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655-705 (Hard)|   Idioms/Diction/Redundancy|   Idioms/Diction/Redundancy|   Parallelism|                                 
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Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligence, the Nea 13 Mar 2022, 05:39
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ryanfox02
Hi ExpertsGlobal5 & @e-gmat

Can someone please explain the "have been equipped" to me? When I see this, I see the present perfect, something occurring in the past and continuing into the present. I see comments mentioning that the have been equipped is showing something that only happened in the past and acting like past perfect, something occurring in the past and ending before another point in time. Are we stating that even today Neanderthals seemed like they were equipped or am I misunderstanding this concept?

Thanks in advance!
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Hello ryanfox02,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, "have been equipped" is the passive version of the past perfect tense verb "have equipped"; please remember, the present perfect continuous tense verb takes the form of "has/have been + present participle ("verb+ing"); "has/have been + past participle ("equipped" in this case)" is simply the passive form of past perfect.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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ryanfox02
Hi ExpertsGlobal5 & @e-gmat

Can someone please explain the "have been equipped" to me? When I see this, I see the present perfect, something occurring in the past and continuing into the present. I see comments mentioning that the have been equipped is showing something that only happened in the past and acting like past perfect, something occurring in the past and ending before another point in time. Are we stating that even today Neanderthals seemed like they were equipped or am I misunderstanding this concept?

Thanks in advance!

Hello ryanfox02,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, "have been equipped" is the passive version of the past perfect tense verb "have equipped"; please remember, the present perfect continuous tense verb takes the form of "has/have been + present participle ("verb+ing"); "has/have been + past participle ("equipped" in this case)" is simply the passive form of past perfect.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Hi ExpertsGlobal5 ,

Thank you for your response. I thought the has/have been + past participle would be passive present perfect and had been + past participle would be passive past perfect. I have only seen "had" used for past perfect.

Thanks in advance!
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Hi ExpertsGlobal5 & @e-gmat

Can someone please explain the "have been equipped" to me? When I see this, I see the present perfect, something occurring in the past and continuing into the present. I see comments mentioning that the have been equipped is showing something that only happened in the past and acting like past perfect, something occurring in the past and ending before another point in time. Are we stating that even today Neanderthals seemed like they were equipped or am I misunderstanding this concept?

Thanks in advance!

Hello ryanfox02,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, "have been equipped" is the passive version of the past perfect tense verb "have equipped"; please remember, the present perfect continuous tense verb takes the form of "has/have been + present participle ("verb+ing"); "has/have been + past participle ("equipped" in this case)" is simply the passive form of past perfect.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Hi ExpertsGlobal5 ,

Thank you for your response. I thought the has/have been + past participle would be passive present perfect and had been + past participle would be passive past perfect. I have only seen "had" used for past perfect.

Thanks in advance!
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Hello ryanfox02,

We hope this finds you well.

Our apologies, but there seems to have been some confusion in our answer to you; thank you for bringing it to our attention.

You are correct that the "has/have been + past participle" construction is the passive version of the present perfect tense, not the past perfect tense.

To clear up your initial query, you seem to have confused the present perfect tense with the present perfect continuous tense; it is the present perfect continuous tense that refers to actions that began in the past and continue into the present; the present perfect tense - the correct tense here - refers to actions that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.

The usage of the present perfect tense is correct here because the Neanderthals being equipped to face any obstacle is an action that concluded in the past (as this species is now extinct), but it still affects the present in some way because this action affects how the Neanderthals "appear" to us today.

To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Continuous Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):


To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):


Once again, we sincerely apologize for the confusion here.

We hope this updated post was of help to you.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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So in this case as the main verb of the sentence is "appears" in present tense , the perfect infinitives indicates the the event happened before (so the equipped part is before )?
That seems correct.

Incidentally, hope you noticed that the example mentioned in our book (of perfect infinitive) is actually based on the sentence that is being discussed in this thread.

The example is:

Farmers in Neolithic era appear to have adopted permanent settlement for the first time in human history.
- to have adopted is perfect infinitive.

Again, notice that the main verb appear is simple present. Hence, perfect infinitive acts as simple past in the above sentence, appropriately suggesting that the act of adopting permanent settlement happened in the past.
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Hello EducationAisle

So if I'm not wrong, the use of simple past along with perfect infinitive is wrong always?

As seen in last option.

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Two critical cues may help us to get over this complicated issue of verb and idiom usage.

1. 'appear as equipped' and 'appeared as equipped' are both wrong because 'as equipped' suggests that the Neanderthals seem to be equipped even today since the main verb of the clause is 'indicates' as seen in the non-underlined part. This will effectively remove A, C, and D.

The second cue is that there was a purpose for their being equipped and that purpose is to face any obstacle. This intent is best expressed by an infinitive phrase 'to face' as in B rather than by a prepositional phrase 'for facing' as in E.

B is the eventual winner. Tense questions are always tricky.
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Dear EducationAisle, ExpertsGlobal5

I am confused. Please help.

What is the main verb in the entire clause before but starting from non underlined part.

I feel there is no verb at all in the first part leading to , but.

I have read that two independent clauses are joined by FANBOYS but in this case the 'but' is joining a fragment i believe.

How to join a clause without a verb to a clause having a verb. Are there any specific rules or does a simple comma suffice. Ofcourse in this case but is used for comparison i believe and is required.

So is the function of 'but' in the above question only to provide comparison rather than joining as a FANBOY function (joining 2 independant clauses)

Is the only verb in the entire sentence 'indicates' and the subject being 'dissappearance'.

Please help.
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Varane

So if I'm not wrong, the use of simple past along with perfect infinitive is wrong always?
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It might not be a good idea to generalize.

The perfect infinitive always indicates that its action happened before the action of the main verb of the clause.

For example:

Many people were believed to have died in the air crash.

This is equivalent to saying:

It was believed that many people had died in the air crash.
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Varane

What is the main verb in the entire clause before but starting from non underlined part.
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"appear" is the main verb...right?
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Varane

What is the main verb in the entire clause before but starting from non underlined part.
"appear" is the main verb...right?
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If that is so then who is the subject?

Since Neanderthals do not perform the action of appearing.

I think the main verb is indicates and the subject is the dissapearence. Isn't that so?

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Varane

The main subject is the first noun you see that's not in a modifier. The portion before the comma is a modifier, so our subject is "the Neanderthals." The verb is "appear." True, the Neanderthals didn't "appear" as in "show up," but in this case we're using it like "seem." The Neanderthals seem to have been equipped.

The conjunction "but" then introduces a new independent clause, so we need a new subject and verb. The first noun is "[their] disappearance," and the verb is "indicates." ("Their" is a possessive pronoun modifying "disappearance," but it helps to include it in the core for clarity.)

There's also one more subject-verb pair in our core. When you see THAT after a verb, it introduces a new clause. One of my colleagues called it a "reset button." So after "indicates THAT," expect a new subject-verb pair: "an inability . . . led."
Here's the correct version with the full core in bold:

Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligence, the Neanderthals appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path, but their relatively sudden disappearance during the paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt to some environmental change led to their extinction.
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Hi avigutman DmitryFarber - focussing on the appear vs appeared split - i thought Appeared made MORE logical sense and hence eliminated A,B, and C

Reason - the yellow highlight (albeit in the past tense itself) suggests the green highlight is no longer true.

The moment the yellow highlighted clause was established -- from that moment on, Neanderthals by definition stopped 'Appearing equipped'

The moment the yellow clause was established, Neanderthals went from appear to appeared

Hence i preferred appeared

Thoughts on where i might be going wrong with this
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jabhatta2

The moment the yellow highlighted clause was established -- from that moment on, Neanderthals by definition stopped 'Appearing equipped'
The moment the yellow clause was established, Neanderthals went from appear to appeared
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What would you point at, jabhatta2, as the cause for this: Neanderthals went from appear to appeared
In other words, did something happen to make them no longer appear to be equipped? Some recent discovery perhaps?
Please also note the verb tense at the end of the sentence (non-underlined): indicates
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avigutman

What would you point at, jabhatta2, as the cause for this: Neanderthals went from appear to appeared
In other words, did something happen to make them no longer appear to be equipped? Some recent discovery perhaps?
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Hi avigutman - i would point to the moment the yellow higlight (in the screenshot) was established as a general fact or was establed as a general truth.

I understand the yellow has a present tense verb (indicates) BUT present tense implies general truth.

When was the yellow established as a general fact or a general truth ? Maybe 13th century or 15th century or maybe 2021 (all these dates are in the past tense relative to 2022)

Once the yellow was established as a fact (in the 13the century or 15th century or 2020) -- From that moment on -- Neanderthals went from appear to appeared.

Whenever that general truth was established (example - the earth IS spherical) -- from that moment on, Neanderthals went from appear to appeared
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jabhatta2
avigutman

What would you point at, jabhatta2, as the cause for this: Neanderthals went from appear to appeared
In other words, did something happen to make them no longer appear to be equipped? Some recent discovery perhaps?

I would point to the moment the yellow higlight (in the screenshot) was established as a general fact or was established as a general truth.

I understand the yellow has a present tense verb (indicates) BUT present tense implies general truth.
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Okay, I see what you mean about "general truth", jabhatta2. Can you try to create a sentence about a general truth (that was established at some point in the past) using the verb "indicates", please?
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Okay, I see what you mean about "general truth", jabhatta2. Can you try to create a sentence about a general truth (that was established at some point in the past) using the verb "indicates", please?
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avigutman Sentence as requested
Quote:
The European parliament indicates Germany and USSR were both equally responsible for starting ww2.
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Some background: this resolution was adopted in 2019 only by the European parliament.

Prior to 2019, The European parliament indicated only Germany was responsible for starting ww2.
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Sentence as requested
Quote:
The European parliament indicates Germany and USSR were both equally responsible for starting ww2.


Some background: this resolution was adopted in 2019 only by the European parliament.

Prior to 2019, The European parliament indicated only Germany was responsible for starting ww2.
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jabhatta2 You need a fact (not an opinion) to indicate something. The European Parliament changed its opinion about who was responsible for WWII. But the verb “indicates” requires a fact (such as the sudden disappearance of Neanderthals).

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avigutman

jabhatta2 You need a fact (not an opinion) to indicate something. The European Parliament changed its opinion about who was responsible for WWII. But the verb “indicates” requires a fact (such as the sudden disappearance of Neanderthals).

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Hi avigutman - how about these sentences

(i) 17th century science textbooks indicate THAT the world is flat {this has been prooven wrong in the 19th century)
(ii) 17th century science textbooks indicate THAT Neanderthals disappeared because of an inability to adapt

Going back to the original problem -- the moment Neanderthals disappeared because of inability to adapt was established ( i suppose in textbooks ? or by scientists ? or established by the research community ?) -- i thought Neanderthals went from appear to appeared
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jabhatta2
The moment Neanderthals disappeared because of inability to adapt was established ( i suppose in textbooks ? or by scientists ? or established by the research community ?) -- i thought Neanderthals went from appear to appeared
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I believe your confusion is a result of two issues, jabhatta2:
(1) The author's use of the present tense "indicates" implies that "the moment" you refer to is now. In other words, the author is currently making the observation that the Neanderthals' inability to adapt to some environmental change led to their extinction. Your parenthetical "(i suppose in textbooks ? or by scientists ? or established by the research community ?)" isn't in the original sentence, so we have no past moment to point at as the moment in which the "appear" changed to "appeared".
(2) The word "but" is arguably the most important word in this sentence:
Quote:
Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligence, the Neanderthals appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path, but their relatively sudden disappearance during the paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt to some environmental change led to their extinction.
Show more
The author's purpose (based on his or her use of the word "but") is to emphasize a surprise: even though the Neanderthals appear to have been equipped, their disappearance indicates otherwise. Consider alternatively: even though the Neanderthals appeared to have been equipped, their disappearance indicates otherwise. The meaning no longer makes sense, because if they no longer appear to be equipped, then their disappearance isn't surprising (so "even though" or "but" no longer makes sense).
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GMATNinja AndrewN

Are there other signs to eliminate the options If I don't know whether it should be appear to or appear as.

I eliminated (D) and (E) because "their relatively sudden disappearance during the paleolithic era indicates. Then, I guess the Neanderthals will go with appear rather than appeared. (please, correct if I am wrong)

I selected (C) because I have no idea why we have to use "have been". we just talk about some time in the past "equipped" can convey the meaning.
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GMATNinja AndrewN

Are there other signs to eliminate the options If I don't know whether it should be appear to or appear as.

I eliminated (D) and (E) because "their relatively sudden disappearance during the paleolithic era indicates. Then, I guess the Neanderthals will go with appear rather than appeared. (please, correct if I am wrong)

I selected (C) because I have no idea why we have to use "have been". we just talk about some time in the past "equipped" can convey the meaning.
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Hello, Tanchat. Sure, you can and should use other considerations if you are less certain about one. How about we put the question in front of us for reference?

Quote:
Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligence, the Neanderthals appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path, but their relatively sudden disappearance during the paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt to some environmental change led to their extinction.

(A) appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,

(B) appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path,

(C) appear as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their paths,

(D) appeared as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their paths,

(E) appeared to have been equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
Show more
Here, we can look at equipped for versus equipped to, and we can also consider the end, their path versus their paths. I might not use the latter to make a hard elimination, but the reference to a singular obstacle makes me think of a single path, not more than one, so I would harbor a doubt about answer choices (C) and (D). As luck would have it, (A) and (E) are the only two that use equipped for. You can see this idiomatic usage in phrases such as equipped for battle, but how, exactly, does someone equip for facing something? If nothing else, this should mark another serious doubt. The verb tense in (B) may prove confusing at first glance, but you should appreciate that someone in the present could be commenting on these human beings from the past, so appear is justified, and some past tense conjugation makes sense to describe the Neanderthals in their own time—they were (not are) equipped to face just about any obstacle. Note that equipped is not a complete verb without some form of to be here: it is just the latter half. The sentence is not describing Neanderthals equipping spears or anything. Rather, they were equipped for some challenge.

It is okay to be unsure about certain differences between answer choices, but you always want to give yourself an out by looking for an issue that you are comfortable working with. That said, this is a challenging question for a reason. Learn what you can from it before you move on.

Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew
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Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligence, the Neanderthals appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path, but their relatively sudden disappearance during the paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt to some environmental change led to their extinction.


(A) appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
The use of appear here is correct here as we are making a general statement about how the Neanderthals appear when looking at them in the past. But, Appear as is the wrong idiom. When you say appear as, it is used as a comparison but there is no comparison. Also, the use of for facing is better phrased as to face in the other options since it was an intent of the of the Neanderthals to be equipped to face any obstacle.

(B) appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
B corrects all the errors in A and looks good. Hang on to this one. While the use of passive past perfect here in “to have been equipped” looks questionable, it is indeed correct because they were equipped to face obstacles before their sudden appearance. Since we are comparing two events in the past, the earlier event is correctly phrased using past perfect here. Additionally, appear to is the right idiom.

(C) appear as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their paths,
Appear as is again the wrong idiom and appear to have been is more clear in B.

(D) appeared as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their paths,
Appeared and indicates are not parallel here. Appeared is wrong here because this would mean that they appeared to us in the past but don’t any more - this is illogical since we are making a general statement in the present about how Neanderthals appear just as the sentence later says that their disappearance “indicates”. Both are general statments in the present. Additionally, the use of appeared as is incorrect, we are not comparing anything.

(E) appeared to have been equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
While this fixes the idioms error appeared as to appeared to have been and uses the correct past perfect tense, the use of appeared still remains an issue as it does in D.
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