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Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary 16 Jul 2022, 02:32
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Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary animals howling mournfully on the tops of distant hills, in reality these gregarious creatures live in stable groups that occupy the same territory for long periods.

Test: modifier
(A) films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary animals howling mournfully on the tops of distant hills
- Correct
(B) in films about the American West coyotes are depicted to be solitary animals that howl mournfully on the tops of distant hills

(C) coyotes are depicted as solitary animals howling mournfully on the tops of distant hills in films about the American West
-> adverb phrase should be placed right next to the noun its modify, in this case, the noun is "coyotes"

(D) films about the American West depict coyotes as if they were solitary, mournfully howling animals on the tops of distant hills
-> wrong use of idiom
(E) films about the American West depict coyotes to be solitary and mournfully howling animals on the tops of distant hills
-> changed meaning. "mournfully howling animals" is supposed to modify "solitary"
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Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary 20 Dec 2022, 11:31
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I chose choice B because it seems perfectly parallel, but as the answers I've read it seems that it is incorrect only because of the incorrect idiom. will I not be able to solve this question without knowing this idiom?

GMATNinja or any other expert is my understanding correct or is there anything else I am missing(because we can't memorise all idioms right) , can you help please?
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Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary 20 Dec 2022, 13:46
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NamanPro
I chose choice B because it seems perfectly parallel, but as the answers I've read it seems that it is incorrect only because of the incorrect idiom. will I not be able to solve this question without knowing this idiom?

GMATNinja or any other expert is my understanding correct or is there anything else I am missing(because we can't memorise all idioms right) , can you help please?
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Hello NamanPro,

Thank you for the question. I will be more than glad to help you. :)

Choice B is certainly incorrect for using the unidiomatic expression "depicted to be". However, there are other tell-tale signs to reject this choice. We know that GMAT likes succinct and precise choices. Choice B becomes slightly wordy by using the passive voice "are depicted". I am not saying that the use of the passive voice is always wrong. No. But in this sentence, using the active voice keeps the sentence precise and direct. Again, we have "that howl" in Choice B instead of "howling". The usage is NOT incorrect, but the choice certainly carries extra words.

Moreover, you should also study Choice A very carefully to detect why did you reject this choice? What did you identify as an error that wasn't an error? Such analyses will help you not repeat these mistakes.

Hope this helps. :)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary 25 Dec 2022, 21:58
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Hi Experts,
In this question , i am confused with option C. Can you please tell me why my reasoning is wrong,
In second IC , we have "these gregarious creature as a subject" so in first clause we should have " coyotes " as the subject but instead we have films as the subject
I'm not quite sure that I understand your question, but I'll give it a shot!

Are you suggesting that in a sentence with two clauses, the subjects of the two clauses must match? If so, that certainly isn't true. There's absolutely nothing with having two different subjects of two different clauses in the same sentence.

As others have mentioned above, there are all sorts of other problems with (C). For starters, the phrase "coyotes are depicted as solitary animals howling mournfully on the tops of distant hills in films..." seems to be saying that the coyotes actually howl in the films themselves. And that's not the point: the sentence is trying to say that the films depict the coyotes as howling mournfully in general -- not that the coyotes actually howl in the films. And there's no good reason to use passive voice in (C) when there's a better, more active alternative in (A).

I hope this helps!
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Hi GMATNinja, Thanks for the explanation, yet i require better clarity on "Although" questions

I Understand, in Although Questions, if there are 2 clauses, both clauses should refer to same subject like "Although coyotes" & "these gregarious creature" - is my understanding wrong? please explain
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Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary 26 Dec 2022, 05:33
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SatvikVedala
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Hi Experts,
In this question , i am confused with option C. Can you please tell me why my reasoning is wrong,
In second IC , we have "these gregarious creature as a subject" so in first clause we should have " coyotes " as the subject but instead we have films as the subject
I'm not quite sure that I understand your question, but I'll give it a shot!

Are you suggesting that in a sentence with two clauses, the subjects of the two clauses must match? If so, that certainly isn't true. There's absolutely nothing with having two different subjects of two different clauses in the same sentence.

As others have mentioned above, there are all sorts of other problems with (C). For starters, the phrase "coyotes are depicted as solitary animals howling mournfully on the tops of distant hills in films..." seems to be saying that the coyotes actually howl in the films themselves. And that's not the point: the sentence is trying to say that the films depict the coyotes as howling mournfully in general -- not that the coyotes actually howl in the films. And there's no good reason to use passive voice in (C) when there's a better, more active alternative in (A).

I hope this helps!


Hi GMATNinja, Thanks for the explanation, yet i require better clarity on "Although" questions

I Understand, in Although Questions, if there are 2 clauses, both clauses should refer to same subject like "Although coyotes" & "these gregarious creature" - is my understanding wrong? please explain
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Hello SatvikVedala,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, there is no rule that two independent clauses linked together must have the same subject, and the same is true regardless of how the clauses are linked.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary 24 Jan 2023, 09:13
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Hi Experts

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I know option D is awkward but can someone please explain why and how it is awkward
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Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary 24 Jan 2023, 10:28
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Vatsal7794
Hi Experts



I know option D is awkward but can someone please explain why and how it is awkward
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Hello Vatsal7794,

Hope you are doing well. I will be glad to help you with this one. :)

Choice D says: films about the American West depict coyotes as if they were solitary, mournfully howling animals on the tops of distant hills

This choice uses the comma + verb-ing modifier "mournfully howling..." after the clause "as if they were...". In this structure, the comma + verb-ing modifier acts as an action modifier that modifies the preceding action "were". As an action modifier, the comma + verb-ing modifier can act in one of two ways:

1. It presents the "how" aspect of the modified action. So, per this function, the modifier "mournfully howling..." seems to suggest that coyotes were solitary by howling mournfully on the tops of distant hills. This meaning is absolutely illogical.

2. It presents the "result" of the modified action. According to this function, the modifier "mournfully howling..." suggests that because coyotes were solitary, they howled mournfully on the tops of distant hills. This meaning is also illogical.

So, the use of the comma + verb-ing modifier "mournfully howling..." makes the sentence totally illogical. Hence, it is incorrect. In addition, the use of the word "if" is unnecessary.

If you wish to know more about the comma + verb-ing modifiers, then please read our super famed article on the same: https://gmatclub.com/forum/usage-of-verb-ing-modifiers-135220.html


Hope this helps. :)
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Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary 24 Jan 2023, 22:26
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Vatsal7794
Hi Experts



I know option D is awkward but can someone please explain why and how it is awkward


Hello Vatsal7794,

Hope you are doing well. I will be glad to help you with this one. :)

Choice D says: films about the American West depict coyotes as if they were solitary, mournfully howling animals on the tops of distant hills

This choice uses the comma + verb-ing modifier "mournfully howling..." after the clause "as if they were...". In this structure, the comma + verb-ing modifier acts as an action modifier that modifies the preceding action "were". As an action modifier, the comma + verb-ing modifier can act in one of two ways:

1. It presents the "how" aspect of the modified action. So, per this function, the modifier "mournfully howling..." seems to suggest that coyotes were solitary by howling mournfully on the tops of distant hills. This meaning is absolutely illogical.

2. It presents the "result" of the modified action. According to this function, the modifier "mournfully howling..." suggests that because coyotes were solitary, they howled mournfully on the tops of distant hills. This meaning is also illogical.

So, the use of the comma + verb-ing modifier "mournfully howling..." makes the sentence totally illogical. Hence, it is incorrect. In addition, the use of the word "if" is unnecessary.

If you wish to know more about the comma + verb-ing modifiers, then please read our super famed article on the same: https://gmatclub.com/forum/usage-of-verb-ing-modifiers-135220.html


Hope this helps. :)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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but solitary, mournfully can be adjective also that is decribing the animal (Coyotes)
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Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary 25 Jan 2023, 06:29
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Vatsal7794
Hi Experts

GMATNinja @VeritasKarishma EducationAisle ChrisLele mikemcgarry AjiteshArun egmat sayantanc2k RonPurewal DmitryFarber MagooshExpert avigutman EMPOWERgmatVerbal MartyTargetTestPrep ExpertsGlobal5 IanStewart
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I know option D is awkward but can someone please explain why and how it is awkward
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Hello Vatsal7794,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, Option D is awkward and needlessly wordy, simply because the phrase "if they were" can be deleted without a loss of clarity.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary 25 Jan 2023, 16:32
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Vatsal7794

but solitary, mournfully can be adjective also that is decribing the animal (Coyotes)
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Hello Vatsal7794,

Thank you for the follow-up query. :)


Yes, your point is valid too. So, it is crystal clear that the use of this modifier is ambiguous and incorrect. AN ambiguous modifier is a very solid reason to reject an answer choice.


Hope this helps. :)
Thanks.
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Although films about the American West depict coyotes as solitary 23 Jul 2025, 11:26
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