Although the losing party disapproves of every aspect of the opponent'

Question

Although the losing party  disapproves of every aspect of the opponent's platform, they later conceded that there must be a basis  for a cooperative government and agreed to compromise.

(A) disapproves of every aspect of the opponent's platform, they later conceded that there must be a basis

(B) disapproves of every aspect of the opponent's platform, it later conceded that there must be a basis

(C) disapproved of every aspect of the opponent's platform, they later conceded that there had to be some basis

(D) had disapproved of every aspect of the opponent's platform, it later conceded that there must be a basis

(E) had disapproved of every aspect of the opponent's platform, they later conceded that there were grounds

Marcab · Answer

The yellow shaded portion is a modifier and will modify the word, coming just after "comma". So since the subject of the first clause is "party", which is singular, the pronoun must be a singular "it" not plural "they". Eliminate A C D.
B has an issue of tense. In first clause, it uses present tense, but in the second clause it uses simple past. Its illogical.
D rectifies this mistake but using "had" to sequentially structure the events.
+1 D.

vietmoi999 · Answer

though collective noun such as party is normally considered sigular, it can be considered plural if we focus on each individual. This is the grammar rule. This point means, on gmat , collective noun can go with sigular or plural verb.

The problem with E is that "there were" is a fact and so E is not logic. D is logic because "must" is a neccessity.

The problem with E is that "there were" is a fact and so E is not logic. D is logic because "must" is a neccessity.

sos2god · Answer

D

Pronoun and tense error

singular pronoun 'it' should be used
two actions in the past are being discussed, so past perfect must be used.

veenu08 · Answer

I agree that B in correct due to present tense, but in D- had disapproved of every aspect of the opponent's platform, it later conceded that there must be a basis-- shouldn't a simple past be used here instead of past prefect, as later is making clear the sequence of events.

Kindly correct me if I am wrong

Kindly correct me if I am wrong

Archit143 · Answer

HI
I ll be happy if my post helps!!
There are two events...
First one :A disapproval
Second: Conceding to a point
Both are in past. So we must use "past perfect" for the former and "Simple past for the "later"
So disapproval must use had and concede must use simple past.

Consider kudos If my post helps!!!

Archit

Marcab · Answer

In A C E, the problem is the usage of "they".
In B, the usage of present tense doesn't gels well with the past tense. Since there are two events, hence "had" becomes necessary.
+1D.

kiranmayech · Answer

You are not wrong. But D is correct because there is no better choice. If there were to be an option which uses a simple past and which rectifies the pronoun number error for party-it pair, we can choose that option.

BangOn · Answer

Good point Veenu. The time is clearly indicated by the use of later. But disapproves is in present tense. So B goes away.
Option D is what we have to live with.

paidlukkha · Answer

it  might refer to platform or party, no?

abhimahna · Answer

No, when we have the construction of the form  Although ..., pronoun ...  , the pronoun always refer to the Subject of the clause after although.

Hence, Although the  losing party  disapproves of every aspect of the opponent's platform,  it  later

Thus, in the above example , It clearly refers to Losing Party.

Shiv2016 · Answer

Hi abhimahna

Can there be an exception to this rule?

Thanks

Shiv2016 · Answer

Will this be correct version of this sentence:

Although the losing party disapproved of every aspect of the opponent's platform, it  later  conceded that there must be a basis for a cooperative government and agreed to compromise.

Because of the word "later" that clearly shows the sequence.

abhimahna · Answer

No, there is no exception to this rule as far as I remember.

Yes, this sentence works fine. Sequencing is shown using the work later.

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

Always be suspicious of the pronoun they. In the original sentence, it should refer to the losing party, but it fails to do so correctly because losing party is singular and they is plural. Eliminate (A), (C), and (E). Pause to briefly congratulate yourself for eliminating three choices so quickly, and scan for differences among (B) and (D). They offer different options for the first verb, and since the party later conceded that a cooperative government was necessary, the first verb needs to describe a time before that concession. The present tense is out; had disapproved has to be the correct choice, and that leaves (D).

An 800 test taker realizes that it and they, even though they are commonly misused, are still pronouns and still need to refer to particular nouns. He is suspicious whenever he sees either underlined in a Sentence Correction question.

Prihans · Answer

hi, Got the answer correct, but just got a doubt that here "and"is a parralel marker, so Why "that- that" parallelism is not maintained over here. please explain how X and Y are parallel.

Nrj0601 · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

There are two errors with the sentence as written. Since the second clause of the sentence specifies that it happens "later" than the first, the first clause must be in past perfect tense (had disapproved), rather than present tense. There is also a pronoun disagreement error. "Party" is singular, so it has to be referred to by a singular pronoun: it, not "they." Eliminate (A) due to these errors.

The pronoun issue is easier to scan for, and the remaining choices can be grouped into those that do not fix the error, (C) and (E), and those that do, (B) and (D). (C) and (E) can thus be eliminated. (B), while fixing the pronoun issue, fails to use the past perfect tense for the first verb. (D) is thus correct.

TAKEAWAY: If you identify two errors in a sentence, use the one that's easier to scan for to group the choices.

Although the losing party disapproves of every aspect of the opponent'

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Although the losing party disapproves of every aspect of the opponent'

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

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Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards