I've a sister who can solve difficult math and whose friend can easily make clear verbal part.
I think, my sentence is perfectly fine and also the two modifier modifies the same noun "sister", isn't it? Perhaps, you are talking about ''that modifier'' will be separated by comma and will in a row, then i can cross out the option if THE two modifier modifies the same noun and their position is in a row separated by comma, isn't it?
Thanks...

Hi dear,

You can eliminate Choice E based on modifier issue

Answer (E) repeat the original error

There are two subjects without any kind of connecting word in between,Incorrect

Structure (E) : Heirloom tomatoes ,(modifier),(modifier)-(modifier)-heirlooms are <-----2 Subjects

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Hi sayantanc2k,
I got a sentence correction today where the ''consecutive modifiers'' can modify the same noun.
here is given that SC.

Originally developed for detecting air pollutants, a technique called proton-induced x-ray emission, which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it, is finding uses in medicine, archaeology, and criminology.

(A) Originally developed for detecting air pollutants, a technique called proton-induced x-ray emission, which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it,

(B) Originally developed for detecting air pollutants, having the ability to analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it, a technique called proton induced x-ray emission

(C) A technique originally developed for detecting air pollutants, called proton-induced x-ray emission, which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it,

(D) A technique originally developed for detecting air pollutants, called proton-induced x-ray emission, which has the ability to analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance quickly and without destroying it,

(E) A technique that was originally developed for detecting air pollutants and has the ability to analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance quickly and without destroying the substance, called proton-induced x-ray emission,
Here, A is the correct answer.
in A, two consecutive modifiers modify the same noun ('A technique')
two consecutive modifiers are:
1/ ''called proton-induced x-ray emission''
2/ ''which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it''
Am I correct?
Thanks for your help.

shubhraghosh

Good point raised , keep such conceptual questions coming ...

Here is something which will certainly address your query ( From eGMAT) -

pronouns-debunking-popular-myths-intro-160811.html#p1272784

IMHO : The trick for this type of question is understanding the meaning of the question and then substituting both ( Or all ) the antecedents the Pronoun can refer to and check if the correct meaning is conveyed...

Request others to contribute their valuable opinion...
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The above post by RzS4v explains your query well. The noun phrase “a technique called proton-induced x-ray emission” is the subject - "technique" is the noun and "called proton-induced x-ray emission" is an adjectival phrase. The modifier "which can quickly analyze ..." modifies the complete noun phrase (noun+noun modifier).

Nonetheless your observation is valid. Technically there ARE two consecutive modifiers referring to the same noun. This is actually an exception to the modifier touch rule (ideally "which can quickly..." should refer to "emission") - the following excerpt from Manhattan SC guide explains this exception:


In general, noun modifiers must touch their nouns. However, there are a few exceptions to the Touch Rule.
1. A “mission-critical” modifier falls between. This modifier is often an of phrase that defines the noun. The less important modifier refers to the noun plus the first modifier.
Right: He had a wav OF DODGING OPPONENTS that impressed the scouts.
Here, the “mission-critical” modifier of dodging opponents defines the noun way.

First Glance

The underline is long, with multiple commas, and the sentence even includes dashes. Look for Structure, Meaning, Modifier, or Parallelism issues.

Issues

The core of the sentence is heirloom tomatoes & heirlooms are.

The core of this sentence would be equivalent to "Bob Anne are in town," as opposed to "Bob and Anne are in town." In other words, there are two subjects without any kind of connecting word in between - illegal move! Eliminate answer (A).

Scan the other answers to see whether any repeat this error.

(B) Although W, grown from X, appear Y, heirlooms are Z ...
(C) Although W, heirloom tomatoes, grown from X, heirlooms are Z
(D) Grown from X, heirloom tomatoes appear Y, heirlooms are Z ...
(E) Heirloom tomatoes, grown from X, although W, heirlooms are Z ...

While answer (D) does not repeat the exact error, it does introduce a different structural error. The core here is heirloom tomatoes appear Y heirlooms are Z. This is the equivalent of saying "Bob appears happy Bob is tall." This is a run-on sentence. Eliminate answer (D).

The Correct Answer

Correct answer (B) changes the sentence structure by placing heirloom tomatoes in the subordinate clause, leaving the later heirlooms as the sole subject of the sentence:

Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds, appear less appetizing - they are often green - heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

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Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year – they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises – heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

(A) Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year - "heirloom tomatoes" wrongly placed

(B) Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins - CORRECT

(C) Although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year - "they" refers to what, is not clear + "heirloom tomatoes" wrongly placed

(D) Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins - "heirloom tomatoes" wrongly placed

(E) Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins - what is "they" referring to us unclear
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Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom
tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year—they are often green and striped, or have
plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

The part between the “-“ is modifying the “cousins” (of heirloom tomatoes - HT)..hence the “cousins” should precede the “-“.

A. Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom
tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year
Incorrect as explained above …

B. Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, appear less
appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins
Correct…
The structure here is :
Although HT appear less X than their cousins, HT are more Y …

C. Although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins,
heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year
Incorrect as explained above …

D. Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than
most of their round and red supermarket cousins
Two independent clauses “heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins” and
“heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand” are incorrectly separated by a comma only..we need a FANBOYS between these two clauses.

E. Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, although they appear less
appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins
We remove the modifier “grown from seeds…”, the sentence reads “Heirloom tomatoes although they appear less
appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins” …
Noun “Heirloom tomatoes” is already the subject of the sentence and hence pronoun “they” immediately succeeding the noun is redundant and ungrammatical
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This is one question said to be from official sources according to the LINK given below (in its attached file.)
https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-most-com ... 40372.html




This is another from OG sources.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/although-app ... 87-60.html


Which one is the correct official version?
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Hello leanhdung,

You have analyzed this official sentence quite nicely.

I would just like to say that Choice E is incorrect because there is no verb for the subject heirloom tomatoes in this choice.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Hello Sahil01,


Although you arrived at the correct answer choice for this rather official question, you reasons to reject incorrect answer choices is not correct.

Following are the errors in the incorrect answer choices.:

Choice A: Incorrect because there is no verb for the subject heirloom tomatoes.

Choice B: Correct Answer.

Choice C: Incorrect because there is no verb for the subject heirloom tomatoes.

Choice D: Incorrect.
1. There is no contrast word in this choice. So the intended contrast between the two types of tomatoes is missing per this choice.
2. There is no connector to join two independent clauses are heirloom tomatoes appear... and they are often green and striped....

Choice E: Incorrect because there is no verb for the subject heirloom tomatoes.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Dear Experts,
Just so that i understand this correctly, —they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises— is a modifier modifying Heirloom tomatoes ...... does it not need to be close to the noun it modifies?
Here it's kinda spaced very far and there are other possible (but less probable) subjects such as supermarket cousins which this modifier could still potentially point to.
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Dear grsm,

I'm not an expert here, but more than happy to respond on this issue of use of dash(-).
The dash (—) is a flexible punctuation mark that you would encounter on GMAT occasionally.
It is flexible because of multiple reasons:


Reference: Manhattan GMAT Sentence Correction.
I hope this helps.

hazelnut thank you so much, your simple explanation enlightened all my doubts
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Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the correct choice quickly! To get started, here is the original question with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

(A) Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year
(B) Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins
(C) Although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year
(D) Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins
(E) Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins

There is a lot to deal with here, right? If you look carefully at WHY each of these options is so vastly different, you should be able to pick out the grammar concept we need to focus on:

MODIFIERS!

Let's take a look at the original sentence for clues:

Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

The portion of the sentence in blue is called a parenthetical. It's a non-essential phrase plugged into the sentence between parentheses or dashes to add more information or to emphasize a point.

The portion of the sentence in pink is a modifier. It is another non-essential phrase meant to add more details about heirloom tomatoes, but it's not necessary.

One thing we can try to rule out wrong options is to eliminate the parenthetical and the modifier. If the sentence still makes sense without it, then leave it for later. However, if it doesn't make sense, then eliminate it! Let's see how each option looks with the non-underlined portion added in:

(A) Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

This doesn't work! Read the sentence with the parenthetical and modifier taken out. It ends up butting the words "heirloom tomatoes" and "heirlooms" next to each other, which sounds awkward. So let's rule this one out because it's clear that the parenthetical and modifier aren't in the right place.

(B) Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

This is OKAY for now! If we read the sentence without the added parenthetical and modifier, it sounds fine. So let's keep it for later.

(C) Although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

This also doesn't work! Read the sentence with the parenthetical and modifier taken out. It ends up butting the words "heirloom tomatoes" and "heirlooms" next to each other, which sounds awkward. So let's rule this one out because it's clear that the parenthetical and modifier aren't in the right place.

(D) Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

This doesn't work because it created a run-on sentence! Both portions in red are independent clauses without any conjunctions or punctuation connecting them. So let's rule this one out because it's actually a very, very long run-on.

(E) Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

This also doesn't work! The way this is organized creates a major problem. The phrase "although they appear....cousins" was turned into another modifier. If we remove that one as well, this doesn't make sense. So let's toss this one out too!


There you have it - option B is the correct choice! It's the only sentence that uses modifiers and parenthetical phrases correctly! All the other options fall apart because the modifiers are in the wrong position or worded awkwardly. Remember - when dealing with long sentences that have several non-essential phrases, start by crossing them out and seeing what's left over. It's a quick, easy way to spot problems without needing to think too hard about it!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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I agree that the question becomes more straightforward once the above is made clear.

However, the original sentence is presented as:
"Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand."

Someone not familiar with the subject matter could understandably interpret heirloom tomatoes and heirlooms as two distinct varieties. More specifically that the sentence intends to convey that there are two separate varieties of fruits: one being the green and striped heirlooms and the other being their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes.

If you were not familiar with the subject matter or did not automatically assume that because they use the same word they must be the same thing (not always the case), and hence did not already know that the latter reference to heirlooms is referring to the same thing as earlier mention of heirlooms tomatoes, you would embark upon the SC process from a very different perspective, excluding options that conflate heirlooms tomatoes and heirlooms such as
B) "Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins."

Down this line of reasoning C) appears as a potentially valid option:
C) "Although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year"

While their could be issues with this answer due to ambiguity of pronoun "they", if I am not mistaken pronouns can technically refer to an antecedent appearing later in the sentence, and this option appears to preserve the intention of the writer than B) which appears to fundamentally change the meaning.

Original stem:
"Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand."

Here it appears as if "heirloom tomatoes" is an appositive noun for "their round and red supermarket cousins" and that "grown from [...] year" is modifying "supermarket cousins." If I am not mistaken, there appears to be nothing inherently incorrect or illogical with this interpretation on its own.

Option C) Preserves this, however option B) fundamentally changes this by making heirloom tomatoes = heirlooms and furthermore "grown from [...] year" no longer modifies the "supermarket cousins."

Tl;dr:

I agree option B is clearly correct once you understand that heirloom tomatoes and heirlooms are the same thing, and then reconstruct the sentence to give effect to this meaning. However it appears as if there is nothing in the question that makes this clear and it is equally likely that someone perceives these as two distinct varieties, resulting in either the wrong answer or at least lot of time wasted before they resign to the alternative that they might be the same thing.

please explain the difference between a and b as in both the case there is a Dependent clause followed by a Independent clause

Option A is:

Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

or, if we remove some of the additional information:

Although appearing ABC, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more XYZ.

The problem here is that there are two nouns ("heirloom tomatoes" and "heirlooms") in the subject position for the verb are.
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can someone explain the rule on hyphen/em-dash. Does both sides have to be independent like semi-colons?