Last visit was: 18 Nov 2025, 22:40 It is currently 18 Nov 2025, 22:40
Home
GMAT
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Rewards
Chat
My Profile
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
   1   2   3   
555-605 Level|   Idioms/Diction/Redundancy|   Modifiers|   Modifiers|   Subject Verb Agreement|                        
User avatar
EMPOWERgmatVerbal
User avatar
EMPOWERgmat Instructor
Joined: 23 Feb 2015
Last visit: 17 Feb 2025
Posts: 1,694
Own Kudos:
15,175
 [4]
Given Kudos: 766
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 1,694
Kudos: 15,175
 [4]
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 26 Apr 2019, 11:34
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
3
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
tamal99
EMPOWERgmatVerbal
Hello Everyone!

Let's take a closer look at this question and tackle it, one problem at a time! Before we dive in, here is the original question with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided little in the way of pricing guidance.

(A) has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided
(B) there is general market inactivity, if not paralysis, lately it has provided
(C) general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has lately provided
(D) lately, general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has provided
(E) is that lately general market inactivity, if not paralysis, which provides

After taking a quick glance over the options, there are two main things we can focus on:

1. What comes before the phrase "if not paralysis"
2. What comes after the phrase "if not paralysis"

This sounds like too much to focus on, right? Let's think about this in a different way:

1. Proper placement/use of a non-essential phrase or interjection ("...,if not paralysis,...")
2. Modifier Placement (the phrase "Making things even more difficult" is a modifier)

Let's tackle #1 on our list: non-essential phrases or interjections. In this sentence, the phrase "if not paralysis" is considered an interjection. It's a phrase that's added in to sound more conversational or to add more detail that's not 100% vital to know. For non-essential phrases, they are always put in between commas to indicate that they're not necessary for the sentence to make sense.

To test this, we can cross out the non-essential phrase and check to see if what's left is both a complete sentence and retains its intended meaning. Let's take a look at each option, but with the non-essential phrase crossed out:

(A) Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis,which has provided little in the way of pricing guidance. --> INCORRECT
(What's left over is a run-on sentence, which means the phrase isn't in the right place or the wording in the rest of the sentence is wrong.)

(B) Making things even more difficult there is general market inactivity, if not paralysis, lately it has provided little in the way of pricing guidance. --> INCORRECT
(What's left over is a run-on sentence, so this is also wrong.)

(C) Making things even more difficult general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has lately provided little in the way of pricing guidance. --> INCORRECT
(This can't stand alone because it needs a comma between "difficult" and "general" to separate the modifier from the subject.)

(D) Making things even more difficult lately, general market inactivity, if not paralysis,has provided little in the way of pricing guidance. --> CORRECT

This is our CORRECT option because it's the only one that uses the non-essential phrase and modifiers correctly!

(E) Making things even more difficult is that lately general market inactivity, if not paralysis,which provides little in the way of pricing guidance. --> INCORRECT
(This is actually a very long sentence fragment! If it cannot stand alone as a complete sentence without the non-essential phrase, it's not the right choice.)

There you have it - option D is the correct choice! It's the only that uses a non-essential phrase correctly, which is a common problem on the GMAT you can easily spot and test out!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.



Hello EMPOWERgmatVerbal,

Thanks for such detailed explanation. I have a doubt in your explanation of why option D is wrong of this problem. As far as I understand, gmac won't create a wrong option just based on a punctuation mark, here ", ". Can you please enlighten us on that matter.


Thanks,
Tamal

Posted from my mobile device
Show more

Hello tamal99!

Thank you for your question. While I do understand that the GMAT doesn't focus too much on punctuation errors, it DOES sometimes deal with grammar concepts that include punctuation. In this example, the commas aren't really the main problem we're trying to focus on - the incorrect use of interjections is.

Any time you use an interjection (a phrase added in and surrounded by commas), it needs to be non-important to the original meaning. In this example, if we remove the phrase ",if not paralysis," from option D, commas included, the sentence we're left with still works. When we deal with interjections, the commas go along with it! The other options in this exercise are either incomplete sentences or run-on sentences if we take both the phrase and commas out of it. While there won't be too many questions on the GMAT that focus on punctuation, this is one example of when they will.

I hope this helps! I know that punctuation can be tricky on the GMAT questions!
User avatar
rishabhmishra
User avatar
Joined: 23 Sep 2016
Last visit: 16 Aug 2019
Posts: 179
Own Kudos:
433
Given Kudos: 29
Products:
My Reviews
Posts: 179
Kudos: 433
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 29 Jun 2019, 01:02
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
chetan2u
AbdurRakib
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided little in the way of pricing guidance.

A) has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided
B) there is general market inactivity, if not paralysis, lately it has provided
C) general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has lately provided
D) lately, general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has provided
E) is that lately general market inactivity, if not paralysis, which provides


OG 2017 New Question

Issues -



1) Making things even more difficult MODIFIES general market inactivity , so should be followed by it..
2) Pronoun error - general market inactivity REQUIRES a verb...

BOTH above error are corrected ONLY by D

D
Show more
Sir what about option C it has verb after coma and it is also modifying general market activity
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,949
Own Kudos:
5,080
 [1]
Given Kudos: 732
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 5,949
Kudos: 5,080
 [1]
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 30 Jun 2019, 22:21
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
rishabhmishra
Sir what about option C it has verb after coma and it is also modifying general market activity
Show more
Option C doesn't have a comma after making things even more difficult.

Making things even more difficult_general market inactivity has lately provided little in the way of pricing guidance.
avatar
ramuramu1838
avatar
Joined: 04 Mar 2018
Last visit: 19 Dec 2022
Posts: 23
Own Kudos:
1
Given Kudos: 154
Posts: 23
Kudos: 1
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 10 Apr 2020, 04:11
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Dear GMATNinja @Ajitesharjun

in option A Except WHICH part rest of the sentence, which is written in INVERTED VERB-SUB formet, is correct?

thanks and regards
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,949
Own Kudos:
5,080
 [2]
Given Kudos: 732
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 5,949
Kudos: 5,080
 [2]
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 10 Apr 2020, 07:06
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
ramuramu1838
Dear GMATNinja @Ajitesharjun

in option A Except WHICH part rest of the sentence, which is written in INVERTED VERB-SUB formet, is correct?

thanks and regards
Show more
Hi ramuramu1838,

That is correct. The original sentence is indeed in the inverted form. Normally, the subject precedes the verb, but that is not the case here. We cannot remove option A just because it uses this structure.
avatar
shubhampathak1sp
avatar
Joined: 14 May 2019
Last visit: 09 Mar 2021
Posts: 14
Own Kudos:
2
Given Kudos: 510
Location: India
Schools: INSEAD Sept'21 Intake ISB'22 (S)
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V39
GPA: 4
Schools: INSEAD Sept'21 Intake ISB'22 (S)
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V39
Posts: 14
Kudos: 2
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 30 Jun 2020, 22:33
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AbdurRakib
GMAT® Official Guide 2018

Practice Question
Question No.: SC 726
Page: 691
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided little in the way of pricing guidance.

(A) has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided
(B) there is general market inactivity, if not paralysis, lately it has provided
(C) general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has lately provided
(D) lately, general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has provided
(E) is that lately general market inactivity, if not paralysis, which provides

Show Spoiler
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/garden/05appraisal.html

Even in the best of times, it’s hard for individuals to objectively value their homes, which often reflect their sense of self and personal style. Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided little in the way of pricing guidance. But by using online resources, investigating neighborhood trends, consulting real estate experts and perhaps even asking the opinions of brutally honest friends, homeowners can arrive at a reasonably accurate appraisal even in these uncertain times.

General Market Inactivity

(A) Modifier (comma which); Topic (question text)

(B) Sentence Structure; Modifier (lately)

(C) Sentence Structure; Modifier (lately)

(D) CORRECT

(E) Modifiers (comma which; lately); Sentence Structure

First glance

The beginning part of each answer choice changes significantly. This problem doesn’t contain any great clues to be picked up on the first glance. Possibly the large differences at the beginning signal a problem with the overall sentence structure.

Issues

(1) Modifier: comma which

This sentence has a rare inverted structure; inverted sentences are quite hard to read and generally sound very awkward. Look for something more concrete to tackle: a comma-which modifier should refer to the closest main noun before the comma.

The original sentence indicates that paralysis is what has provided little in the way of guidance.

It would make the most sense to say that general market inactivity is offering little in the way of guidance, but the noun paralysis is closer to the comma-which modifier. Eliminate answers (A) and (E) for this comma which error.

(2) Sentence Structure

The significant changes at the beginning of the answers were the first signal that sentence structure could be an issue. The weird inverted sentence structure in the original is your second clue: check the sentence structure of these answers!

Answer (B) is a run-on, or comma splice: There is inactivity, lately it has provided. Answer (E) is a fragment: Making things more difficult is that lately inactivity. The subject inactivity is missing a verb. Eliminate answers (B) and (E).

Answer (C) is tricky. In the original sentence, the opener Making things even more difficult was part of an inverted sentence structure, in which the subject appears after the verb. A more conventional sentence might read: General market inactivity has been making things even more difficult. The verb (has been making) must appear between the subject (general market inactivity) and the description (things even more difficult). In answer (C), the description and the subject are adjacent: Making things even more difficult general market inactivity has provided. This word order is acceptable only if the description is turned into a modifier and separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma: Making things even more difficult, general market inactivity... If you spot this, you can eliminate answer (C).

(3) Modifier: lately

While examining these other issues, you may have noticed that the word lately keeps jumping around the sentence. Lately is an adverb. What happened lately?

Lately could go with more difficult: making things more difficult lately. It can’t go just with inactivity, which is a noun. Adjectives modify nouns; you’d need to say something like recent market inactivity. Eliminate answer (A). (Note: the placement of lately in this choice creates another issue: when you are stating a contrast in the form general market inactivity, if not (general market) paralysis, it is preferable not to place other words in between the contrasted elements. It’s best to say X, if not Y, where X and Y are parallel terms.)

Answers (B) and (C) move lately near the verb provided. So this general market inactivity has only lately or recently had the effect of providing little in the way of guidance? Why didn’t it have that effect before? It would make more sense to apply lately to making things more difficult. Eliminate answers (B) and (C).

In answer (E), lately should apply to the subject and verb pairing after the word that. In this case, the verb itself doesn’t exist; this is a sentence fragment, so the adverb lately has no verb or action to modify. Eliminate (E).

The Correct Answer

Correct answer (D) removes the which modifier error and properly places lately next to making things even more difficult.
Show more



What do we make out from this NYT article in the spoiler??? NYT is wrong in writing it this way? By this logic, most of my preparation, which is based on reading NYT articles has gone down the drain, hasnt it?
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,949
Own Kudos:
5,080
Given Kudos: 732
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 5,949
Kudos: 5,080
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 01 Jul 2020, 00:45
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
shubhampathak1sp
What do we make out from this NYT article in the spoiler??? NYT is wrong in writing it this way? By this logic, most of my preparation, which is based on reading NYT articles has gone down the drain, hasnt it?
Show more
Hi shubhampathak1sp,

I know that I'm addressing only the broader question you raised, but the Times is one of the best resources for people preparing for the GMAT. Mistakes do slip through, and given the sheer amount of content involved, I don't see how they could not. This is still almost certainly a "net positive" for you, though.

Also, give this quiz a shot!
User avatar
rishi02
User avatar
Joined: 21 Sep 2015
Last visit: 06 Jan 2025
Posts: 85
Own Kudos:
515
Given Kudos: 403
Location: India
GMAT 1: 730 Q48 V42
GMAT 2: 750 Q50 V41
GMAT 3: 760 Q49 V46
Products:
My Reviews
GMAT 3: 760 Q49 V46
Posts: 85
Kudos: 515
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 04 Jul 2021, 21:18
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
EMPOWERgmatVerbal
Hello Everyone!

Let's take a closer look at this question and tackle it, one problem at a time! Before we dive in, here is the original question with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided little in the way of pricing guidance.

(A) has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided
(B) there is general market inactivity, if not paralysis, lately it has provided
(C) general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has lately provided
(D) lately, general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has provided
(E) is that lately general market inactivity, if not paralysis, which provides

After taking a quick glance over the options, there are two main things we can focus on:

1. What comes before the phrase "if not paralysis"
2. What comes after the phrase "if not paralysis"

This sounds like too much to focus on, right? Let's think about this in a different way:

1. Proper placement/use of a non-essential phrase or interjection ("...,if not paralysis,...")
2. Modifier Placement (the phrase "Making things even more difficult" is a modifier)

Let's tackle #1 on our list: non-essential phrases or interjections. In this sentence, the phrase "if not paralysis" is considered an interjection. It's a phrase that's added in to sound more conversational or to add more detail that's not 100% vital to know. For non-essential phrases, they are always put in between commas to indicate that they're not necessary for the sentence to make sense.

To test this, we can cross out the non-essential phrase and check to see if what's left is both a complete sentence and retains its intended meaning. Let's take a look at each option, but with the non-essential phrase crossed out:

(A) Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis,which has provided little in the way of pricing guidance. --> INCORRECT
(What's left over is a run-on sentence, which means the phrase isn't in the right place or the wording in the rest of the sentence is wrong.)

(B) Making things even more difficult there is general market inactivity, if not paralysis, lately it has provided little in the way of pricing guidance. --> INCORRECT
(What's left over is a run-on sentence, so this is also wrong.)

(C) Making things even more difficult general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has lately provided little in the way of pricing guidance. --> INCORRECT
(This can't stand alone because it needs a comma between "difficult" and "general" to separate the modifier from the subject.)

(D) Making things even more difficult lately, general market inactivity, if not paralysis,has provided little in the way of pricing guidance. --> CORRECT

This is our CORRECT option because it's the only one that uses the non-essential phrase and modifiers correctly!

(E) Making things even more difficult is that lately general market inactivity, if not paralysis,which provides little in the way of pricing guidance. --> INCORRECT
(This is actually a very long sentence fragment! If it cannot stand alone as a complete sentence without the non-essential phrase, it's not the right choice.)

There you have it - option D is the correct choice! It's the only that uses a non-essential phrase correctly, which is a common problem on the GMAT you can easily spot and test out!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
Show more

EMPOWERgmatVerbal

In option (C) Making things even more difficult general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has lately provided little in the way of pricing guidance. --> INCORRECT

Even if there was a comma between difficult and general market inactivity, the meaning would be different from the intended one right? The positioning of lately makes it appear that of late, the general market inactivity has provided little guidance but it may have in the past.
avatar
Shaajiib
avatar
Joined: 30 Sep 2017
Last visit: 23 Aug 2022
Posts: 13
Own Kudos:
2
Given Kudos: 7
Posts: 13
Kudos: 2
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 04 Jul 2021, 21:52
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
This question baded on dangling modifier. According to rules subject must have to come after comma. Here option D only fulfill this demand. So answer should be D.

Posted from my mobile device
User avatar
abhishekmayank
User avatar
Joined: 26 Apr 2016
Last visit: 28 Jan 2024
Posts: 201
Own Kudos:
59
Given Kudos: 6
GMAT 1: 640 Q44 V33
GMAT 1: 640 Q44 V33
Posts: 201
Kudos: 59
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 16 Aug 2021, 06:11
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I didn't find valid answer for rejecting the option A :

Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided little in the way of pricing guidance.

At most I can see that "which" is illogically referring to "paralysis". But I don't think it is an absolute reason to rule out option A. We can treat "if not paralysis" as non essential phrase "which" can jump over and can logically modify "inactivity".

Experts could you please help in it ?

AjiteshArun
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,949
Own Kudos:
5,080
 [2]
Given Kudos: 732
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 5,949
Kudos: 5,080
 [2]
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 16 Aug 2021, 11:29
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
abhishekmayank
I didn't find valid answer for rejecting the option A :

Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided little in the way of pricing guidance.

At most I can see that "which" is illogically referring to "paralysis". But I don't think it is an absolute reason to rule out option A. We can treat "if not paralysis" as non essential phrase "which" can jump over and can logically modify "inactivity".

Experts could you please help in it ?

AjiteshArun
Show more
Hi abhishekmayank,

You're right that the ambiguity created by which isn't an absolute error (it's still a problem, though). A bigger error is the placement of lately. That word must be after difficult, not after inactivity.
avatar
thaonguyen031194
avatar
Joined: 12 Aug 2021
Last visit: 14 Dec 2022
Posts: 3
Own Kudos:
1
Given Kudos: 3
Location: Viet Nam
Posts: 3
Kudos: 1
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 11 Nov 2021, 09:39
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
All of your explanations are so plausible.
I am just left with a very big query.. Why not "Having made things difficult lately,", but instead "Making things even more difficult lately,"?
KR,
Thao
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,949
Own Kudos:
5,080
 [1]
Given Kudos: 732
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 5,949
Kudos: 5,080
 [1]
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 11 Nov 2021, 21:19
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
thaonguyen031194
All of your explanations are so plausible.
I am just left with a very big query.. Why not "Having made things difficult lately,", but instead "Making things even more difficult lately,"?
KR,
Thao
Show more
Hi thaonguyen031194,

Making things even more difficult is in the nonunderlined portion of the sentence, so we're unlikely to get anything other than personal opinion here. That said, having made things difficult lately would be read as ~after it had made things difficult lately, and that is probably not the intended meaning. The intended meaning is more likely to be that these ideas are "current" with each other.
avatar
thaonguyen031194
avatar
Joined: 12 Aug 2021
Last visit: 14 Dec 2022
Posts: 3
Own Kudos:
1
 [1]
Given Kudos: 3
Location: Viet Nam
Posts: 3
Kudos: 1
 [1]
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 11 Nov 2021, 23:19
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Thank you so much, AjiteshArun
I got it now <3
User avatar
zoezhuyan
User avatar
Joined: 17 Sep 2016
Last visit: 11 Nov 2024
Posts: 418
Own Kudos:
94
Given Kudos: 147
Posts: 418
Kudos: 94
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 11 Dec 2021, 01:57
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
dear GMATNinja, GMATNinjaTwo, VeritasKarishma,
at first glance, I thought of "making things even more difficult" as gerund. like the sentence: swimming is a good exercise. later, many posters say it is actual a modifier.

I am a little confused, how can I distinguish the modifier and gerund, like this question.

your help will clarify my confusion.

thanks in advance
User avatar
shipra2205
User avatar
Joined: 12 Aug 2016
Last visit: 06 Apr 2024
Posts: 4
Given Kudos: 91
Location: India
Concentration: Strategy, Entrepreneurship
GPA: 4
WE:Information Technology (Computer Software)
Posts: 4
Kudos: 0
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 06 Jan 2022, 00:27
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I need more explantion on the placement of lately in option D? what is the adverb modifying and what is it placed close to?
User avatar
ExpertsGlobal5
User avatar
Experts' Global Representative
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,193
Own Kudos:
4,760
Given Kudos: 43
Location: India
GMAT Date: 11-01-2019
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,193
Kudos: 4,760
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 06 Jan 2022, 06:49
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
shipra2205
I need more explantion on the placement of lately in option D? what is the adverb modifying and what is it placed close to?
Show more

Hello shipra2205,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in Option D "lately" modifies the present participle ("verb+ing" - "making" in this case) phrase "Making things even more difficult", which immediately precedes it.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
User avatar
GMATking94
User avatar
Joined: 16 Jan 2022
Last visit: 18 Apr 2025
Posts: 180
Own Kudos:
75
Given Kudos: 125
Status:Do or Die
Location: India
Schools: IIMB '25 (A) IIMC '25 (A) IIMA '25 (D) ISB '25 (I)
GMAT 1: 700 Q48 V37
GPA: 4
WE:Operations (Energy)
Products:
My Reviews
Schools: IIMB '25 (A) IIMC '25 (A) IIMA '25 (D) ISB '25 (I)
GMAT 1: 700 Q48 V37
Posts: 180
Kudos: 75
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 23 Dec 2022, 22:51
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AbdurRakib
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided little in the way of pricing guidance.

(A) has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided
(B) there is general market inactivity, if not paralysis, lately it has provided
(C) general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has lately provided
(D) lately, general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has provided
(E) is that lately general market inactivity, if not paralysis, which provides
Show more

I would like to share my thoughts on the above question -

Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided little in the way of pricing guidance.

I have a issue with option A. "which" what does that refer to ?? Confusing.

Option B "it" ...what does it refer ?? Same issue as A.

Option C Read the complete sentence.... Making things even more difficult general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has lately provided little in the way of pricing guidance.

This doesn't make any sense. C is out.

Option D Making things even more difficult lately, general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has provided little in the way of pricing guidance.

"Making things even more difficult lately" is modifying "General market inactivity"..."if not paralysis"...describing "inactivity". If we read the main clause it seems alright. General market inactivity has provided little in the way of pricing guidance.

Hold on to Option D. :thumbsup:

Option E
Read the whole sentence

Making things even more difficult is that lately general market inactivity, if not paralysis, which provides little in the way of pricing guidance. Way too bad when compared to option D. Hence E is out.

Hence, D is the best answer.

GMATNinja can you please review my explanation of the same?
User avatar
GMATNinja
User avatar
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 7,445
Own Kudos:
69,779
 [1]
Given Kudos: 2,060
Status: GMAT/GRE/LSAT tutors
Location: United States (CO)
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V46
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170
GRE 2: Q170 V170
Products:
GMAT Club Tests Forum Quiz
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170
GRE 2: Q170 V170
Posts: 7,445
Kudos: 69,779
 [1]
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 27 Jan 2023, 16:41
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
zoezhuyan
dear GMATNinja, GMATNinjaTwo, VeritasKarishma,
at first glance, I thought of "making things even more difficult" as gerund. like the sentence: swimming is a good exercise. later, many posters say it is actual a modifier.

I am a little confused, how can I distinguish the modifier and gerund, like this question.

your help will clarify my confusion.

thanks in advance
Show more
Unfortunately there aren't any clear-cut rules for knowing whether an "-ing" word is functioning as a noun (gerund) or a modifier. (If you have no idea what we mean by an "-ing" word, check out this article: https://gmatclub.com/forum/experts-topic-of-the-week-that-ing-word-probably-isn-t-a-239780.html).

Instead, you have to ask yourself, "What is the main verb or action here? What is performing the action? Is the action being done to/for someone or something?"

In your example, what IS good exercise? In other words: what is the subject of the verb? Well, swimming (the activity of swimming, that is) -- and that's a perfectly logical subject for the verb ("is").

Here's another example:

    "Swimming in the ocean, Tim was attacked by rabid jellyfish."

Who was attacked by jellyfish? Tim -- so Tim is the subject of the sentence. In this context, "swimming in the ocean" clearly isn't a noun that's performing some sort of action. Instead, it's a modifier describing Tim and the fun he had while being attacked by jellyfish.

Now on to something a bit more complicated, choice (D):

    "Making things even more difficult lately, general market inactivity {...} has provided little in the way of pricing guidance."

What has provided little in the way of pricing guidance? General market inactivity -- so we already have a clear and logical subject for the verb. Are there any actions in the part before the comma? Can "making" be the subject (or object) of some verb here? Nope. So "making" can't be a noun.

But "making" makes a whole lot of sense as a modifier. So by thinking about meaning, we've figured out the role of the "-ing" word.

Now let's try to use "making things more difficult" as a noun:

    "Making things more difficult is Tim's specialty."

What IS Tim's specialty? Making things more difficult, so that's the subject of the verb, and "making" is a gerund in this case.

    "Tim loves making things more difficult."

What does Tim love? Making things more difficult, so that's the object of the verb. And again, "making" is a gerund.

Again, please don't try to memorize some rules for determining what's a noun and what's a modifier. Instead, just ask yourself: does your "-ing" word function as a noun? If so, how? Does it function as a modifier? If so, how? Thinking about things like that takes effort, and that's the kind of effort that will help you improve your SC skills in general. :)

I hope that helps a bit!
User avatar
Vatsal7794
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 17 Mar 2021
Last visit: 12 Oct 2025
Posts: 249
Own Kudos:
127
Given Kudos: 123
Location: India
Schools: IIMB EPGP'25 Schulich Sep'24 intake Fisher '26 ISB '25
GMAT 1: 660 Q44 V36
GPA: 3.5
Schools: IIMB EPGP'25 Schulich Sep'24 intake Fisher '26 ISB '25
GMAT 1: 660 Q44 V36
Posts: 249
Kudos: 127
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity 31 Jan 2023, 05:16
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided little in the way of pricing guidance.

(A) has been general market inactivity lately, if not paralysis, which has provided
(B) there is general market inactivity, if not paralysis, lately it has provided
(C) general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has lately provided
(D) lately, general market inactivity, if not paralysis, has provided
(E) is that lately general market inactivity, if not paralysis, which provides

Hi Experts

GMATNinja KarishmaB EducationAisle ChrisLele mikemcgarry AjiteshArun egmat sayantanc2k RonPurewal DmitryFarber MagooshExpert avigutman EMPOWERgmatVerbal MartyTargetTestPrep ExpertsGlobal5 IanStewart
other experts AnthonyRitz

Why we have used "If not Paralysis" in this sentence? What's the need of it? To show cause and effect?
And also what's the meaning of the sentence?
   1   2   3   
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7445 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
234 posts
miag
188 posts