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MBAB123
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By the end of the nineteenth century, five of the Western European sta 30 Jan 2021, 22:25
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romil666
arya251294
I also found E to be the best answer but thought we can't have more than one "had" in a sentence and didn't choose "E".
Can anyone please help me here as in are we are not aligning with the time frame if we use 2 "had"?

We have 2 "had" and we don't know which action took place before.

Hi arya251294 ,

There is NO rule that 'we can't have more than one "had" in a sentence'. We can think of a vague timeline when we use past perfect and past tense in the same sentence. 'Past tense' action happens after the 'past perfect' action.

Consider option D: in the East only one state did . 'did' (past tense) shows that the railroad system in the east was constructed after the construction of the railroad system in the west (had - past perfect). But from the sentence we DON'T know which events happened when? :dontknow:

Thus, the usage of two 'had' rectifies this error. It makes much more sense to use the past perfect for other action too. Watch this video by GMATNinja for wonderful explanations on tenses: Simplifying GMAT Verb Tenses

Hope this helps :)
Romil.
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Hey arya251294

I am no expert but I'd like to add that there are only a few "rules" that are so rigid that they would work everywhere. I have also been a victim of checking rules, but am now focussed on the meaning of the sentence. Yes, rules are important but more than the rules try to understand what that sentence is saying (like you did here, I say that because you found E to be the best answer!).

To add to what Romil said, GMAMTNinja's videos are simply amazing! You can consider watching all of them in addition to the one that Romil suggested. His phrase "It's a test of verbal reasoning, not English and grammar" (not the exact phrase, but something on these lines) will be ingrained in your brain like it is mine. :D
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arya251294
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GMAT 1: 700 Q49 V36
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By the end of the nineteenth century, five of the Western European sta 01 Feb 2021, 10:25
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Brian123
romil666
arya251294
I also found E to be the best answer but thought we can't have more than one "had" in a sentence and didn't choose "E".
Can anyone please help me here as in are we are not aligning with the time frame if we use 2 "had"?

We have 2 "had" and we don't know which action took place before.

Hi arya251294 ,

There is NO rule that 'we can't have more than one "had" in a sentence'. We can think of a vague timeline when we use past perfect and past tense in the same sentence. 'Past tense' action happens after the 'past perfect' action.

Consider option D: in the East only one state did . 'did' (past tense) shows that the railroad system in the east was constructed after the construction of the railroad system in the west (had - past perfect). But from the sentence we DON'T know which events happened when? :dontknow:

Thus, the usage of two 'had' rectifies this error. It makes much more sense to use the past perfect for other action too. Watch this video by GMATNinja for wonderful explanations on tenses: Simplifying GMAT Verb Tenses

Hope this helps :)
Romil.

Hey arya251294

I am no expert but I'd like to add that there are only a few "rules" that are so rigid that they would work everywhere. I have also been a victim of checking rules, but am now focussed on the meaning of the sentence. Yes, rules are important but more than the rules try to understand what that sentence is saying (like you did here, I say that because you found E to be the best answer!).

To add to what Romil said, GMAMTNinja's videos are simply amazing! You can consider watching all of them in addition to the one that Romil suggested. His phrase "It's a test of verbal reasoning, not English and grammar" (not the exact phrase, but something on these lines) will be ingrained in your brain like it is mine. :D
Show more

Thanks a lot, I also finally realised that meaning is the king here :)
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Rainman91
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By the end of the nineteenth century, five of the Western European sta 19 Jul 2022, 03:54
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five of the Western European states had developed a railroad system, but only one in the East.

(A) only one in the East

This has 2 interpretation.

- Only one State in the East.
- Only one railroad in the East.

Saying

Only one in the East Had.

This cannot mean:
-Only one railroad in the East had.

We must mean:
-Only one State in the East had.
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Thanhnguyenvan
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By the end of the nineteenth century, five of the Western European sta 26 Jul 2023, 04:43
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Everyone helps me to answer the question of if are the ways of writing in 1 ' five of the western European states ' and in 2 ' five states in western Europe similar?

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