Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was

My Pick is C.

(A) Nikola Tesla, ........, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power, he
(B) The prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power was exciting to Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, and so he
(C)
D and E just don't make any sense at all, plain bad.

C) - It correctly place the modifiers, not too far from subject.

The sentence D just does not complete itself.
Try removing the clause and the sentence reads like:

Nikola Tesla excited about (blah blah) and predicted

A better construction would have been:
Nikola Tesla excited about (blah blah), predicted

In this question with Option D

Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for the
production of electric power and predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara
would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

I am not able to understand how --- > excited is participle adjective and predicted is verb

excited can be a verb ( expressing state of Nikola ) and predicted another verb ( hence parallel )

So confusion is how to identify in such sentences which -ed is verb and which -ed is participle ?

Will appreciate your response

Hello,

Sorry for opening this thread after so long.

Can you explain in 'E' except for the usage of excited with , what else is wrong?

Also, generally can I say that construction such as Modifier 1, Modifier 2, Subject is wrong? Both modifiers modifying the subject.

Thanks in advance

correct idiom:


excite by or excite about

e. The inventor of alternating current, excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara falls for producing electric power, Nikola Tesla

placement of modifier : The inventor of alternating current _ excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara falls for producing electric power : first modifier is not modifying second modifier as there no relation between The inventor of alternating current and the fact that nicole tesla is excited about something.

Correct answer C remove that very efficiently - Excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current

Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power, he predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

(A) Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power, he - excited with is unidiomatic - You can be excited by something or you can be excited about something,
(B) The prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power was exciting to Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, and so he - subject-verb agreement
(C) Excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, - Correct
(D) Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for the production of electric power and - Tesla excited is incorrect -- was is needed
(E) The inventor of alternating current, excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing of electric power, Nikola Tesla - excited with is unidiomatic ; Tesla too far from appositive -- the inventor of alternating current

Answer C

HI GMATNinja , mikemcgarry , egmat , sayantanc2k, RonPurewal , DmitryFarber , MagooshExpert (Carolyn), ccooley , SarahPurewal, dave13

Can you please explain Why is D wrong in detail ? If I remove [the inventor of alternating current] Does it not make sense?

hey NandishSS

I am far from being expert but thanks for tagging me

well let me explain, lets remove [the inventor of alternating current]

(D) Nikola Tesla, excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for the production of electric power and predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

now read outloud


"excited about the prospects" is not a verb, it is adverbial participle

"predicted" is a verb

conjunction "and" doesnt make sence here.

click on the link below:

https://www.englishgrammar.org/grammar- ... rticiples/

here is an example from that link

Undeterred by the setbacks, she persevered. (this is correct version )

"Undeterred by the setbacks" is adverbial participle,

now let me change the sentence, i will add conjuntion "AND

Undeterred by the setbacks, and she persevered. (does this sentence make sence ?) i think no, right ? this is the sentence analogous to the D (option)

well, not sure if my explanation helps but anyway hope others reply too

HI dave13 ,

You are expert for me

Can you please me to understand further.

What is the function of excited (Here). How to differentiate between modifier and verb? Or When it acts as Verb or modifier?

dave13 - really nice work! +1
I will add another part of speech that excited could be, and share some tests to differentiate between an adjective and a verb.

NandishSS , you asked

Just as dave13 said: "excited" is a participle that modifies the noun Nicola Tesla. See above: "excite" is an adjective.
This adjective tells us Tesla's state of being, about how he felt. He felt excited.

We could say also that Tesla was excited. "Excited" still describes Tesla. (As dave13 did, I will avoid the linking verb issue, except in the footnote*.)

•• There is a another possibility. Excited can be the simple past tense of excite.
The Niagara Falls project excited Nikola Tesla.

In this case, excited is an action verb. A subject does something (to someone or something). X excited Y.
Subject-Verb-Object

We do have that construction in every option for one word: he predicted [XYZ]

No option contains the S-V-O structure for excited. Highlighting any form of excite:

(A) Tesla ... was excited
(B) [ABC] ... was exciting to Tesla ...
(C) Excited about [ABC] Tesla
(D) Tesla, excited about [ABC]
(E) ... excited with [ABC]

Tesla predicted or he predicted is in every answer choice.

We need but do not have "Tesla excited ___" or "he excited ___."

Tesla himself did not excite something or someone. "Excited" cannot be a verb.

One note about (D), which may seem okay. Incorrect. A comma NEVER separates a subject and verb that are right next to each other.
She, attended the party.
She attended the party.

Tesla, excited about ABC [not a S/V]

Certain tests can help.
Adjectives
-- can usually be preceded by VERY (verbs? No)
-- can usually be preceded by APPEARS or SEEMS [to be] (verbs? No)

Verbs
-- may be preceded by CAN ...
Exception: the verb must not be a modal verb, because CAN is a modal verb.
Adjectives? May not be preceded by CAN.

These tests work frequently but not always. If the test does not yield a clear answer immediately, try a different test.

Is EXCITED an adjective or a verb?
•• Can the word be preceded by VERY? VERY _________
If so, it is probably an adjective. It is not a verb.

Adjective - this works
Correct: very tall, very busy
Correct: Very excited about...
Correct: Tesla was VERY excited...

Verbs - this does not work
Wrong: He very walked to the store.
Wrong: Tesla very predicted that..

Excited is an adjective.
Predicted is not an adjective.

••Can the word be preceded by APPEARS or SEEMS to be?
If so, it is probably an adjective. It is not a verb.

CORRECT: He seems excited ... [about]

Wrong: He seems walked to the store.
Wrong: He seems predicted...

Excited is an adjective
Excited modifies Tesla.

Predicted is not an adjective.
Excited is an adjective.

•• Is the word able to follow the word can? CAN ___
If so, it is probably a verb and definitely not an adjective.

Testing guide for CAN
(1) If you have a participle (verbED), test exactly that word. Do not test "excite."

(2) If you are testing a verb, use only the bare infinitive.
Infinitive: to walk
Bare infinitive: walk

Wrong: He CAN excited

Correct: He CAN predict

Excited is NOT a verb. Predicted is a verb.

CONCLUSION: Excited is an adjective. Excited is not a verb.

Find a construction in which excited (an adjective) and predicted (a verb) do not have to be parallel.

That is option C.
A and B do not use excited to modify Tesla. D is not parallel and E is unidiomatic.

Past participles as adjectives are hard, especially for non-native speakers. Try the VERY, SEEMS, and CAN tests as you practice.

None of us can cover every construct that GMAT will test on a given issue.

dave13 , you wrote a good answer AND provided me with a base to which I could add what I hope are helpful notes.

Your kind of effort is helpful, generous, and right in line with one one of my favorite purposes of GMAT Club -- collaboration.

Hope that helps.

*This construction is the same as "was excited."
As noted above, excited is still a past participle and still an adjective.
Excited is the subject complement of the linking verb seems.

Hi Expert,

You mentioned "On the GMAT, it is important to recognize that the –ing form of a word, without a helper verb like “is,” “was,” or “am,” does not act as a verb. Without one of these helper verbs, the –ing form of a word, called a verbal, acts as a noun or as a modifier."

If above one is true then how predicted can act as verb because it does not have any helping verb.

Please help me. I am just a beginner.

Thanks a lot.

Hi,

read the non-underlined portion of the sentence. The non-underlined portion of the sentence is part of an independent clause from which subjected has been removed. "Tesla" is subject of this independent clause.
Hence, it can be safely concluded that anything else will only modify either Tesla or his prediction.

Hence, option C is correct.

Posted from my mobile device

GMATNinja please help with this question

Hello, I've a query in this question. I'd be very glad if you help me on this query!
Here the correct choice is C. What's the difference in the following versions? Are they all ok? I've made these versions just to know the actual application of 'modifier'.

C) Excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

F) The inventor of alternating current, Nikola Tesla, excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

G) Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris. -->( a little like D)

H) Excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, the inventor of alternating current, Nikola Tesla predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

I) The inventor of alternating current, excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, Nikola Tesla predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.--> (like E)

This question is based on Modifiers.

The sentence contains a few pieces of information:
-the inventor of alternating current
-excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for the production of electric power
- predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris

Option A contains a number of errors:
-it contains two modifiers placed one after the other with the subject placed at the beginning of the sentence
-the phrase “harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power” is idiomatically inappropriate. It should have been ‘for the production of’ or ‘in order to produce’.
-the pronoun ‘he’ is redundant because the subject Nikola Tesla is already mentioned
So, Option A can be eliminated.

The adverb ‘so’ indicates a result. The meaning thus conveyed is that Nikola Tesla made a prediction as a result of his excitement. This is a rather distorted meaning, so, Option B can be ruled out. So, Option B can be ruled out.

There are two options placed one after the other in this option with the subject placed at the beginning of the sentence. The conjunction ‘and’ implies that there are two clauses in the sentence. However, there is only one verb ‘predicted’ after the conjunction. There is no verb in the first part of the sentence. So, Option D can be eliminated.

Option E also contains two modifiers placed one after the other with the subject placed after the second modifier. This placement makes the first modifier ambiguous. So, Option E can be eliminated.

In this option, the two modifiers are placed appropriately with the subject in between. The verb ‘predicted’ completes the sentence. Therefore, C is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

This question was explained very well by Jeff (Manhattan Prep GMAT) in this video: