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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 01 Jun 2018, 06:53
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet, believed to be the largest flying creature the world has ever seen.

(A) believed to be
(B) and that is believed to be
(C) and it is believed to have been
(D) which was, it is believed,
(E) which is believed to be


Why is B not correct?
I believe both "That" in option B and "It" in option C can refer back to both wingspan and the reptile.
And which one is correct - "to be" or "to have been".
I am confused in between these things.
Please help.
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 01 Jun 2018, 09:41
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jackspire

Why is B not correct?
I believe both "That" in option B and "It" in option C can refer back to both wingspan and the reptile.
And which one is correct - "to be" or "to have been".
I am confused in between these things.
Please help.
Show more

Hey jackspire ,

I am happy to help. :-)

The key to understand which one to use out of "believe to be" vs "believed to have been" IS to read the non underlined portion of the sentence properly.

It is saying "world has ever seen". Since we are using present perfect tense, it implies the world has still not seen any other largest creature. Since it is happening in present also, we will simply say it is still believed.

If you use "Believed to be", it means it was believed in the past. And now we no longer believe so. If we don't believe it now, that means we found another largest creature. If so, why are we saying "world HAS ever seen"?

Understanding the meaning is the key to answer this question.

Does that make sense?
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 01 Jun 2018, 10:45
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The Blue whale weighing close to 200 tons is believed to be the largest living animal on the planet (living even now) -- correct
The Blue whale weighing close to 200 tons is believed to have been the largest living animal on the planet. ( living even now) not correct since 'living' and 'to have been' do not sync

The Dinosaurs are believed to be huge animals that lived 65 million years ago. -- Not correct since 'to be' and 'lived' do not gel.
The Dinosaurs are believed to have been huge animals that lived 65 million years ago. -- Not correct since 'to be' and 'lived' do not gel.
Trump is said to be a good President-- correct
Trump is said to have been a good President -- not correct.
Clinton is said to be a successful President -- not correct
Clinton is said to have been a successful President. -- Correct.

'To be' implies current times while 'to have been' implies some past happening.
You may see why 'to have been' is more appropriate.
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 31 May 2020, 09:54
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hazelnut AtlanticGMAT daagh

Had a small doubt.
If the sentence went something like this :
A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet and it is believed to have been the largest the world has ever seen.

In this case, option C is wrong because we do not the antecedent for 'it.'
Is my thought process correct?
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 31 May 2020, 10:18
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hazelnut AtlanticGMAT daagh

Had a small doubt.
If the sentence went something like this :
A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet and it is believed to have been the largest the world has ever seen.

In this case, option C is wrong because we do not the antecedent for 'it.'
Is my thought process correct?
Show more



Hello shivangishar,

Allow me to resolve your query. :-)


From the context and the information presented by the sentence, it is clear that the Quetzalcoatlus is believed to be the largest flying creature ever. So now, if we remove the comma before it in Choice C, the sentence will still remain logical - it will still convey the same logical meaning because logically, the pronoun it can only refer to the Quetzalcoatlus. If one says that it can also refer to A huge flying reptile, then also the meaning remains the same because it is clear from the sentence that A huge flying reptile = the Quetzalcoatlus.


However, removal of the comma before it will certainly make Choice C incorrect because the two independent clauses will just be connected by and. This connection is considered incorrect in Sentence Correction.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 31 May 2020, 10:27
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What if the sentence was -

A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet and that is believed to have been the largest the world has ever seen.

In this case, that would directly imply that we are talking about the wingspan, isn't it?
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 31 May 2020, 10:40
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shivangishar
What if the sentence was -

A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet and that is believed to have been the largest the world has ever seen.

In this case, that would directly imply that we are talking about the wingspan, isn't it?
Show more



Hello shivangishar,
Thank you for the query. :-)


I am afraid your analysis is not correct. From the meaning standpoint, the usage of that suggests that the sentence is talking about the Quetzalcoatlus because a wingspan cannot be a creature. That can only logically modify the Quetzalcoatlus. But this modified version of the sentence is grammatically incorrect.

See, the usage of the connector and suggests that there is a list in this sentence. What follows and is the modifier that is believed.... But there is no similar modifier before and in the main clause that is grammatically parallel to this modifier. Hence, the usage of that is incorrect.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 19 Jul 2020, 02:14
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please explain the role of present perfect in option C. Is it better to use present tense instead ?
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 19 Jul 2020, 07:28
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gmatyodha
please explain the role of present perfect in option C. Is it better to use present tense instead ?
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Hi gmatyodha, C is not using present perfect; C uses (what's called as) perfect infinitive.

The perfect infinitive has the following structure:

to + have + past participle

Examples of perfect infinitive: to have called (to + have + past participle called), to have warned (to + have + past participle warned), to have taken (to + have + past participle taken) etc.

The perfect infinitive always indicates that its action happened before the action of the main verb of the clause. Hence perfect infinitives can act as present perfect, past perfect, or (in some rare cases) simple past tense

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses Perfect Infinitive, its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 18 Oct 2020, 00:59
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Hi GMATGuruNY,

Request your help to understand the verb tense sequencing in the correct answer choice.


A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet, believed to be the largest flying creature the world has ever seen.

(A) believed to be
(B) and that is believed to be
(C) and it is believed to have been
(D) which was, it is believed,
(E) which is believed to be

I read your note on Perfect infinitives in the "Combining physical strength.. Neanderthals" question.
In that you have mentioned that in "appear to have been equipped", the perfect infinitive happens before while the present infinitive is at the same time as the verb.

In this sentence.
and it is believed to have been.
Sequencing the verbs
1) is believed is present.
2) to have been the largest flying creature is perfect infinitive that happens before believed.
akin to She claims to have been president.
3) the world has ever seen modifies the largest flying creature.

Questions
Q1
My concern is that is this modifier still relevant today ? If so how as the bird was the largest flying creature.
I am unable to sequence the "that clause : the world has ever seen" in context of grammar.

Q2
What will be the effect if we state the "is believed "to be" the largest flying creature that the world has ever seen ?
Does it mean that it "is" the largest flying creature as main verb is in present.
If so then the use of Perfect infinitive is accurate as "it was the largest flying creature".

Also, is it right to say that
1) She claims to have been president = She claims that she has been president.

2) She claimed to have been president = She claimed that she had been president.

In 1) Is the Action over but just relevant OR Action Continues in to the present.
can we use the perfect infinitive for both these options or just the "action over part"
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million Updated on: 19 Oct 2020, 04:11
Originally posted by GMATGuruNY on 19 Oct 2020, 03:56.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on 19 Oct 2020, 04:11, edited 1 time in total.
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kagrawal16
Hi GMATGuruNY,

Request your help to understand the verb tense sequencing in the correct answer choice.
I read your note on Perfect infinitives in the "Combining physical strength.. Neanderthals" question.
In that you have mentioned that in "appear to have been equipped", the perfect infinitive happens before while the present infinitive is at the same time as the verb.

In this sentence.

and it is believed to have been.

Sequencing the verbs
1) is believed is present.
2) to have been the largest flying creature is perfect infinitive that happens before believed.
akin to She claims to have been president.

3) the world has ever seen modifies the largest flying creature.
My concern is this modifier is still relevant today ? If so how as the bird was the largest flying creature.
AS per my understanding and I am not certain should it be "that the world had ever seen"

I am unable to sequence the "that clause : the world has ever seen" in context of grammar.
Show more

Attachment:
Quetzalcoatlus tenses.png
Quetzalcoatlus tenses.png [ 79.91 KiB | Viewed 5379 times ]

The blue action started when the world was created and continues in the present.
Since the moment of creation, the world has seen X creatures.

The green action is happening NOW.
Right now, the Quetzalcoatlus is believed.

The red action happened IN THE PAST.
In an earlier era, the Quetzalcoatlus WAS the greatest creature.
To convert the past tense verb was into an infinitive, we use the PERFECT INFINITIVE:
The Quetzalcoatlus is believed TO HAVE BEEN the greatest creature.

Quote:
Also, is it right to say that
1) She claims to have been president = She claims that she has been president.

2) She claimed to have been president = She claimed that she had been president.

In 1) Is the Action over but just relevant OR Action Continues in to the present.
can we use the perfect infinitive for both these options or just the "action over part"
Show more

The perfect infinitive expresses an action completed before the main verb.
Sentence 1 conveys the following meaning:
She claims that she was president.
Sentence 2 conveys the following meaning:
She claimed that she had been president.
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 25 Nov 2020, 15:09
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GMATNinja egmat

Hi,

Please help me in understanding these queries:-

1) In option B, Why "that" can't refer only to "Quetzalcoatlus" as we know that pronouns can jump, and also no other noun makes sense to the sentence, so logically "that" should only refer to "Quetzalcoatlus"

2) (This might be noob one, but I have constant doubt in verb tenses.) We are using "have been" in option C. Now we do know that there is "it", which is referring to "Third person", for "Third-person singular" we use "has been" rather than "have been".
So my doubt is, why we are using "have been", rather than "has been" in option C.
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 25 Nov 2020, 16:53
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GMATNinja egmat

Hi,

Please help me in understanding these queries:-

1) In option B, Why "that" can't refer only to "Quetzalcoatlus" as we know that pronouns can jump, and also no other noun makes sense to the sentence, so logically "that" should only refer to "Quetzalcoatlus"

2) (This might be noob one, but I have constant doubt in verb tenses.) We are using "have been" in option C. Now we do know that there is "it", which is referring to "Third person", for "Third-person singular" we use "has been" rather than "have been".
So my doubt is, why we are using "have been", rather than "has been" in option C.
Show more


Hello sid0791,

Thank you for the query. :-)

1) Choice B is incorrect because the connector "comma + and" connects two independent clauses. But the clause "that is believed to be..." is NOT an independent clause. It is a dependent clause. Hence, this choice has a structural error.

2) In Choice C, the verb for the subject "it" is indeed the singular verb "is believed". Please note that "have been" is NOT a verb. It is preceded by the word "to". Together, they form the phrase "to have been". This phrase presents an action that took place long before the main verb "is believed".


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 26 Nov 2020, 00:08
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egmat

Thanks a lot. That resolves my query. I was taking "have been" as the verb. I guess I have to revise the verb and tenses.

But I didn't quite get the part why B is wrong because of structure. I get this part that by the introduction of "comma + and" we are introducing an independent clause. But still, we can use "that" to refer to "Quetzalcoatlus" as in option C "it" is referring to "Quetzalcoatlus".

Also as "is believed" is the verb, thus there shouldn't be quite an issue if you are using "to be" or "to have been".

Please help me with this query
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 26 Nov 2020, 11:01
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egmat

Thanks a lot. That resolves my query. I was taking "have been" as the verb. I guess I have to revise the verb and tenses.

But I didn't quite get the part why B is wrong because of structure. I get this part that by the introduction of "comma + and" we are introducing an independent clause. But still, we can use "that" to refer to "Quetzalcoatlus" as in option C "it" is referring to "Quetzalcoatlus".

Also as "is believed" is the verb, thus there shouldn't be quite an issue if you are using "to be" or "to have been".

Please help me with this query
Show more


Hello sid0791,

The word "that" in Choice B acts as a noun modifier that does modify the noun "Quetzalcoatlus". But this modifier starts a dependent clause. If you just analyze the "that" clause, it does not present complete information just on its own. Therefore, it is a "dependent" clause. It is "dependent" on an independent clause to present the logical meaning. Hence, there is a structural error in Choice B.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 28 Jun 2021, 11:13
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C is the correct answer.

A - Placement of the insertable phrase ‘assumed to be’ is right next to 36 feet - 36 feet is not ‘assumed to be the largest flying creature’
B - The ‘that’ is ambiguous
C - Correct. We want to convey the idea that the Quetzalcoatlus is extinct, so 'have been' is also the correct tense. The 'it' correctly refers back to Quetzalcoatlus.
D - ‘Which’ refers to 36 feet; ‘It’ is ambiguous
E - Same as D
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 30 Jun 2021, 05:10
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet, believed to be the largest flying creature the world has ever seen.

(A) believed to be
(B) and that is believed to be
(C) and it is believed to have been
(D) which was, it is believed,
(E) which is believed to be

I don't really understand why C is the right answer and A is wrong.

Thank you
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 06 Jul 2021, 22:00
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egmat

Thanks a lot. That resolves my query. I was taking "have been" as the verb. I guess I have to revise the verb and tenses.

But I didn't quite get the part why B is wrong because of structure. I get this part that by the introduction of "comma + and" we are introducing an independent clause. But still, we can use "that" to refer to "Quetzalcoatlus" as in option C "it" is referring to "Quetzalcoatlus".

Also as "is believed" is the verb, thus there shouldn't be quite an issue if you are using "to be" or "to have been".

Please help me with this query


Hello sid0791,

The word "that" in Choice B acts as a noun modifier that does modify the noun "Quetzalcoatlus". But this modifier starts a dependent clause. If you just analyze the "that" clause, it does not present complete information just on its own. Therefore, it is a "dependent" clause. It is "dependent" on an independent clause to present the logical meaning. Hence, there is a structural error in Choice B.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Can someone pls explain the comma before the and? I thought when two independent clauses are joined using 'and', we don't require comma.
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 15 Jul 2021, 22:49
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Hello Brett,

In option C, it is singular so why "have been" is correct? Why are we not using "has been". I rejected choice C for this reason.

BKimball
Great question!

Here's my logic for which C is ok grammatically:

C: "A high–flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet, and it is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen."

First, let's get to the core of this sentence. Everything up to "years ago" is a warm-up that can be ignored. So now we have:

"The Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet, and it is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen."

Now, we essentially have an interesting case of parallelism here:

The Quetzalcoatlus...
1. had a wingspan of...
2. is believed to have been...

Since we are dealing with parallelism, we really only have one subject in the sentence: the Quetzalcoatlus. Thus, both the "had" and "is" clauses refer to the bird itself.

That help?

Brett
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 02 Mar 2022, 02:47
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ExpertsGlobal5
Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
monarc
A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet, believed to be the largest flying creature the world has ever seen.

(A) believed to be
(B) and that is believed to be
(C) and it is believed to have been
(D) which was, it is believed,
(E) which is believed to be


Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet and is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Tenses + Pronouns

• The pronoun “that” is used to refer to a variation of the subject, and the pronoun “it” is used to refer to the exact same subject.
• In a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refers to the noun just before the comma.
• The present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

A: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly modifies "wingspan of 36 feet" with "believed to be...ever seen", illogically implying that a wingspan of 36 feet is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen; the intended meaning is that the Quetzalcoatlus is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen; please remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction. Further, Option A incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "be" to refer to an event that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

B: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "be" to refer to an event that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. Further, Option B incorrectly uses "that" to refer to the exact same subject - "the Quetzalcoatlus"; please remember, the pronoun “that” is used to refer to a variation of the subject, and the pronoun “it” is used to refer to the exact same subject.

C: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase "and it is believed", avoiding the meaning errors seen in Options A, D, and E and conveying the intended meaning - that Quetzalcoatlus is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen. Further, Option C correctly uses the present perfect tense verb "have been" to refer to an event that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present. Additionally, Option C correctly uses the pronoun "it" to refer to the exact same subject - "the Quetzalcoatlus".

D: This answer choice incorrectly refers to "wingspan of 36 feet" with "which was, it is believed...ever seen", illogically implying that a wingspan of 36 feet is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen; the intended meaning is that the Quetzalcoatlus is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen; please remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.

E: This answer choice incorrectly refers to "wingspan of 36 feet" with "which is...ever seen", illogically implying that a wingspan of 36 feet is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen; the intended meaning is that the Quetzalcoatlus is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen; please remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma. Further, Option E incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "be" to refer to an event that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1minute):



To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Hello Team,

You had mentioned that ''The pronoun “that” is used to refer to a variation of the subject, and the pronoun “it” is used to refer to the exact same subject''. Could you please elaborate on this? I know that ''that''' can act as a demonstrative pronoun, I have seen such usages quite common in comparison question, employing ''that of''. In such cases, are we not using ''that'' to refer to the exact same subject and not the variation of subject?

Regards
Vighnesh Kamath
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