Although the market tempts guitarists with digital signal processors

Question

Although the market tempts guitarists with digital signal processors of every shape and size,  few of these products manage to come close to creates the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide .

(A) few of these products manage to come close to creates the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide

(B) few of these products manage to come close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals providing

(C) only some of these products managing to come close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide

(D) hardly any of these products manage to came close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide

(E) a hand-made effects pedal provides a characteristic analog sound that only some of these products manage to come close to creating

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

The original sentence contained a grammar error: The first verb in the clause beginning the underlined section is manage.  Creates  is not the first verb in this clause, so it should not be conjugated. This answer choice corrects the original Verb Form mistake, by changing the conjugated form  creates  to the non-conjugated form  creating .

Remember our rule:

Only the first verb of a sentence or a clause should be conjugated.

Note that this answer choice changes the original word order and also uses slightly different words, making it  seem  very different from the original sentence. However, it does not change the meaning of the original sentence. Furthermore, it is the only grammatically correct answer choice, as the other answer choice all include fragment errors.

Sumi1010 · Answer

Although , . To is called infinitive . An infinitive takes the bare form of the verb. None of the choice has TO CREATE. Hence, I am unable to select the correct one. Can someone explain the logic to pick the right one?

sumitkrocks · Answer

(D) is the answer IMO

(A) few of these products manage to come close to  creates  the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide

Verb error

(B) few of these products manage to come close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals  providing

Need verb not participle
 
(C) only some of these products  managing  to come close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide

Need verb

(D) hardly any of these products manage to came close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide
Contrast is captured nicely 
Correct choice

(E) a hand-made effects pedal provides a characteristic analog sound that only some of these products manage to come close to  creating 
Fails to capture the contrast

asishron29181 · Answer

Although the market tempts guitarists with digital signal processors of every shape and size,  few of these products manage to come close to creates the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide.

(A) few of these products manage to come close to  creates  the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide - Incorrect. S-V agreement issue.

(B) few of these products manage to come close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals  providing  - Incorrect. 'providing' is incorrect. Doesn't refer to anything.

(C) only some of these products  managing  to come close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide - Incorrect. ' managing' is incorrect usage here.

(D) hardly any of these products manage to came close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide  - Correct.

(E) a hand-made effects pedal provides a characteristic analog sound that only some of these products manage to come close to  creating  - Incorrect.

IMO D

kantapong · Answer

I choose E lol. I am not sure where I made mistakes.
A: to creates
B: sound that hand-made pedals providing (miss main verb)
C: managing ... (miss main verb in the whole clause)
D: to came (same issue as A)
E: I see no issues here. If it is the issue of creating, then I guess C, D and E all have this issue then.

twoface07 · Answer

This is a good question; it is a testament to why we should look for the *best* option when solving an SC question (as is the case here). IMO choice (D) is correct.

Eliminate (A): S-V agreement error (does not agree in number) - subject: product, verb: creates.
The word 'providing' and 'creating' at the end of each answer choice split will further help eliminate choices (B) and (E) respectively.
When comparing choices (C) and (D), the latter is better: the word 'managing' in choice (C) should be a verb rather than a gerund to convey the meaning clearly.

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

Although the market tempts guitarists with digital signal processors of every shape and size, few of these products manage to come close to creates the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide.

(A) few of these products manage to come close to creates the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide - Incorrect. S-V agreement issue.

(B) few of these products manage to come close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals providing - Incorrect. 'providing' is incorrect. Doesn't refer to anything.

(C) only some of these products managing to come close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide - Incorrect. ' managing' is incorrect usage here.

(D) hardly any of these products manage to came close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide - Correct.

(E) a hand-made effects pedal provides a characteristic analog sound that only some of these products manage to come close to creating - Incorrect.

IMO D

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is (D) . It took me 01:16. (A) When I read the sentence, I thought come close to (doing) something is the idiomatic use. (Indeed, it is. Check https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/ ... -something) But I am not 100% sure. Fortunately, this sentence uses "come close to create s ", which is absolutely wrong. I, however, think it is a typo. (B) Verb is missing in the relative clause (that hand-made effects pedals providing). (C) Verb is missing in the main clause (only some of these products managing ). (D) No issues found. "few of" is shorter than "hardly any of", though. (E) In reading (E), we do feel that the transition from "although" subordinate clause to the main clause is not as smooth as (D). “some of these products” should better be placed closer to the subordinate clause. Also, mixing singular " a hand-made effects pedal" with plural "some of these products" might be a style issue.

agarwal1993 · Answer

As Sumi1010 rightly said- This question tests your ability to find the right way to present a 'contrasting clause'. Since the although clause' is a dependent clause, the contrasting clause must be an independent clause i.e. it must have a subject and an active verb. If you will look closely, only choices C and D present a 'contrasting clause' in the right tone. (And choice E absolutely kills the contrast) In choice C, the subject 'only some of these products' does not have a verb. Additionally, 'providing' in the end is incorrect usage. Hence, choice D is correct. 'to creates' usage in choice A is incorrect because verb must be in its base form when used as an infinitive. (Though I think this is a typing error- Bunuel , also pointed out by zhanbo) Related info- Because X, Y. Since X, Y. As X, Y. are similar in construction. More here- https://dictionary.cambridge.org/gramma ... e-or-since

Sumi1010 · Answer

AndrewN   VeritasKarishma 
I still could not decipher the jargons used in the OE. 
I believed that only  base form  of the verb should follow TO in an infinitive. 
- Can we have  TO + Verb-ing   in an infinitive ? 
- Do we have any official problem with such construction?

Please help me understand.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  Sumi1010 . You are correct in saying that the base form of a verb is  to  +  . I wonder if there is a transcription error in (D)—  came  close ?—or whether the question was designed to catch an unwitting test-taker off guard, who might assume the verb was  come , as in the previous answer choices. Whatever the case may be, I agree with the OE inasmuch as (E), as written, is the cleanest sentence of the five. If you are asking about  to come close to  creating  , such a construct is fine—the -ing form of the word is acting as a noun, a gerund, filling in for the  what  of something resembling something else. I do not know an official question offhand that tests this construct, but that does not make it incorrect (and there could very well be such questions).

- Andrew

KarishmaB · Answer

Sumi1010

"to" is not just the infinitive marker. It can also act as a preposition with a noun after it.

I want to go home. (infinitive "to go")

He is opposed to the idea. ("to" is a preposition, "idea" is the noun)

He is opposed to visiting again. ("to" is a preposition, "visiting" is a gerund (-ing verb acting as a noun)
I look forward to meeting you again. ("to" is a preposition, "meeting" is a gerund)

Sumi1010 · Answer

Thanks VeritasKarishma . I will make note of it. IMO the usage of TO is not used very frequent in day-to-day texts.

thorshammer · Answer

GMATNinja  , take over here and why E is correct.

aayushjoneja · Answer

Why is D option not correct?
Can someone please help with a reply

ji30510 · Answer

(D) hardly any of these products manage  to came  close to creating the characteristic analog sound that hand-made effects pedals provide

This is why answer D is incorrect, I think.

Purvidebuka · Answer

Hi Experts,

Requesting you to please help me out with a detailed explanation for why Option E is correct? Thank you

Although the market tempts guitarists with digital signal processors

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Although the market tempts guitarists with digital signal processors

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