Last visit was: 18 Nov 2025, 23:47 It is currently 18 Nov 2025, 23:47
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
User avatar
amishra1
User avatar
Joined: 11 Jan 2013
Last visit: 24 Mar 2015
Posts: 3
Own Kudos:
4
Given Kudos: 6
Posts: 3
Kudos: 4
The Petroleum distillates were so viscous,.. MGMAT 25 Sep 2014, 07:39
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
In MGMAT, there is a question to fix the following setence:
The petroleum distillates were so viscous, the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees.

The solution as per MGMAT is:
The petroleum distillates were so viscous that the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees.

Is the following sentence grammatically and meaning-wise correct?

" The petroleum distillates were so viscous; therefore, the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees."

---- Thanks

Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Verbal Questions Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block below for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
User avatar
Blackbox
User avatar
Joined: 30 May 2012
Last visit: 04 Nov 2017
Posts: 162
Own Kudos:
714
Given Kudos: 151
Location: United States (TX)
Concentration: Finance, Marketing
GPA: 3.3
WE:Information Technology (Consulting)
Posts: 162
Kudos: 714
The Petroleum distillates were so viscous,.. MGMAT 25 Sep 2014, 08:07
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
amishra1

The petroleum distillates were so viscous that the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees.
Show more

This is an idiom related sentence. "So x... that y"

amishra1

Is the following sentence grammatically and meaning-wise correct?

" The petroleum distillates were so viscous; therefore, the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees."
Show more

The idea behind the idiom is to stress the gravity of the situation in the first clause and its result in the second clause. In your example, by separating the two clauses with a semicolon, you have essentially broken their relationship.
User avatar
Madhavi1990
User avatar
Joined: 15 Jan 2017
Last visit: 15 Jul 2021
Posts: 254
Own Kudos:
93
Given Kudos: 931
Posts: 254
Kudos: 93
The Petroleum distillates were so viscous,.. MGMAT 17 Jul 2017, 09:38
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
One break is 'so x that y'
The other is to drop therefore and retain semi colon - that would be correct too.
User avatar
elegantm
User avatar
Joined: 28 May 2017
Last visit: 11 Sep 2018
Posts: 223
Own Kudos:
745
Given Kudos: 12
Concentration: Finance, General Management
Posts: 223
Kudos: 745
The Petroleum distillates were so viscous,.. MGMAT 18 Jul 2017, 03:15
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
amishra1
In MGMAT, there is a question to fix the following setence:
The petroleum distillates were so viscous, the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees.

The solution as per MGMAT is:
The petroleum distillates were so viscous that the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees.

Is the following sentence grammatically and meaning-wise correct?

" The petroleum distillates were so viscous; therefore, the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees."

---- Thanks
Show more

The solution provided by MGMAT is perfectly correct. However, the option created by you is both grammatically and logically incorrect.

"The petroleum distillates were so viscous; therefore, the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees."

Use of SO in first part leads to a FRAGMENTED sentence.
avatar
surojitganguli007
avatar
Joined: 04 Aug 2018
Last visit: 31 Mar 2019
Posts: 2
Given Kudos: 34
Posts: 2
Kudos: 0
The Petroleum distillates were so viscous,.. MGMAT 25 Aug 2018, 19:41
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
There is a question in the Manhattan SC guide as follows:

The petroleum distillates were so viscous, the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees.

The correct answer in the book is given as:

The petroleum distillates were so viscous that the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees.

The book states that the original sentence is a run - on

My questions are:
1) What is the grammatical reason behind using 'that' in the correct answer?
2) Isn't the part before ',' a dependent clause and the part after ',' an independent clause?
3) Why is the original statement a run-on?
4) Is there any suggestion on how to know whether to use 'that' in a sentence or not?

I will be extremely grateful if someone can share any input on the above questions.
User avatar
Nikhil
User avatar
Current Student
Joined: 22 May 2017
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 13,199
Own Kudos:
9,838
 [2]
Given Kudos: 3,295
Affiliations: GMATClub
GPA: 3.4
Products:
My Reviews
Posts: 13,199
Kudos: 9,838
 [2]
The Petroleum distillates were so viscous,.. MGMAT 26 Aug 2018, 05:18
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
All you need to know about "that" is explained by GMATNinja here https://gmatclub.com/forum/experts-topi ... 43686.html
User avatar
ErikLewe
User avatar
Joined: 28 Mar 2017
Last visit: 15 Nov 2019
Posts: 54
Own Kudos:
56
 [1]
Given Kudos: 66
Location: Sweden
Concentration: Finance, Statistics
Schools: Wharton '22
Schools: Wharton '22
Posts: 54
Kudos: 56
 [1]
The Petroleum distillates were so viscous,.. MGMAT 26 Aug 2018, 06:11
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
surojitganguli007
There is a question in the Manhattan SC guide as follows:

The petroleum distillates were so viscous, the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees.

The correct answer in the book is given as:

The petroleum distillates were so viscous that the engineers had to heat the pipe by nearly 30 degrees.

The book states that the original sentence is a run - on

My questions are:
1) What is the grammatical reason behind using 'that' in the correct answer?
2) Isn't the part before ',' a dependent clause and the part after ',' an independent clause?
3) Why is the original statement a run-on?
4) Is there any suggestion on how to know whether to use 'that' in a sentence or not?

I will be extremely grateful if someone can share any input on the above questions.
Show more
This would probably be very easy for a native speaker, as it would probably sound better if something connected the two fragments of the sentence.

One key rule for that (especially when used vs which) is that the part that follows the "that" is essential information
1. John passes on beverages that are far too sugary.

2. John passes on beverages, which are far too sugary.

See the difference? https://gmat.economist.com/gmat-advice/ ... l-which-vs

Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Verbal Questions Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
Moderators:
miag
188 posts
u1983
Current Student
710 posts
MikeScarn
Current Student
275 posts