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Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an 28 Jul 2021, 18:50
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Just want to make sure whether my understanding is correct

Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being lost for nearly 300 years.

B) An eight-inch plaster model is believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David and recently discovered after it was

C) An eight-inch plaster model believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David has been discovered after having been

My interpretation: :)
1. The major problem of option B is its tense. The word "recently" suggests that the action of "discover" happened lately, so it should apply to the present perfect (yet option B uses past tense).
2. The second problem is the tense used in the adverbial "after" time clause. "Lost for 30 years" precedes the discovery, and thus using "has been lost" is the clearer and more precise way of presenting the fact.
3. Although pronoun ("it") should not be the key to judge the correctness of the answer, it is still preferable to use "Ving" to solve the possible vagueness of the subject ("plaster model")

Thanks for checking my understanding in advance!
Wish you the best :angel:
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Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an 08 Aug 2021, 08:06
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irisjojojo
Just want to make sure whether my understanding is correct

Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being lost for nearly 300 years.

B) An eight-inch plaster model is believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David and recently discovered after it was

C) An eight-inch plaster model believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David has been discovered after having been

My interpretation: :)
1. The major problem of option B is its tense. The word "recently" suggests that the action of "discover" happened lately, so it should apply to the present perfect (yet option B uses past tense).
2. The second problem is the tense used in the adverbial "after" time clause. "Lost for 30 years" precedes the discovery, and thus using "has been lost" is the clearer and more precise way of presenting the fact.
3. Although pronoun ("it") should not be the key to judge the correctness of the answer, it is still preferable to use "Ving" to solve the possible vagueness of the subject ("plaster model")

Thanks for checking my understanding in advance!
Wish you the best :angel:
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First, I'd say that you're right that "discovered" is problematic, but I wouldn't say it's fundamentally wrong to use a past tense verb with "recently."

For example, you could write this:

    "Tim recently allowed his six-year-old to explore the wonders of the family chainsaw."

In this example, "allowed" is a simple past tense verb, and it's fine here, since the action was completed in the past, but in the not-terribly-distant past. (The parenting, on the other hand, is probably not fine. ;) )

The bigger problem with "discovered" is that it doesn't seem to be logically parallel to anything. If we think of "discovered" as a verb that's parallel to "is", we end up with "An eight-inch plaster model is believed...and discovered." Which kind of makes it sound as though the eight-inch paster model discovered something. That doesn't work.

And if we treat "discovered" as a modifier parallel to "believed" we get, "An eight-inch plaster model is believed...and [is] discovered..." If it happened "recently," the verb "is" makes no sense. So ultimately, yeah, there's a problematic verb tense.

For your second point, I agree with you. The phrase "having been" captures the idea that the object is no longer lost in a way that "was lost" doesn't. (Just don't treat "was lost" as a definitive error.)

Last, the first two points are strong enough that I wouldn't necessarily use "it" as a decision point here -- the pronoun appears to refer back to the "plaster model." That seems okay to me. Is there some ambiguity because of the presence of the phrase, "sculpture of David?" Sure. But the litmus test for a pronoun is whether there's a logical antecedent, and in this case there is, so I'd only use "it" as a tie-breaker if I couldn't find any other issues.

Fortunately, you only need one good reason to eliminate an answer, and you've got two. Nicely done!

I hope that helps!
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VeritasKarishma
generis
Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being lost for nearly 300 years.

A) Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being

B) An eight-inch plaster model is believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David and recently discovered after it was

C) An eight-inch plaster model believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David has been discovered after having been

D) It is believed that an eight-inch plaster model that Michelangelo used for his sculpture of David and has recently been discovered after it was

E) It is believed that Michelangelo used an eight-inch plaster model for his sculpture of David, and it was recently discovered after having been


SC07920.02

I was deciding between (A) and (C) and these points made me choose (C) over (A).

A) Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being

"using ..." is a present participle and when it is used without a comma after a noun, it modifies the noun.
Present participle can be used at the end of the sentence to modify the entire previous clause with a comma. So there is that problem.
It seems that David was using the eight-inch plaster model.

Another problem, and one that seemed to be a bigger problem to me - the point of the sentence is not to tell you that M made his sculpture using a model (that has now been found), the point is to tell you that a model (that is believed to have been used by M) has been found. The critical information is tucked away in a modifier in option (A).
Also, here it seems that it was known that M had made David using the model and it is just additional info that the model has been found recently. Whereas, it seems more likely that the model was found and that is what gave the idea that M must have used it to make David.


C) An eight-inch plaster model believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David has been discovered after having been

Rectifies all our issues with (A).

It seems there are some questions about (D) too.

D) It is believed that an eight-inch plaster model that Michelangelo used for his sculpture of David and has recently been discovered after it was

It is believed that ... a model (that M used) ... and has been discovered ...
It is missing the verb of subject model.
Show more

Hi VeritasKarishma

Although I choose C, as it was better then all the other options, but I have a doubt, shouldn't it be, An ceight-inch plaster model "was" believed ?

As "An eight-inch plaster model" is not doing the action of belief?
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generis
Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being lost for nearly 300 years.

A) Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being

B) An eight-inch plaster model is believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David and recently discovered after it was

C) An eight-inch plaster model believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David has been discovered after having been

D) It is believed that an eight-inch plaster model that Michelangelo used for his sculpture of David and has recently been discovered after it was

E) It is believed that Michelangelo used an eight-inch plaster model for his sculpture of David, and it was recently discovered after having been


SC07920.02

I was deciding between (A) and (C) and these points made me choose (C) over (A).

A) Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being

"using ..." is a present participle and when it is used without a comma after a noun, it modifies the noun.
Present participle can be used at the end of the sentence to modify the entire previous clause with a comma. So there is that problem.
It seems that David was using the eight-inch plaster model.

Another problem, and one that seemed to be a bigger problem to me - the point of the sentence is not to tell you that M made his sculpture using a model (that has now been found), the point is to tell you that a model (that is believed to have been used by M) has been found. The critical information is tucked away in a modifier in option (A).
Also, here it seems that it was known that M had made David using the model and it is just additional info that the model has been found recently. Whereas, it seems more likely that the model was found and that is what gave the idea that M must have used it to make David.


C) An eight-inch plaster model believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David has been discovered after having been

Rectifies all our issues with (A).

It seems there are some questions about (D) too.

D) It is believed that an eight-inch plaster model that Michelangelo used for his sculpture of David and has recently been discovered after it was

It is believed that ... a model (that M used) ... and has been discovered ...
It is missing the verb of subject model.

Hi VeritasKarishma

Although I choose C, as it was better then all the other options, but I have a doubt, shouldn't it be, An ceight-inch plaster model "was" believed ?

As "An eight-inch plaster model" is not doing the action of belief?
Show more

The subject verb of the main clause is this:
An eight-inch plaster model ... has been discovered...

"believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David" is modifying the eight inch plaster model. "believed" is a past participle; it is not acting as a verb. Hence, you do not need "was believed".
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Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being lost for nearly 300 years.
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A) Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being
Too many commas are distorting the meaning whereas they ought to be connected without as the meaing is better conveyed

B) An eight-inch plaster model is believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David and recently discovered after it was
it was isn't the right usage therefore out

C) An eight-inch plaster model believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David has been discovered after having been
The meaning tense is absolutely perfect therefore let us hang on to it

D) It is believed that an eight-inch plaster model that Michelangelo used for his sculpture of David and has recently been discovered after it was
Usage of and in the middle is absolutely unnecessary , distorting the intended meaning

E) It is believed that Michelangelo used an eight-inch plaster model for his sculpture of David, and it was recently discovered after having been
Similar reasoning as D

THerefore IMO C
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Let's look at the logic (or lack of it) in each option, shall we?

A) Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight- inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being Since there is no comma after “David”, it seems like the sculpture is of David as he is using an eight-inch plaster model. Doesn’t make sense. Have you seen David. He’s just a lonely chap standing there all by himself. Doesn't work.

B) An eight-inch plaster model is believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David and recently discovered after it was The use of “and” implies that there should be parallelism, but “An eight-inch plaster model is believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David” is not parallel to “recently discovered.” Doesn’t work.

C) An eight-inch plaster model believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David has been discovered after having been The sentence construction and logic is quite clear!

D) It is believed that an eight-inch plaster model that Michelangelo used for his sculpture of David and has recently been discovered after it was It is not clear what the “it” in “it was” refers to. Doesn’t work.

E) It is believed that Michelangelo used an eight-inch plaster model for his sculpture of David, and it was recently discovered after having been It is not clear what the “it” in “it was” refers to.

- Nitha Jay
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Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an 09 Dec 2021, 21:47
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GMATNinja, can you please explain why the usage of present perfect (has discovered) is appropriate in C? As far as I understand, discovery should happen at a point in time. Therefore, past tense, and not present perfect tense should be used.
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GMATNinja, can you please explain why the usage of present perfect (has discovered) is appropriate in C? As far as I understand, discovery should happen at a point in time. Therefore, past tense, and not present perfect tense should be used.
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Hello tkorzhan1995,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

In this case, the use of the present perfect tense is correct, as the verb refers to an action that just concluded; please remember, present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is also used to refer to actions that concluded in the recent past; however, alongside the use of present perfect tense is redundant if the sentence otherwise indicates that the action concluded in the recent past, such as through the use of “recent” or “recently”.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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ExpertsGlobal5, can you please clarify what action has been concluded in the past that you are referring to?
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Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an 17 Dec 2021, 07:49
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tkorzhan1995
GMATNinja, can you please explain why the usage of present perfect (has discovered) is appropriate in C? As far as I understand, discovery should happen at a point in time. Therefore, past tense, and not present perfect tense should be used.
Show more
This question comes up all the time. As discussed in this post, there's actually a lot of grey area between past tense and present perfect tense. For example:

  • "Tim visited Los Angeles in June."

Since we're talking about a very specific time in the past, the simple past makes sense.

  • "Tim has visited Los Angeles, Breckenridge, and Queens."

Here, the timeline is much more vague. The visits could have happened at ANY time in Tim's life, right up to the present moment. And that last part is key: if you were to sketch this action on a timeline, you'd have to include a chunk of time that starts in the past and continues right up to the present moment, even though the action itself clearly isn't still going on.

Back to choice (C). Yes, the action (has been discovered) was concluded in the past, but where do we put that action on the timeline? Well, sometime in the recent past (at the end of the 300-year window), but we don't know when exactly. As in the "Tim has visited..." example above, we'd have to include a chunk of time that starts in the past and continues right up to the present moment, even though the action itself isn't still going on. Given the timeline, the present perfect can certainly be considered appropriate in this context.

For more examples that illustrate this grey area between the past tense and the present perfect tense, check out these posts:


I hope that helps!
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tkorzhan1995
GMATNinja, can you please explain why the usage of present perfect (has discovered) is appropriate in C? As far as I understand, discovery should happen at a point in time. Therefore, past tense, and not present perfect tense should be used.
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Hi tkorzhan1995,

To add to GMATNinja's post, the present perfect can be used for something that happened in the unspecified past. That is, we can't be too specific about the 'when' when we use the present perfect to refer to a past event.
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ExpertsGlobal5, can you please clarify what action has been concluded in the past that you are referring to?
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Hello tkorzhan1995,

Apologies for the late response.

To answer your doubt, the action in question is the action of discovering the plaster model.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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No one seems to have mentioned this point, but I think D has a critical meaning issue.
D starts with the phrase "It is believed that an eight-inch plaster model X and Y". Here discovery is also covered under "it is believed", which is quite not what the sentence is trying to say.

B and E takes the casualty away. The meaning is much clearer in A OR C.

For A, It was not very clear about what "it is believed" phrase is referring to.
Also, the use of "had been" doesn't seem right to me. Simple Past would work fine.
I did not catch the "using" modifier mistake while attempting this.

C, it is.
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AndrewN - just bumping this response, can't the parallelism be between "[Model is] believed to have been used and [is] recently discovered after it was..."?

AndrewN
Tanchat
Hi GMATNinja

Therefore, what is other decision point between B & C ?
I read all posts. But I don't understand why B is incorrect
Hello, Tanchat. I know I am not GMATNinja, but you also sent me a PM with the same question, and you seemed to appreciate my response, so I will reproduce it below for the benefit of the community.

How about we look at a barebones version of (B) to expose its flaws? First, the line as is:

Quote:
B) An eight-inch plaster model is believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David and recently discovered after it was
Now, the same sentence without all the extra modifiers:

A model is believed to have been used and discovered after it was...

Now can you see the meaning issue surrounding the parallel elements joined by and? Sure, a model can be believed to have been used by somebody, but was the same model also believed to have been discovered? That would not make sense, but the parallelism suggests such an interpretation.

To follow up on my earlier comment, notice how a simple auxiliary verb could fix the problem:

A model is believed to have been used and was discovered after it was...

Now, it is clear that the model is believed to have been used by somebody and the model was discovered after some time. It is funny how a simple word can change everything, but that is how grammar and parallelism work together sometimes.

I hope that helps clarify the matter.

- Andrew
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AndrewN - just bumping this response, can't the parallelism be between "[Model is] believed to have been used and [is] recently discovered after it was..."?

AndrewN
Tanchat
Hi GMATNinja

Therefore, what is other decision point between B & C ?
I read all posts. But I don't understand why B is incorrect
Hello, Tanchat. I know I am not GMATNinja, but you also sent me a PM with the same question, and you seemed to appreciate my response, so I will reproduce it below for the benefit of the community.

How about we look at a barebones version of (B) to expose its flaws? First, the line as is:

Quote:
B) An eight-inch plaster model is believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David and recently discovered after it was
Now, the same sentence without all the extra modifiers:

A model is believed to have been used and discovered after it was...

Now can you see the meaning issue surrounding the parallel elements joined by and? Sure, a model can be believed to have been used by somebody, but was the same model also believed to have been discovered? That would not make sense, but the parallelism suggests such an interpretation.

To follow up on my earlier comment, notice how a simple auxiliary verb could fix the problem:

A model is believed to have been used and was discovered after it was...

Now, it is clear that the model is believed to have been used by somebody and the model was discovered after some time. It is funny how a simple word can change everything, but that is how grammar and parallelism work together sometimes.

I hope that helps clarify the matter.

- Andrew
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Hello, gmatimothy. Yes, there could be parallelism between is believed to have been used and recently discovered, but only if the to be verb appears before the second element, as in was recently discovered. (This is not a case in which the verb is understood to carry over, since is and was do not match.) Otherwise, the reader is led to anticipate that used and discovered are held in parallel instead, and the meaning is nonsensical. We could not transpose the two elements without adding a second verb either, since the meaning conveyed would again suffer:

1) [The] model was recently discovered... and believed to have been used... X

2) [The] model was recently discovered... and is believed to have been used... √

The first sentence conveys that, apparently, people in the past, not the present, believed that the model had been used for a particular purpose. The second sentence accurately describes the chain of events: a model was discovered, and it is currently believed to have been used at some time in the past for a particular purpose.

Finally, if you are wondering about [The] model is discovered, such phrasing would not make sense to describe the recent discovery of an object. News outlets might report a discovery in this manner in a sensationalized headline—e.g., The Higgs Boson is Found! or, more concisely, Higgs Boson [is] Found!—but the article beneath that headline would more carefully outline that the discovery was made.

Thank you for following up, and good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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Hi @DmitryFarber

May I please request you to correct my understanding of the below options. I have not pointed all the errors but only the ones am confused about.


Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being[/u] lost for nearly 300 years.

A) Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being


[ '' it is believed''- Is the usage above correct per GMAC? Is this a dependent clause or just a phrase? ]


[ ''being'' in non underlined part, as an ing verbal modifies verb 'discovered' and hence incorrect usage? ]



B) An eight-inch plaster model is believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David and recently discovered after it was


[ '' to have been used''- is this a combination of 'TO +INFINITIVE+ED VERBAL'' ? what is ''TO HAVE BEEN'' and 'USED' modifyng here? ]



C) An eight-inch plaster model believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David has been discovered after having been


[ here we have 'believed' as an ed verbal ; '' to have been'' as verb modifier ; ''used'' again an ed verbal. Are all three modifying noun plaster model and don't we need a comma or a conjunction b/w multiple modifiers modifying the same entity ?



D) It is believed that an eight-inch plaster model that Michelangelo used for his sculpture of David and has recently been discovered after it was


[ ''for nearly 300 years'' in non-underlined part. does it imply that we use 'present perfect' or we could use simple past as well i.e - '' it was recently discovered after lost for nearly 300 years'' ]


Thanking you for all your time and support :)

SC07920.02[/quote]
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Anshul1223333
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Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an 20 Aug 2022, 08:54
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in A] isn't ''being'' an ing verbal modifying far away entity- ''8 inch model''

is the usage correct here?

when do we use ''having been lost'' what special use of this tense form.
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Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an 04 Feb 2023, 10:14
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Hi GMATNinja avigutman GMATGuruNY @ronshukruat
I have a doubt in the portion cited :
And if we treat "discovered" as a modifier parallel to "believed" we get, "An eight-inch plaster model is believed...and [is] discovered..." If it happened "recently," the verb "is" makes no sense. --- [b]Why does this not make sense?[/b]

Also whats wrong with 'used' and 'discovered' to be parallel? This would say that the he model was only "believed to have been recently discovered" so whats the issue?


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irisjojojo
Just want to make sure whether my understanding is correct

Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an eight-inch plaster model that was recently discovered after being lost for nearly 300 years.

B) An eight-inch plaster model is believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David and recently discovered after it was

C) An eight-inch plaster model believed to have been used by Michelangelo for his sculpture of David has been discovered after having been



And if we treat "discovered" as a modifier parallel to "believed" we get, "An eight-inch plaster model is believed...and [is] discovered..." If it happened "recently," the verb "is" makes no sense.



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Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an 21 Feb 2023, 23:24
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daagh
Jon.
Are you meaning that ‘is believed’ is the verb of the subordinate clause? You realize that choice D is a complex sentence involving;
1. The Main IC- It is believed (perse ‘is believed’ is the verb of the main clause) and a loosely hanging subordinate phrase.
2. You also admit the phrase started with ‘that’ is simply a noun with two big essential modifiers. We all know that modifiers are only adjectival or adverbial and not verbs.
3. Then why is the change of stand that ‘is believed’ is the verb, when you know well that you cannot drag the main verb to stand for the subordinate phrase?

5. The noun phrase is dangling without a verb of its own. If a verb is missing, can I know what name you give for it other than ‘fragment’?

If you feel gratified that there is no point in my rationale, pl carry on.
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daagh I have a question regarding option D. In option D "that an eight-inch plaster model....nearly 300 years." is the object of "believed", and since "that Michelangelo used for...nearly 300 years" is a modifier modifying "model", it does not express complete thought. Basically if I ignore the "that" modifier after model, I am left with "It is believed that an eight-inch plaster model", which doesn't make any sense. Is this the reason the whole structure is a fragment? If so, do we always need a NOUN CLAUSE to qualify such a structure as sentence? Awaiting your response.
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Michelangelo, it is believed, had made his sculpture of David using an 22 Feb 2023, 03:07
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bv8562
daagh
Jon.
Are you meaning that ‘is believed’ is the verb of the subordinate clause? You realize that choice D is a complex sentence involving;
1. The Main IC- It is believed (perse ‘is believed’ is the verb of the main clause) and a loosely hanging subordinate phrase.
2. You also admit the phrase started with ‘that’ is simply a noun with two big essential modifiers. We all know that modifiers are only adjectival or adverbial and not verbs.
3. Then why is the change of stand that ‘is believed’ is the verb, when you know well that you cannot drag the main verb to stand for the subordinate phrase?

5. The noun phrase is dangling without a verb of its own. If a verb is missing, can I know what name you give for it other than ‘fragment’?

If you feel gratified that there is no point in my rationale, pl carry on.

daagh I have a question regarding option D. In option D "that an eight-inch plaster model....nearly 300 years." is the object of "believed", and since "that Michelangelo used for...nearly 300 years" is a modifier modifying "model", it does not express complete thought. Basically if I ignore the "that" modifier after model, I am left with "It is believed that an eight-inch plaster model", which doesn't make any sense. Is this the reason the whole structure is a fragment? If so, do we always need a NOUN CLAUSE to qualify such a structure as sentence? Awaiting your response.
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Hello bv8562,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, your analysis is broadly correct; the "reporting verb ("believed" in this sentence) + that" construction must be followed by an independent clause, otherwise the sentence will be incomplete or incoherent.

Kudos.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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