GMAT Ninja SC Expert - Ask Me Anything about GMAT SC and Grammar

Yeah, that's a messy topic. I wrote an article about "being" a couple of years ago, and I deliberately oversimplified the topic -- basically, I wanted to make sure that the major uses of "being" were represented. Your first two examples are very clearly covered in the article:

• In the phrase "the work is being done", "is being" is a verb -- no problem there.
• In the phrase "being a GMAT tutor requires a warped sense of humor", "being" is a noun (a gerund, if you like jargon) -- no problem there, either.

My article doesn't address the third case you brought up, though:

"The passage indicates that on average, the profitability of acquired firms fell after being acquired..."

I really don't think you want to kill too many brain cells worrying about this, but this is no different than using any other "-ing" word after a preposition. Here, have another example:

"Charlie smiled gleefully before eating his third bowl of bibimbap."

No problem, right? We write these sorts of sentences all the time: the preposition "before" is followed by an "-ing" word (a participle, if you like jargon), and that's totally fine.

The same is true of your example: "...the profitability of acquired firms fell after being acquired..."

I don't know if that's terribly helpful, to be honest. I would just think of it this way: it's going to be awfully hard to invent a whole bunch of rules for every possible use of the word "being." Instead, be aware that "being" can cause all sorts of messes when it's used as a modifier (more on that here), and don't overthink it beyond that. If you're not sure if "being" is used correctly in an official GMAT question, look for other decision points.

I hope this helps a bit!

Good question! First, I'd pick off some low-hanging fruit. Both (B) and (C) use the present tense "expect." The timeframe of the action is established by the phrase "at the end of 2001," so we want a past tense verb. Two down.

Next, I might ask myself whether I need "that." In (D) and (E), we have a nice parallel construction: the representative said two things: 1) that there were a million copies of movies available and 2) that they expected piracy to increase. Makes sense.

In (A), because there's no second "that" it seems as though the actions are unconnected. The representatives said there were a million copies of movies available, and perhaps unrelated, they also expected piracy to increase. This isn't fundamentally wrong, but it seems less logical than the construction we have in (D) and (E) in which it's crystal clear that the actions are connected.

Also, the phrase "expected piracy to increase with high-speed Internet connections that become more widely available," is a problem. It sounds as though piracy will increase as widely available high-speed Internet connections increase, as opposed to less-widely available Internet connections, which apparently don't increase with piracy. It makes far more sense to convey the idea that piracy will increase as the high-speed connections become more available, generally. So (A) is out.

Last, in (D), the phrase "the increase of piracy as high-speed Internet connections," makes it sound as though piracy is increasing in the form of high-speed Internet connections. A person can go to a party as a clown, but piracy cannot increase as a high-speed internet connection. Offer a brief eulogy for (D), and (E) is our winner.

As for your second question, a public service announcement: there are almost no hard rules governing comma usage. There are conventions, sure, but ultimately, commas can always be used if a writer feels as though a pause will help clarify the meaning of a sentence. So if you're debating about whether a comma is appropriate, remind yourself of this, and look for other decision points instead.

I hope that helps!

1. First, when we see Clause + Comma + Verb-ing, Verb-ing modifies the entire previous clause. So while the modifier needs to make sense with the subject of that clause, it isn't quite accurate to say that it's modifying that subject directly.

For example:

"Tim squandered the family fortune on faberge eggs, resulting in a declaration of bankruptcy."

It would be odd to argue that Tim resulted in the declaration of bankruptcy. Instead, Tim's actions did. Because "resulting" logically modifies the entire previous clause, it's fine here. An "-ed" modifier can function the same way.

2. Good question! We have seen this construction in some correct OA's, so while it's very rare, it's not technically an error. Just be aware that if it creates a confusing or problematic meaning, you'd want to be wary of selecting that answer choice.

3. Don't worry about the terminology. Worry about the function.

For example:

"Tim, whose appetite is legendary, once at an entire buffalo on a dare."

Here, "whose" is part of a modifier describing Tim. Whether you want to call it an adjective or a possessive pronoun is beside the point. Just know that it functions as a modifier here, and unlike "who," it can describe non-human entities as well.

I hope that helps!

Would you please explain "Unless conditional statements" from CR point of view. Many times I get confused by answer choices.
For example. Unless tiger hunting decreases, tiger will soon extinct.

I can understand many statement from above statement.
If hunting continues, tiger will extinct.
Tigers are extinct now, tiger hunting is on.
If we wish to stop extinction of tiger, stop hunting of tiger.
Tiger hunting is increasing, tiger will soon extinct.

Sometimes it becomes tedious task to select right choice for such CR problems.
Please assist and share link which could help me to clear this doubt.

Moreover, is it correct to use double negation in unless clause?
Such as, Unless you don't pay me on time, I won't do your work.

Sixty-five million years ago, according to some scientists, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest slammed into North America, which, causing plant and animal extinctions, marks the end of the geologic era known as the Cretaceous Period.

(D) an event that caused plant and animal extinctions, which marks
(E) an event that caused the plant and animal extinctions that mark

GMATNinja Que 1 of "Sentence Correction #2 LIVE with GMAT Ninja: W is “that” doing in my sentence?"

here extinctions(p) & marks(plural) ... so why'd you say SV error ?
also, marks and end sounds correct ...so why E over D ?

We know that FANBOYS + comma are used to join two independent clauses.

Can we also infer that if we see comma + AND that means one of the two things
- list of three or more items
- two independent clauses joined by AND

Experts please help.

Posted from my mobile device

Dear Gmatninja/Angel,
I have been following you for few months and also saw your you tube sessions. Thanks for guiding us.
I want to ask about next gmat club you tube sessions. Special help needed in
RC,
COORDINATE GEOMETRY and
PROBABILITY.

I v much enjoyed, so leaned from your you tube session on SC ( wrt splits and countable nouns).

I am following your advice to concentrate on OG , especially in verbal.
My last GMAT was 590, Q 47 and V 25. I made a wrong decision to start with Verbal. It proved wrong because I was very nervous, without any reason( I am saying now without reason, because nervousness ultimately hurts so better to be calm i/o being nervous and losing more points). That resulted not only in V25 but also I felt the aftershocks of the earlier negative feelings in the quant section.
Anyhow, I am also planning to prepare much better to improve my result.
I have noted your various advices very well, particularly those about how to respond to particular questions. For eg., "the long worded word Problems are not to be scared because of their length but they are rather v easy to crack" . V true , I found this. Honestly, now I more welcome such lengthy questions because they are always found easy to crack.

I personally request to make atleast one YouTube lecture on such insightful hints/ how to tackle nervousness etc.

Lastly, I again salute your contribution towards educating us, in a very positive way.
God bless you and Merry Christmas to you and your family members,

Basim

Posted from my mobile device

Your understanding of plural verbs isn't correct. If the subject is plural, the verb drops the 's.' For example:

1) They want to go to the Lynyrd Skynyrd concert, but the only song they know is Free Bird.
2) Tim and Amy fight every night, and the next day, Tim wakes up with funny indentations on his face from the couch cushions.

And so on.

This is all to say that "extinctions mark" is correct and "extinctions marks" is not.

I hope that helps!

GMATNinja VeritasKarishma please help me with this question..
how can we identify which idiom is correct to use..i am really confused

https://gmatclub.com/forum/students-in- ... 79092.html

GMATNinja
please help me with this question
https://gmatclub.com/forum/astronomers- ... 30-20.html

thanks

he knows to swim(this sentence is grammatically wrong)
is it wrong because the sentence doesn't have an antecedent preceding it?

1. Verb-ed modifier-
a. When verb-ed modifier is placed in the beginning of the clause followed by a comma, then it modifies the subject of the clause.
Drafted to ban smoking in public places, the new law has caused a lot of outrage.

b. Verb-ed modifier modifies the preceding noun or the noun phrase.
This is a new law, drafted to ban smoking in public places.

2.Verb-ing modifier-

a. When a verb-ing modifier is separated from the clause using a comma, then this modifier modifies the preceding clause and it usually makes(NOT necessary though) sense with the subject of the preceding clause.
Real Madrid won the third consecutive match, reaching the finals.

b. When the verb-ing modifier is not separated from the clause using a comma, then it modifies the preceding noun.
This is the new law banning smoking in public places.

c. Characteristics of verb-ing modifiers-
1. The timeframe is the same as the main action( It can't be separated in time)
2. Must describe the main action in some way-
- Immediate, simultaneous consequence
- Further description
- Subordinate action

Rocky was struck by a bus, dying in the hospital an hour later-- This is incorrect since the actions do not occur in the same time.
Rocky was struck by a bus and died in the hospital an hour later-- This is correct
Rocky was struck by a bus, killing him on the spot. -- This is correct

Q1- In 1(b), even if we remove the comma before the verb-ed modifier 'drafted', it will modify the preceding noun 'law'?
Can a verb-ed modifier modify an entire preceding clause if preceded by a comma?

(I just saw this video titled '4 Modifiers Rules Most GMAT SC Test-Takers Get Wrong' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVm4W8bTIRI) in which an instructor states that both verb-ing and verb-ed modifier preceded by a comma describes the entire preceding clause.)

Q2- In case of verb-ing modifiers preceded by a comma, the modifier needs to make sense with the action of the preceding clause and NEED not necessarily make sense with subject of the preceding clause(See official question below in which ice cap itself did not uncover the vast new areas but the action of melting did)

Between 14,000 and 8,000 b.c. the ice cap that covered northern Asia, Europe, and America began to melt, uncovering vast new areas that were to be occupied by migrating peoples moving northward.
(https://gmatclub.com/forum/between-14-0 ... 42405.html)

Q3- Is the above official question of ice caps an exception to rule - verb-ing modifier must make sense with the subject of the preceding clause (OR there is NO such rule)?

Q4- Can you also validate whether the characteristics of the verb-ing modifier(2c) and examples are correct?

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , MagooshExpert , GMATGuruNY , VeritasPrepBrian , MartyTargetTestPrep , DmitryFarber , VeritasKarishma , generis , jennpt , EducationAisle , other experts - please enlighten

That the church coined the date ‘February 14’ as Valentine’s day with an ulterior motive to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia is claimed by a few experts, but the more prevalent belief is it is celebrated on this date to honor the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial.

Hello GMATNinja,

I have a question in the above sentence. This apparently is the correct answer.

My question is Sentence starts with a subordinate clause "That the church coined ...., but the more prevalent belief" and then uses "but the" to introduce another subordinate. Isn't that incorrect or am I missing something?

Could you please help me on this?

Thanks,
Shameek

One more question is regarding Verbed modifier.

"The weight of the discus used in the tournament" -> Is used modifying discus or the weight of the discus. Is it possible for Verbed modifier to ignore prepositional phrase and modify the noun directly instead of object of the preposition?

"The weight of the discus that was used in the tournament" -> Same question what is "that" modifying in this sentence?

When I read, it sounds as if the weight of the discus is being modified - Hence wanted to clear my understanding.

Thanks,
Shameek

How is it that ’since’, ’for’, and ’because’ all have the same meaning as conjunctions, yet ’for’ is a co-ordinating conjunction and ’since’ and ’before’ are subordinating conjunctions?

The following dialogue might help explain the idiom:

New Yorker #1: My bedroom is small.
New Yorker #2: How small is your bedroom?
New Yorker #1: My bedroom is so small that I have to sleep with my feet hanging out of the window.

The idiom in the final sentence is: "... so ______ that ______." That's the same idiom used in the correct answer choice, as explained in this post and others in that thread.

I hope this helps!

Here we actually have two independent clauses joined by the ", but"!

I think the confusion comes from the fact that the word "that" basically means "the fact that" in this situation. That's a pretty rare usage, and you don't want to obsess over it.

But if you think about it in that way, then the first half of the sentence turns into a big ol' noun clause: "{The fact that} the church coined the date ‘February 14’ as Valentine’s day with an ulterior motive to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia is claimed..." So the first half of the sentence basically boils down to, "[X] is claimed by a few experts." This is a complete sentence (independent clause).

This is no different than something like "Charlie ate 14 burritos last night."

After the ", but" we have, "the more prevalent belief is [that] it is celebrated on this date to honor the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial." This half of the sentence basically boils down to "The belief is [X]." This is also a complete sentence (independent clause).

I hope this helps!