rishab0507 wrote:
Shobhit7 wrote:
"Rise and Fall" is a compound subject and hence requires a plural verb.
So, it's C vs E
C. were the necessary outcome of the political vacuum that the toppled monarchy created:
that the toppled monarchy created changes the meaning by implying that toppled monarchy is the doer of the action- rise and fall of Napoleon.
E. were the necessary outcome of the political vacuum created by the toppling of the monarchy:
created by the toppling of the monarchy is the correct version as the toppling of monarchy is the cause that led to the rise and fall of Napoleon in the decades after the French Revolution.
You are correct rise and fall is a compound subject, But rise and fall is a compound which happen together , Like winning and loosing is a part of game: We don't say ARE part of game. By this idea, Rise and fall should be singular . If subject is joined by AND, and are two different things, like
her mother and sister : we can use plural, But why here ?
experts here,
GMATNinja ,
GMATNinja2 Can you please help and elaborate
That's a painfully good question,
rishab0507! I think this is a really, really slippery issue, and it defies rules, just because it depends on what, exactly you think is a "compound action". Personally, I would write "the rise and fall of Napoleon WAS unfortunate...", because it seems that all of that happened as one singular arc of history. I would also write "winning and losing ARE part of the game", because "winning" and "losing" seem like two separate actions to me.
But that's just my opinion. These are a judgment call, and defy any strict rules.
More importantly: please don't worry about this AT ALL! You're not going to see a dodgy judgment call on this issue on an actual GMAT question -- and the question in this thread very clearly is not an official question, so it very much is not worth your energy.
So there's room for an interesting, geeky discussion on this nuance of subject-verb agreement. But it's also 100% irrelevant to your success on the GMAT.
I hope this helps!