Even though the overall consumer price index did not change in April,

Hi AjiteshArun

But this is not an adjectival participial phrase. It is not modifying any noun.... because there is no noun to modify. Instead if it is modifying the whole clause before it and thus it is an adverbial participial phrase and in that case it has to be placed in the end. Any participial phrase at the beginning or at the middle can only describe the noun after or just before it respectively. Only placed at end it modifies the Whole Clause before it.


There is a video on Youtube put up by GMAT Club. The first 20 mins talks about what role a participial phrase plays in these 3 positions. So really confused here .....

[you-tube] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gVm4W8bTI ... e=youtu.be[/you-tube]

Posted from my mobile device

Hi arnab2312,

Did they say "end of a sentence" or "end of a subject-verb pair"? Either way, I would not be entirely comfortable with that rule.

I haven't gone through the video you posted, but if at least one of the people there is on GMAT club, maybe you could tag them directly?

I've had the same issue. According to the video, participial phrases (-ing/-ed) can go in 3 places:
1. Beginning of the sentence, describes the noun immediately after
e.g. Bombarded by bullets, the troops retreated.

2. In the middle of the sentence, describes the noun immediately before
e.g. Dogs trained by professionals are much more obedient.

3. At the end of the sentence, describes the whole clause before
e.g. Kit Carson roamed the Rockies and the Southwest, working as a trapper and establishing a reputation as one of the most able mountain men of his time.

Hi VeritasKarishma

(D) April, having indicated the absence of any general inflation or deflation, prices in several categories of merchandise fell
Can you please explain why "Having indicated" is incorrect?
"Having indicated" modify the previous clause (CL1 - overall consumer price index did not change) or (CL2 - prices in several categories of merchandise fell)
If construction is something like this sentence - "Having lived in London, I know its climate very well" - We know that "having lived" comes first in the sequence of event (Past event). For D, can you help to figure out sequence of events?

Thanks!

Hello experts AjiteshArun,egmat,VeritasKarishma,Marty Murray

could you please explain meaning of option A and option D?

thanks.

(A) April, indicating the absence of any general inflation or deflation, prices in several categories of merchandise have fallen
The meaning and tense is perfect therefore let us hang on to it

(B) April, indicating that any general inflation or deflation were absent, prices in several categories of merchandise fell
That usage is creating ambiguity and distorting the meaning therefore out

(C) April and indicated that absence of any general inflation or deflation, prices in several categories of merchandise fell
Independent clauses should not be linked with commas therefore out

(D) April, having indicated the absence of any general inflation or deflation, prices in several categories of merchandise fell
having isn't the right usage therefore out

(E) April, which indicated that any general inflation or deflation were absent, prices in several categories of merchandise have fallen
Which is modifying April , distorting the meaning therefore out

Therefore IMO A

Dear Experts,

I have 2 questions

1) The correct answer should contain present perfect tense because of "over the last several months" ,right ?

2) I have no idea why (B) is wrong? because of fell ? someone said that "were" is incorrect. Should it be "was" ?

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that the overall consumer price index did not change in April, and as a result indicated the absence of any general inflation or deflation, but prices in several categories of merchandise have fallen over the last several months.

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Meaning + Modifiers + Tenses + Grammatical Construction

• The present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is also used to refer to actions that concluded in the recent past; however, the use of present perfect tense is redundant if the sentence otherwise indicates that the action concluded in the recent past, such as through the use of “recent” or “recently”.
• The simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the general past.
• "and" is the only conjunction that can join two singular nouns into a plural noun phrase.
• "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.
• The introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “indicating” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.

A: Correct.
1/ This answer choice avoids the subject-verb disagreement seen in Options B and E, as it uses the present participle ("verb+ing") phrase "indicating the absence of any general inflation or deflation" rather than an active verb, as seen in B and E.
2/ Option A uses the phrase "indicating the absence", conveying the intended meaning - that the overall consumer price index did not change in April and as a result, the index indicated the absence of any general inflation or deflation; remember, the introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “indicating” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
3/ Option A correctly uses the present perfect tense verb "have fallen" to refer to an action that concluded explicitly in the recent past.

B:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun phrase "any general inflation or deflation" with the plural verb "were"; please remember, "and" is the only conjunction that can join two singular nouns into a plural noun phrase.
2/ Option B incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "fell" to refer to an action that concluded in the recent past; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to refer to actions that concluded explicitly in the recent past, and the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the general past.

C:
1/ This answer choice alters the meaning of this sentence through the phrase "and indicated "; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the overall consumer price index did not change in April and as a separate action indicated the absence of any general inflation or deflation; the intended meaning is that the overall consumer price index did not change in April and as a result indicated the absence of any general inflation or deflation.
2/ Option C incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "fell" to refer to an action that concluded in the recent past; remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is also used to refer to actions that concluded explicitly in the recent past, and the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the general past.

D:
1/ 1/ This answer choice alters the meaning of this sentence through the phrase "having indicated "; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the overall consumer price index did not change in April because it had indicated the absence of any general inflation or deflation; the intended meaning is that the overall consumer price index did not change in April and as a result indicated the absence of any general inflation or deflation.
2/ Option D incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "fell" to refer to an action that concluded in the recent past; remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is also used to refer to actions that concluded specifically in the recent past, and the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the general past.

E:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun phrase "any general inflation or deflation" with the plural verb "were"; please remember, "and" is the only conjunction that can join two singular nouns into a plural noun phrase.
2/ Option E incorrectly refers to "April" with "which indicated that any general inflation or deflation were absent", illogically implying that the month of April indicated the absence of any general inflation or deflation; the intended meaning is that the overall consumer price index indicated the absence of any general inflation or deflation; remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "And" versus other conjunctions, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Comma Plus Present Participle for Cause-Effect Relationship" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



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



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



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

A) correct answer
B) were is wrong here. Noun or Noun construction uses singular verbs
C) it changes the meaning of the sentence. The use of 'and' conveys here these two actions are parallel and not related. The actual meaning shows there is a cause and effect relationship is here.
d) having + past participle can be used in the following ways
1)to talk about an action that was completed before a specific time in the past
2)also used in idiomatic expressions such as "having said that" to introduce a contrasting statement.
e) referent of which is april here that doesn't makes any sense

Can I argue that since "over the last several months" is already given and with the given context the phrase is giving a strong indication that the action is continuing into the present it will not be efficient to use the term "have fallen" and will be more effective to use "fell"?