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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 13 Oct 2019, 22:29
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The answer is (d), but I am confused why 'have visited', in (e) is wrong. If we use 'have visited' the sentence means - my aunts went to Venice last spring. They are still in Venice and neither of them wants to come back. What is wrong in this interpretation?
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 15 Oct 2019, 06:03
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In this question, both aunts are still visiting then it should be present perfect (have visited ).
Answer should be E
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 15 Oct 2019, 19:38
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Akshay2402
In this question, both aunts are still visiting then it should be present perfect (have visited ).
Answer should be E
Show more
The OA is correct E has modifier issue. have visited is not correct.
Let me elaborate,
Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring, want to return.
The underlined part in the sentence comes between two comma. This means that the information provided is not actually necessary or we can say that it is a non essential modifier. So it can be removed.
Not coming to"have visited" is a complete sentence so that it should be joined to the other sentence using suitable conjunction eg and, or, but, etc. What we want here should be a modifier not a complete sentence with proper verb. So that is why D is correct.
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 15 Oct 2019, 19:40
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Akshay2402
In this question, both aunts are still visiting then it should be present perfect (have visited ).
Answer should be E
Show more

Also they visited last spring so simple past is correct.
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 15 Oct 2019, 19:44
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parekhmohil
The answer is (d), but I am confused why 'have visited', in (e) is wrong. If we use 'have visited' the sentence means - my aunts went to Venice last spring. They are still in Venice and neither of them wants to come back. What is wrong in this interpretation?
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Hi,

Present perfect is used for action completed just now or actions whose effects are still being felt. So here simple past is correct. The aunts visited Venice last spring. Spring is not the season prevailing otherwise last would not be mentioned. Whether they returned form Venice is immaterial as we are taking about just their visit.
Hope it helps.
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 07 Mar 2020, 10:53
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring, want to return.

A. visited Venice last spring, want
B. have visited Venice last spring, want
C. had visited Venice last spring, want
D. visited Venice last spring, wants
E. have visited Venice last spring, wants

Ans is pretty obvious..I would just like to know whether this is correct: Neither of my aunts, both of whom had visited Venice last spring, wants to return.

Grammars:

1. Neither of my aunts = None of .... ==> ALWAYS Singular in GMAT
2. "Last spring" = simple past tense signal.
3. Use past perfect ONLY you compare to another point of time in the past. Otherwise, simple past is enough.

Answer:

A. visited Venice last spring, want
Wrong.

B. have visited Venice last spring, want
Wrong.

C. had visited Venice last spring, want
Wrong.

D. visited Venice last spring, wants
Correct.

E. have visited Venice last spring, wants
Wrong.

Hope it helps.
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daagh
genesis

The best rated post in this Topic says '1. Neither of my aunts = None of .... ==> ALWAYS Singular in GMAT'
While the official S/V thread says:

Most of the indefinite pronouns are considered singular except for SANAM pronouns

SANAM: Some, all, none, any, most.
In case of SANAM pronoun, it can be singular or plural depending on the context of the sentence.
e.g. Some of the students are in the class.
e.g. Some of the water is in the glass.

Can one of you shed light on what is considered a 'hard rule' for the GMAT?

Many thanks
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 08 Jul 2020, 12:15
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A X want is plural…needs singular
B X Have is bad tense, needs past tense "visited"
C B X Have is bad tense, needs past tense "visited"
D CORRECT
E B X Have is bad tense, needs past tense "visited"
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 29 Mar 2021, 13:48
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pqhai
JusTLucK04
Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring, want to return.

A. visited Venice last spring, want
B. have visited Venice last spring, want
C. had visited Venice last spring, want
D. visited Venice last spring, wants
E. have visited Venice last spring, wants

Ans is pretty obvious..I would just like to know whether this is correct: Neither of my aunts, both of whom had visited Venice last spring, wants to return.

Grammars:

1. Neither of my aunts = None of .... ==> ALWAYS Singular in GMAT
2. "Last spring" = simple past tense signal.
3. Use past perfect ONLY you compare to another point of time in the past. Otherwise, simple past is enough.

Answer:

A. visited Venice last spring, want
Wrong.

B. have visited Venice last spring, want
Wrong.

C. had visited Venice last spring, want
Wrong.

D. visited Venice last spring, wants
Correct.

E. have visited Venice last spring, wants
Wrong.

Hope it helps.

daagh
genesis

The best rated post in this Topic says '1. Neither of my aunts = None of .... ==> ALWAYS Singular in GMAT'
While the official S/V thread says:

Most of the indefinite pronouns are considered singular except for SANAM pronouns

SANAM: Some, all, none, any, most.
In case of SANAM pronoun, it can be singular or plural depending on the context of the sentence.
e.g. Some of the students are in the class.
e.g. Some of the water is in the glass.

Can one of you shed light on what is considered a 'hard rule' for the GMAT?

Many thanks
Show more


Hello DmitryFarber AjiteshArun GMATNinja genesis

Hope you all are doing well.

I have the same exact doubt regarding the usage of SANAM pronouns.

My understanding until now has been that the subject-verb agreement in case of SANAM pronouns will be contextual.

I studied from the MGMAT SC guide :

SANAM: Some, all, none, any, most.
In case of SANAM pronoun, it can be singular or plural depending on the context of the sentence.
e.g. Some of the students are in the class.
e.g. Some of the water is in the glass.

In our question at hand, we have "Neither of my AUNTS want(s)". Depending on the plurality of the noun after "OF" (which in our case is plural aunts), we decide the plurality of the verb.

So I chose option A.

Is it because EITHER/NEITHER are not SANAM pronouns ? I guess I am confusing "Neither" with "None", which is a SANAM pronoun. I do recall that "Either" is always singular. Makes sense for the same to be applicable to "Neither".


Could you please shed light on this doubt?

Thank you in advance.

Regards,
Saakhi
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 30 Mar 2021, 01:13
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Saasingh
Hello DmitryFarber AjiteshArun GMATNinja genesis

Hope you all are doing well.

I have the same exact doubt regarding the usage of SANAM pronouns.

My understanding until now has been that the subject-verb agreement in case of SANAM pronouns will be contextual.

I studied from the MGMAT SC guide :

SANAM: Some, all, none, any, most.
In case of SANAM pronoun, it can be singular or plural depending on the context of the sentence.
e.g. Some of the students are in the class.
e.g. Some of the water is in the glass.

In our question at hand, we have "Neither of my AUNTS want(s)". Depending on the plurality of the noun after "OF" (which in our case is plural aunts), we decide the plurality of the verb.

So I chose option A.

Is it because EITHER/NEITHER are not SANAM pronouns ? I guess I am confusing "Neither" with "None", which is a SANAM pronoun. I do recall that "Either" is always singular. Makes sense for the same to be applicable to "Neither".


Could you please shed light on this doubt?

Thank you in advance.

Regards,
Saakhi
Show more
Hi Saasingh,

Here's what I think about those constructions:
1. Neither of + [plural noun]: go singular.
2. None of + [plural noun]: go singular.

It's important to recognize that the points we're looking at here do not have one "correct" answer. Many people (including me) go plural on neither of + [plural noun] all the time. It's just that I wouldn't recommend doing that on the GMAT. I think the sources you're using would not have a problem with (1), but (2) could be the opposite of what you've read. The problem is that there is no consensus on such issues.
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 30 Mar 2021, 02:59
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Adding to Ajitesh's point, since the usage of none is a debatable topic, GMAT is very unlikely to test you on this.

There is an instance of the usage of none in the following official sentence that uses singular verb explains with none.

None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains why most of the people exposed to the alleged causes do not commit crimes and, conversely, why so many of those not so exposed do.

So, while this might give us a clue, note that this is not in the underlined portion and hence, not tested.
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 30 Mar 2021, 18:46
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Saasingh
Ah yes, everyone who takes our tests hates this question, but it's fair! I just hope "neither" is tested often enough on the real GMAT to justify all this suffering!

The thing with "neither" is that unlike "none" and the other SANAM pronouns, it always means the same thing. Any time with say "neither," we are saying "not either" of two options. Even if we were to say "Neither aunt," we'd mean neither of the two aunts. There is no other way to use it, so it is always singular, as if we said "neither one."
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 31 Mar 2021, 05:49
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DmitryFarber
Saasingh
Ah yes, everyone who takes our tests hates this question, but it's fair! I just hope "neither" is tested often enough on the real GMAT to justify all this suffering!

The thing with "neither" is that unlike "none" and the other SANAM pronouns, it always means the same thing. Any time with say "neither," we are saying "not either" of two options. Even if we were to say "Neither aunt," we'd mean neither of the two aunts. There is no other way to use it, so it is always singular, as if we said "neither one."
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Thank you for clarifying.

Regards,
Saakhi
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 12 Oct 2022, 07:30
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JusTLucK04
Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring, want to return.

(A) visited Venice last spring, want
(B) have visited Venice last spring, want
(C) had visited Venice last spring, want
(D) visited Venice last spring, wants
(E) have visited Venice last spring, wants

Show more

After reading through the question, "want" stood out to me.

Quickly glanced through the options to see the split "have/had/visited" and "want/wants"


"have visited" when used with "last spring" is incorrect"

"last spring" seems to be telling us that this activity happened in the past. Then "have visited" incorrectly adds a perfect tense to the statement.

Eliminate Option (B) and (E)

"had visited" does not seem inherently wrong but seems redundant when we already have "last spring" to indicate when the action occured.

Eliminate (C)


Now between Option (A) and (D),

I was not sure what verb form "Neither" needed. So I used process of elimination instead.

SANAM(= some, any, none, all, more/most) can take any form (singular or plural). "Neither" is not a part of this so no worries.

My acronym FBMS (few, both, many, some) for words that are always plural. "Neither" not a part of that either.

So clearly "Neither" takes singular form.

Eliminate Option (A)

Option (D) is the answer!
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Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring 15 May 2023, 12:18
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Neither... followed... wants... so Abc gone....
Have is wrong for the same sv agreement reason...
E is the only option...

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