In 1527 King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen

Dear zoezhuyan,

How are you, my friend? I'm happy to respond.

I assume you know about the Magoosh GMAT Idiom flashcards.

This is a tricky one. Choice (A) is very good---if (D) didn't exist, I could imagine that (A) could be a right answer. This is a rare case of an official question having an incorrect answer that is so good.

Version (A):
In 1527 King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled so as to marry Anne Boleyn.
This is 100% grammatically correct. I think the rhetorical emphasis on the subject makes it clear who will do the marrying. Let's say this one is 90% clear.

If we didn't mention the queen, that would be 100% correct:
Version (A1):
In 1527 King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage annulled so as to marry Anne Boleyn.
Now, that's 100% clear, but poor Queen Catherine of Aragon was ignored.

Version (D):
In 1527 King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled so that he could marry Anne Boleyn.
This is also 100% clear, absolutely no ambiguity imaginable, and we get to keep the queen. This is win-win.

Choice (A) is not wrong. Choice (A) is very strong, AND it is not as good as Choice (D), which is above all reproach. Once again, it is rare that an official question has this pattern.

Does all this make sense? Have a good day!
Mike
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Radhika11 thangvietnam divineacclivity aielman SudiptoGmat

> What I noticed is below. The issue is between A & D .

Q:-In 1527 King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled so as to marry Anne Boleyn.

(A) so as to marry - This choice is ambiguous and suggests two statements.

1.He himself is not marrying Anne but to marry Anne to someone else he annulled.
2.He himself is marrying Anne


(D) so that he could marry - Unambiguously tells that King annulled so that he himself could marry Anne

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 core meaning of this sentence is that King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled in order to marry Anne Boleyn.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• “action + so + that + purpose” is a correct, idiomatic usage for describing the purpose of a given action.
• "so as to" is generally an incorrect usage, and "so + cause + as to + effect" is the correct, idiomatic usage.
• "in order to" and "so that" are the correct, idiomatic constructions.

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "so as to" to refer to the purpose of the action "sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled"; remember, “action + so + that + purpose” is a correct, idiomatic usage for describing the purpose of a given action; "so as to" is generally an incorrect usage, and "so + cause + as to + effect" is the correct, idiomatic usage.

B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "and so could be married"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled, and as a result he could marry Anne Boleyn; the intended meaning is that King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled in order to marry Anne Boleyn.

C: This answer choice uses the passive construction "be married to", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase "so that he could marry", conveying the intended meaning - that King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled in order to marry Anne Boleyn. Further, Option D correctly uses the idiomatic construction “action ("sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled ") + so + that + purpose ("he could marry Anne Boleyn”)" to refer to the purpose of the action "sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled". Additionally, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "in order that"; remember, "in order to" and "so that" are the correct, idiomatic constructions.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

To understand the use of "So As To" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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To be married to is unidiomatic. Though we use it often, it should be avoided. 'To marry' is slightly different in meaning from 'so that he could'. So that he could marry means that the annulment of earlier marriage allowed him to marry Anne Boleyn.

in "so that" and "in order that" clause , subjuctive mood is required , and, so, only "may,might, can, could+infinitive" is used. "would do" is incorrect in "so that", and "in order that" clauses

this case is called quasi-subjuctive mood.

"So that" in D is certainly simpler and more direct than "in order that" in E, but as usual, there's another reason.

If we're going to say "in order that," we shouldn't also add the conditional "would." We might get away with "could," which introduces a possibility (as in ynk's present-tense example above: "in order that Bob can meet my husband."). However, "in order that he would" is never going to be correct. If we're going to start with "in order," why not just say "in order to marry"?
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A student asked me to comment on A and C.

For A and C, it is unclear who is going to marry Anne Boleyn.
Is it King Henry or Queen Catherine?

Answer choice D has no such ambiguity.

Cheers,
Brent

D
Idioms
So as to cannot be used to replace in order to

So that is a correct replacement.

e would have been correct if it said. in order to

Here in order to in option e is correct but would should be could.
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The discussion in the spoiler misconstrues what the issue with the (C) version is.

Let's consider the (C) version to see what's going on.

Choice (C) is the following:

(C) to be married to

So, the (C) version is the following:

In 1527 King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled to be married to Anne Boleyn.

Notice that this version suggests that the purpose of King Henry VIII's annulling the marriage was "to be married to Anne Boleyn," as if, by annulling the marriage to Catherine, King Henry VIII became married to Anne Boleyn. Of course, this meaning is illogical.

What would make more sense is the alternative version mentioned in the spoiler:

In 1527 King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled in order to marry Anne Boleyn.

The meaning expressed by that version is the logical one that King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled for the purpose of marrying Anne Boleyn.
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In order that. So that, to the end or purpose that, as in In order that Bob can meet my husband, we've come early. [Early 1700s]
In order to. For the purpose of, as a means to, as in We'll have to hire more help in order to finish on time. This usage always precedes a verb, such as finish in the example.

Correct answer will always be easy to understand,concise and will have clear meaning. hope it helps.

SO THAT = Shows Purpose

In 1527 King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled so that he could marry Anne Boleyn.

The green part shows the purpose for the Blue part...

He = Correctly refers to King Henry VIII

Could = Refers to Past tense of Can

Thus option (D) is correct in all respect and without doubt the correct answer for this question....
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In 1527 King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled so as to marry Anne Boleyn.

(A) so as to marry - correct ideom - so X as to Y
(B) and so could be married to - doesn't make sense
(C) to be married to - wrong use of to be
(D) so that he could marry - correct answer
(E) in order that he would marry - correct ideom - in order to

l understand D is the correct answer here, but why is answer choice E incorrect? Could someone let me know whether "in order that" an incorrect idiom?
Regards.

Hi mikemcgarry and other experts
although I picked up D, I have no idea why A is incorrect.
What's the difference between "so as to" and "so that"

OE makes me confusing as well.
So as to marry is not idiomatically correct; it does not identify who will marry

Why so as to is not idiomatically correct, why it does not identify who will marry, IMO, it does identify King Henry VIII

Please help clarify,

Thanks in advance
Have a nice day

>_~

hi egmat , AjiteshArun GMATNinja and other experts can you please explain why A is incorrect.
Though I was confused between A&D ,but I went ahead with A.
Thanks in advance.

In 1527 King Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine annulled so as to marry Anne Boleyn.
(A) so as to marry
(D) so that he could marry

According to OE, the problem is meaning. It doesn't specify who is going to marry Anne Boleyn. One wonders how one can use "so as to" legitimately in a sentence. The takeaway: choose the clearest version.

But I'm still not convinced! Queen Catherine (a female) marrying another female (Anne Boleyn) in royal world is just as unlikely as "he" in D might refer to Queen Catherine rather than to King Henry. D could still be ambiguous if "he" referred to Queen Catherine - you never know, just as you never know whether a Queen might marry an Anne Boleyn??!!?

Please clarify the confusion provided in spoiler of the question... why does the OA says that we have to add 'in order to'

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