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605-655 Level|   Idioms/Diction/Redundancy|               
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 03 Mar 2018, 08:34
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suramya26
Can anybody explain why in option B "for thwarting" is actually incorrect.
I was down to B and C and chose B.
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Hi suramya26, the intent of introducing Kudzu was to thwart soil erosion.

Whenever intent needs to be depicted, an infinitive (to + verb) is normally the preferred structure. Hence, to thwart is preferred.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses the use of "infinitive". Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference.
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 12 Mar 2018, 06:11
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Can you please explain why B is incorrect ?
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 12 Mar 2018, 06:21
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ran787
Can you please explain why B is incorrect ?
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Hi ran787, not sure if you read my post just above yours.

B uses for thwarting, whereas to thwart is preferable when intent needs to be depicted.

Also, B uses a comma before since, distorting the meaning.
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 24 Mar 2018, 01:49
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In this question if I am not wrong
1) I think choice B and c are both run on sentences, don't we need a FANBOY conjunction or
a ; with the last part of the sentence starting with has
2) While in choice E 1st part is a modifier, followed by a subordinate clause, connected with an independent clause with verb has and its subject in the beginning .
Thanks in advance
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 24 Mar 2018, 07:28
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kunalkhanna
In this question if I am not wrong
1) I think choice B and c are both run on sentences, don't we need a FANBOY conjunction or
a ; with the last part of the sentence starting with has
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Hi Kunal, a run-on sentence is when two Independent clauses are connected by a comma. In both B and C, there is only one Independent clause:

Kudzu has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses run-on sentence, its application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 06 Aug 2018, 01:33
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(A) that has grown rampantly in the southern United States since introducing it in the 1920s to thwart - we do not need -ly here
(B) that has grown rampantly in the southern United States, since it was introduced in the 1920s for thwarting - same as A
(C) that has grown rampant in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart - good
(D) growing rampant in the southern United States since introducing it in the 1920s for thwarting - it was introduced to do some task - we need preposition to not for
(E) growing rampantly in the southern United States, since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart - same as A

I go with C
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 13 Dec 2018, 16:16
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I believe "rampant" and "rampantly" change the meaning of the clause, but ultimate have the same effect.
"An Asian vine that has grown rampant" --> An Asian vine has become rampant. --> The vine is everywhere.
"An Asian vine that has grown rampantly" --> An Asian vine that has spread rapidly. --> The vine is everywhere.

(A)
"since introducing it..." looks like the start of a non-finite clause, which means that what we might be saying is "[An Asian vine] has grown rampantly in the southern United States since [the Asian vine was] introducing it in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion". The subject of our non-finite clause become "An Asian vine".
If we knew with 100% certainty that "since" was being used as a preposition here, then I think this option would be fine. But because we can't know with 100% certainty, this option can be misinterpreted.
Thus, we can rule this out

(B)
The comma makes the sentence much more ambiguous. We know that the "since" clause is a subordinate of "An Asian vine" clause, but our readers may not. With the comma, the "since" clause could potentially be mistaken as a subordinate of the main "Kudzu" clause. We don't need commas for subordinate clauses, so we might as well leave this one out as it makes the sentence clearer.
We can rule this out

(C)
Nothing wrong here

(D)
Same problem with (A)
We can rule this out

(E)
Same problem with (B)
We can rule this out
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 11 Feb 2019, 20:26
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techiesam
Apart from the "for thwarting " error in option B,is the first part in option B is a run on as it was separated by a comma or if not is it right to put comma before since in the dependent clause?
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I think there is a run on sentence in option B

An Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United States =>"Asian vine"is the subject and "has" is a verb and it expresses a complete thought.
Since it was introduced in the 1920 for thwarting soil erosion => "it" is the subject which refers to Kudzu and "was" is the verb and it also expresses a complete thought.

Even if we consider "Since" as a dependent marker and 2nd clause as dependent clause. What is the intent of the OG Explanations "The adverbial Clause Since it was introduced in the 1920 should not be set off from has grown rampantly"



Experts Please help. GMATNinja
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 12 Feb 2019, 00:16
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Smitc007

I think there is a run on sentence in option B

An Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United States =>"Asian vine"is the subject and "has" is a verb and it expresses a complete thought.
Since it was introduced in the 1920 for thwarting soil erosion => "it" is the subject which refers to Kudzu and "was" is the verb and it also expresses a complete thought.
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Hi Smitc007, we can't just selectively do cherry picking of words, to concoct an Independent clause. has is not the verb for Asian vine. has is the verb for that.

So, basically that has grown rampantly in the southern United States is the dependent clause in this sentence.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses run-on sentence, its application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 08 Mar 2019, 06:17
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Quote:
I think there is a run on sentence in option B

An Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United States =>"Asian vine"is the subject and "has" is a verb and it expresses a complete thought.
Since it was introduced in the 1920 for thwarting soil erosion => "it" is the subject which refers to Kudzu and "was" is the verb and it also expresses a complete thought
Show more
As EducationAisle notes, there's no run-on in (B), because "that has grown rampantly in the southern United States" isn't independent - it's a modifier describing the Asian vine. Take a simple example: "Dan, who runs a mile in fifteen minutes, is not a great athlete." Here we do have two clauses, but the one in red functions as a modifier, and so it's not independent. In the OG question, "that has grown" is part of a modifier describing the vine. If there's only one independent clause, we don't have a run-on.

Quote:
Even if we consider "Since" as a dependent marker and 2nd clause as dependent clause. What is the intent of the OG Explanations "The adverbial Clause Since it was introduced in the 1920 should not be set off from has grown rampantly"
Show more
There are two ways to understand the OG's point. First, if we have a long modifier, and within this modifier we get additional information about when an action takes place, we typically won't use a comma between action and time-modifier.

For example, "My child, who has been screaming since she awoke at 3AM, supposedly has many positive qualities." Notice that the blue component is one long modifier describing "my child," and there's no need, within the modifier, to separate the action ("has been screaming") from the description of when the action takes place ("since she awoke"). Similarly, in (C) "that has grown rampant in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion" is one long essential modifier describing the "Asian vine." "Since it was introduced" tells us when the rampant growth started.

Second, the word "since" is tricky because it has two meanings. In both the official question and in my example above, it means "from the time when." But it can also mean "because."

Watch what happens if I insert a comma before "since" in the previous example: "...who has been screaming, since she awoke at 3AM." Now it sounds as though the kid has been screaming because she awoke at 3AM, rather than indicating the timeframe of her meltdown. The same thing happens in (B): "that has grown rampantly in the southern United States, since it was introduced in the 1920s." The growth happened because it was introduced in the 1920's? It makes sense to say that the 1920's marks the time when growth became rampant; it makes less sense to claim that the plant has grown wildly because it was introduced in this decade. So the version without the comma is more logical.

I hope that helps!
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 01 Nov 2019, 13:06
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daagh can you please explain the usage of rampant and rampantly? Also, the comma before since option E?

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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 28 Feb 2020, 12:47
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RJ7X0DefiningMyX
daagh can you please explain the usage of rampant and rampantly? Also, the comma before since option E?

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Hello RJ7X0DefiningMyX,

I am not sure if your doubt still persists. Here is the reply nonetheless.

rampant - this word is an adjective and is used to modify noun entities.

rampantly - this word is an adverb that is used to modify actions and adjectives.


However, in this official sentence, the distinction does not quite stane because the sentence seems to suggest that growing rampantly has become a feature of Kudzu.


Now, in choice E, the comma before since works as the closing comma for the modifier an Asian vine growing rampantly in the southern United States. The structure has an impact on the meaning conveyed as follows:

Per Choice A, Kudzu has grown rampant since it was introduced in the 1920s.

Per Choice E, Kudzu has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside since it was introduced in the 1920s.



Hope this helps. :-)
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 03 Jul 2020, 00:09
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ziyuen, how did you get your hands on the 2018 verbal guide so quickly?! The 2018 OGs are available for pre-order, but they aren't being shipped in the U.S. yet. The book markets in Malaysia are just awesomer than ours? You're making me jealous! You get your GMAT books faster, plus you have laksa. Fond memories of downing three bowls of the stuff in a market in Kuching. Had some amazing century eggs in KL once, probably the best I've ever eaten...

Sorry, I got lost in a food fantasy there. Back to kudzu and grammar.

Quote:
Expert, can you suggest,
Is usage of word 'Rampant' and 'Rampantly', both hare correct in the sentence?

can we select right answer on the basis of this word usage?

Quote:
In option C is the use of rampant correct ?
We use adverb to modify verb; here it is modifying grown .
For example how has the Kuzdu grown
Am i correct in my reasoning , if not please clarify.

You're all correct that "rampant" is an adjective (modifies a noun), and "rampantly" is an adverb (modifies a verb). But you could actually use either an adjective or an adverb in this case -- and I think that's what ziyuen was trying to say in his last post, too.

  • Mike has grown tired of the GMAT books' terrible SC explanations. --> "tired" doesn't describe the verb "grown" or "has grown" -- it's an adjective, describing Mike
  • Mike's surfing prowess has grown rapidly in recent years. --> "rapidly" is an adverb, modifying "grown"

In this case, I think "rampant" or "rampantly" could both be perfectly fine. I'll strip down the sentence a little bit for clarity:

  • Kudzu has grown rampant in the southern United States. --> "rampant" is an adjective, and we're just saying that the kudzu itself is rampant
  • Kudzu has grown rampant in the southern United States. --> "rampantly" is an adjective, and we're just saying that the kudzu has grown in a rampant (or uncontrolled or unchecked) way

It's a sneaky little thing they've done here: the difference between "rampant" and "rampantly" is irrelevant!
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Hi Charles,
what if one doesn't know the meaning of the word. (Like me, until now)
How should I have approached this question?

I misconstrued (C) as the Kudzu has grown some XYZ in the southern US... and thus I crossed it off, so I chose (A)

According to the OG explanation: "since the sentence DOES NOT indicate who introduced the vine to the region, passive construction, i.e. in (C), is correct".

Anyway, was that the only split left?

I would still stick to my former question... (the meaning of the word)
Thnaks!
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 16 Aug 2020, 22:26
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A is incorrect because 'since introducing it' is wrong
B says 'since it was introduced....for thwarting'... introduced to thwart would be the correct construction
C says ' since it was introduced in 1920 to thwart...' perfect construction...Also, 'that has grown rampant' is the correct construction here....similar to 'it has become perfect', 'he has become smart' etc...we don't need a modifier for the verb ' grown' we need the modifier for the noun 'vine' which is the adjective 'rampant'
D says ' growing rampant' ...tense is incorrect and 'for thwarting' is also incorrect
E is incorrect again for the tense ' growing rampantly'
Hence C

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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 12 Sep 2020, 11:28
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D4kshGargas

Hi Charles,
what if one doesn't know the meaning of the word. (Like me, until now)
How should I have approached this question?

I misconstrued (C) as the Kudzu has grown some XYZ in the southern US... and thus I crossed it off, so I chose (A)

According to the OG explanation: "since the sentence DOES NOT indicate who introduced the vine to the region, passive construction, i.e. in (C), is correct".

Anyway, was that the only split left?

I would still stick to my former question... (the meaning of the word)
Thnaks!
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Apologies for my slowness here, D4kshGargas! Somehow, this one slipped past me until just now.

Even if you don't know the meaning of "rampantly", the biggest clue is the "ly" at the end of the word. Could "rampantly" be a thing?? In theory, sure: English is a weird language, right? But in all likelihood, it's an adverb.

So even if you don't know exactly what it means, you could very reasonably guess that it modifies "has grown", and isn't a thing (a noun) that is grown by the kudzu.

I hope that helps a bit!
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 14 Oct 2020, 20:21
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Quote:
Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United States since introducing it in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion, has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside.

(C) that has grown rampant in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart
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Request Expert Reply:
Q1:
I'm a bit confused about the use of the word 'that' in C! What if the word 'that' is removed from the choice C? Will it be still legit sentence?
Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampant in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion, has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside.
----
Q2:
Also, I've heard several times in the forum that 'comma' is not the deciding factor. Most importantly, 'punctuation' is not tested in GMAT! So, if this is the case, there must be 'one more factor', which will ensure that choice E is wrong. But what's the error in choice E other than COMMA?
C) Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampant in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion, has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside.

E) Kudzu, an Asian vine growing rampantly in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion, has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside.
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 21 Oct 2020, 01:33
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Quote:
Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United States since introducing it in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion, has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside.

(C) that has grown rampant in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart
Request Expert Reply:
Q1:
I'm a bit confused about the use of the word 'that' in C! What if the word 'that' is removed from the choice C? Will it be still legit sentence?
Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampant in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion, has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside.
----
Q2:
Also, I've heard several times in the forum that 'comma' is not the deciding factor. Most importantly, 'punctuation' is not tested in GMAT! So, if this is the case, there must be 'one more factor', which will ensure that choice E is wrong. But what's the error in choice E other than COMMA?
C) Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampant in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion, has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside.

E) Kudzu, an Asian vine growing rampantly in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion, has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside.
Show more

Hi TheUltimateWinner

Q1) No, removing "that" from option (C) will make the structure of the complete sentence something like this: Kudzu, an Asian vine has X, has Y. This is a sentence fragment since the list needs to be completed with an "and" before the last item.

Q2) It is not merely the presence of a comma in option (E) that makes it incorrect, but the fact that the comma completely changes the meaning of the sentence. For further details, you can refer to this excellent by GMATNinja (https://gmatclub.com/forum/kudzu-an-asi ... l#p1930060).

Hope this clarifies.
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 07 Mar 2021, 21:12
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Luckisnoexcuse


can anyone throw some light on the construct of option C & E

is the construction of C better is the only thing which makes it the right option or option E has some grammer/ly mistake?
I don't think there are grammar errors, exactly, in (E), but it's a little bit illogical. This doesn't happen a whole lot on the GMAT, but the comma warps the meaning in (E):

Quote:
Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United States since introducing it in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion, has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside.

(C) that has grown rampant in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart
(E) growing rampantly in the southern United States, since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart
If we look very literally at (C), it's saying that the vine has grown rampant in the time since it was introduced in the 1920s. That makes perfect sense, and the word "since" is a reference to time.

But as soon as we put the comma before "since" in (E), the word "since" takes on a different meaning. The phrase "since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion" becomes a non-essential modifier -- and it seems to be giving us an explanation. "Since" now functions as a synonym for "because": "the vine growing rampantly in the southern US, because it was introduced to thwart erosion, has overrun..."

That's not quite what we're trying to say here: the vine hasn't grown rampant because it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart erosion -- it's just become rampant in the time since the 1920s.

Nasty and subtle, no? :(

For more on the "rampant" vs. "rampantly" issue, see my explanation above: https://gmatclub.com/forum/kudzu-an-asi ... l#p1854183
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GMAT Ninja- Can you please explain to me one small b/w option B and option C?
Why is rampant the correct usage here?
Isn't rampantly (adverb) modifies the grown (verb) aptly? Is the use of Rampantly incorrect? The official guide comments that "The adverbial clause since it was introduced in the 1920s should not be set off from has grown rampantly, which it modifies" in option B? Can you please explain to me why there is a need for that? Is it an essential modifier? If yes, how do we come to know about it?

Cheers! And thank you in advance.
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HiteshSingh
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 08 Mar 2021, 11:37
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Hello experts, GMATNinja CrackVerbal

I have a doubt, it maybe silly.

with the introduction of "that has" , doesn't it(that has) make the sentence a run-on sentence connected by a comma.

I don't quite understand
for that reason, I initially abandoned A, B and C and chose E out of D and E
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Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampantly in the southern United S 10 Mar 2021, 04:37
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HiteshSingh

with the introduction of "that has" , doesn't it(that has) make the sentence a run-on sentence connected by a comma.
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Hi Hitesh, with C, the sentence is:

Kudzu, an Asian vine that has grown rampant in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion, has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside.

The above sentence has only one Independent clause:

Kudzu has overrun many houses and countless acres of roadside

Apart from this, there is this following appositive that is modifying (describing) Kudzu:

an Asian vine that has grown rampant in the southern United States since it was introduced in the 1920s to thwart soil erosion.

In this construct, notice that the construct that has grown rampant... is a (what's called a) dependent clause.

To summarize, this sentence has only one Independent clause. A run-on sentence is one that has two Independent clauses connected by just a comma. Since that's not the case here, this is not a run-on construct.

You can watch our video on Independent and Dependent clauses.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses run-on sentences, their application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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