Forum Home > GMAT > Quantitative > Problem Solving (PS)
Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Dec 1511:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Attend this free GMAT Algebra Webinar and learn how to master the most challenging Inequalities and Absolute Value problems with ease.
Dec 1608:00 AM PST
-11:59 PM PST
GMAT Club 12 Days of Christmas is a 4th Annual GMAT Club Winter Competition based on solving questions. This is the Winter GMAT competition on GMAT Club with an amazing opportunity to win over $40,000 worth of prizes!- Dec 17
09:00 AM PST
-10:00 AM PST
Join Manhattan Prep instructor Whitney Garner for a fun—and thorough—review of logic-based (non-math) problems, with a particular emphasis on Data Sufficiency and Two-Parts. - Dec 18
10:00 AM PST
-11:00 AM PST
Here is the essential guide to securing scholarships as an MBA student! In this video, we explore the various types of scholarships available, including need-based and merit-based options.
04 Nov 2010, 08:33
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi All,
The below sentence looks like incorrect to me because ...IF past tense Then would +Base form required. But according to MGMAT, the sentence is correct, Pls help to explain why "could" is correct in the below sentence.
Sandeep was told by his parents that if he helped his brother Rajeev get an “A” in trigonometry, Sandeep could go to the batting cage.
The below sentence looks like incorrect to me because ...IF past tense Then would +Base form required. But according to MGMAT, the sentence is correct, Pls help to explain why "could" is correct in the below sentence.
Sandeep was told by his parents that if he helped his brother Rajeev get an “A” in trigonometry, Sandeep could go to the batting cage.
09 Nov 2010, 17:13
Kudos
Bookmarks
I think this issue has been covered elsewhere in the forum, but here's the basic difference between could and would:
When paired with an "if" statement, "could" indicates possibility:
"If you had finished your dinner, you could have had a piece of cake as well." --> In this instance, you did not finish your dinner. However, the possibility exists that if you had finished your dinner, you would have been allowed to eat cake.
If I had written: "If you had finished your dinner, you would have had a piece of cake as well." then the reader would get the impression that the piece of cake would have been definite, regardless of whether or not you wanted it. This makes it sound like a command or a punishment.
When paired with an "if" statement, "would" indicates something that was certain:
"If you had finished your dinner, I would have given you a piece of cake." --> In this third variation of the sentence above, the narrator is saying for certain that if you had finished your cake, he or she definitively would have given you a piece of cake. Whether you "could" have eaten it after finishing dinner is another story...
Some more examples where this meaning is reflected:
"If I can win the game, you could win it also." --> We're not sure if either one of us will win.
"If I had won the game, I would have been very happy." --> Again, here we're talking in the past tense and saying with certainty that if I had won, I definitely without a doubt would be happy.
Happy studying!
Brett
When paired with an "if" statement, "could" indicates possibility:
"If you had finished your dinner, you could have had a piece of cake as well." --> In this instance, you did not finish your dinner. However, the possibility exists that if you had finished your dinner, you would have been allowed to eat cake.
If I had written: "If you had finished your dinner, you would have had a piece of cake as well." then the reader would get the impression that the piece of cake would have been definite, regardless of whether or not you wanted it. This makes it sound like a command or a punishment.
When paired with an "if" statement, "would" indicates something that was certain:
"If you had finished your dinner, I would have given you a piece of cake." --> In this third variation of the sentence above, the narrator is saying for certain that if you had finished your cake, he or she definitively would have given you a piece of cake. Whether you "could" have eaten it after finishing dinner is another story...
Some more examples where this meaning is reflected:
"If I can win the game, you could win it also." --> We're not sure if either one of us will win.
"If I had won the game, I would have been very happy." --> Again, here we're talking in the past tense and saying with certainty that if I had won, I definitely without a doubt would be happy.
Happy studying!
Brett
10 Nov 2010, 06:45
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thank you BKimball.
Understood now.
Understood now.
