wash your hands--> insist - bossy verb, "to wash" sans the "to" is the bare verb

In case of B/D, the correct form of the infinitive "to shut" is shut. That eliminates B.

Hope this helps.

registerincog · Answer

If the sentence uses "will" instead of "would", would the sentence be incorrect?

PUNEETSCHDV · Answer

hello registerincog

this sentence is about use of conditional would , we need would to express uncertainty. it is used on 1. expectation about future, 2. hypothetical situation 3. assumption for a future event.

will is used to express certainty,

Since we are not sure regarding details of the bill as it will be introduced next month (  notice use of will , we are sure it will be introduced)  so we need would here to express anything regarding its details (as the details are uncertain).

dominicraj · Answer

Hi, I have a few doubts betwen B and D. Firstly, When it is already known that the bill is to be passed next month, why again emphasize with "would"? Redundancy. Secondly, " A bill " is singular why use "stipulate" there instead of "stipulates"? Where is Subject-Verb agreement?? Thirdly, "every parking meter" should be followed by "shuts off" and not "shut off". Where is Subject-Verb agreement?? Please help with this.. :roll:

Regards, Dom.

Nightmare007 · Answer

Subjunctive needs base form of verb. - only C and D are left. In c we see that the meter is singular but THEY is used . Hence out. Answer is D.

nightblade354 · Answer

I agree with Dom, so I could use some clarification as well!

Also, S-V agreement, shouldn't it be, if plural, Shut off - They dispense? Not shut off - It?

darn · Answer

Could GMATNinja , mikemcgarry or any other expert please explain why we require a 'would' in the correct option. I always get confused when it comes to the usage of would/will for future events

gvij2017 · Answer

antecedent of "it" is not clear here. 
Please throw light on this.

nitesh50 · Answer

Hi

I can understand the other errors in this question. But can can someone please explain to me why the usage of would is correct in this sentence.

A bill, to be introduced next month,......

A would is used when we have uncertainty or some expectations. It is also used when we are referring to a future event from the past.

IMO, this sentence does not have any of these usages.
Can someone please throw some light on the usage of would and that usage in this question.

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daagh · Answer

I do not think the problem is the use of the connector 'that'. After all, it does a neat job of connecting two ICs and turns the entire sentence into a complex sentence.

While it is agreeable that 'stipulate' is certainly a subjunctive mood verb, there is still no need to use the modal.

The verb 'stipulate' per se is any time a command subjunctive because of the element of mandating inherent within. When a date has been fixed and announced publicly for the eventual introduction, there is no second thought about its eventuality. One can simply dispense with the modal 'would' and still carry the subjunctive mood in the given context.

I have my doubts about the utility of the word 'would'. However, the author may have her own reasons.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Your assessment is accurate. There is no clear reason to use "would" in this sentence. The author may have felt that the use of "would" results in the sentence's conveying that there is some uncertainty regarding whether the bill will stipulate what's described. However, seeking to use "would" without other related wording to convey such a meaning does not make sense.

It has been suggested that the reason that choice (C) is incorrect is that it does not include "would." That assessment is not accurate. (C) is incorrect only because of the pronoun agreement issue associated with the use of "they," which may seem to refer to parking meters but does not, since "parking meters" does not appear in the sentence. Rather the sentence uses "every ... parking meter" which is singular. So, the only antecedent that agrees with "they" is "people," which does not work as the antecedent of "they," since the meaning conveyed were "people" the antecedent of "they" would be that people run out of meter receipts, which meaning is illogical. The use of "stipulates" in (C) is fine, and, in fact, better than the use of "would stipulate."

kaustav04 · Answer

Why not B?

Because even though the bill is supposed to be tabled next month, the nitty gritty is known to the author.

Secondly, Shouldn't it be "Shuts" instead of "shut" as we are speaking about "Every parking meter"

Thanks

lakshya14 · Answer

What is conditional is this sentence that we are using "would" in the correct answer. Neither we are describing something in future in past.

svasan05 · Answer

Hi Lakshya

"Would" is used not only for conditionals or as the past tense of "will" but also for denoting hypotheticals ie; something that is not certain yet but is a mere possibility. One could take the view that since the bill has not been introduced yet, no one could possibly know for certain what it says and hence all speculations are merely possibilities.

In any case, use of present tense "stipulates" is clearly incorrect since it is not a general truth. Therefore, we are only left with using "would". As explained above, using "would" can be justified, though I agree it is not the only correct way here.

Hope this helps.

Ormien · Answer

A little help needed here with the meaning conveyed by the usage of "would"!

Is it not possible that a bill exists in the present (and is being discussed or is out for public comment) and the bill stipulates (in its current form) certain provisions. In this case, it is a statement of fact that the bill stipulates certain things. In such a situation saying that a bill "would stipulate" something when it is introduced next month seems hard to comprehend - what this may imply is that the bill will, in the future, stipulate something - which likely means that the text of the bill does not exist today - if that's the case then how do we know what it does / will stipulate?

A bill, to be introduced next month, would stipulate that ev

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A bill, to be introduced next month, would stipulate that ev

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