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555-605 Level|   Meaning/Logical Predication|   Modifiers|   Pronouns|   Verb Tense/Form|                           
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 10 Oct 2017, 07:44
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Will go with E
A B can be easily eliminated because of modifier error.
Not trusting must modify people and not stockbrokers, because people are not trusting themselves.
C is wordy people are turning to stockbrokers "for help from them"
This can very well be written as turning to stockbrokers for help.
Between D and E there is no idiom error both help in buying/ help to buy are correct idioms.
D has the tense error. Present perfect have been is not correct as the whole sentence is in present tense.
Answer E

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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves Updated on: 03 Apr 2018, 10:37
Originally posted by egmat on 10 Oct 2017, 10:21.
Last edited by egmat on 03 Apr 2018, 10:37, edited 1 time in total.
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sandysilva
Will go with E
A B can be easily eliminated because of modifier error.
Not trusting must modify people and not stockbrokers, because people are not trusting themselves.
C is wordy people are turning to stockbrokers "for help from them"
This can very well be written as turning to stockbrokers for help.
Between D and E there is no idiom error both help in buying/ help to buy are correct idioms.
D has the tense error. Present perfect have been is not correct as the whole sentence is in present tense.
Answer E

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Show more


Hello sandysilva,

You are the only one who has pointed the verb tense error in Choice D that is the real deal breaker.

Choice D uses the verb could have been bought. This verb phrase suggests a possibility of an action that could have happened but actually does not happen. This certainly is not the intended meaning of the sentence.

Per the context of the sentence, many people need help from stockbrokers to buy those stocks that they could actually buy easily.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 10 Oct 2017, 10:57
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egmat
sandysilva
Will go with E
A B can be easily eliminated because of modifier error.
Not trusting must modify people and not stockbrokers, because people are not trusting themselves.
C is wordy people are turning to stockbrokers "for help from them"
This can very well be written as turning to stockbrokers for help.
Between D and E there is no idiom error both help in buying/ help to buy are correct idioms.
D has the tense error. Present perfect have been is not correct as the whole sentence is in present tense.
Answer E

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Hello sandysilva,

You are the only one who has pointed the verb tense error in Choice D that is the real deal breaker.

Choice D uses the verb could have been bought. This verb phrase suggests a possibility of an action that could have happened but actually does not happen. This certainly is not the intended meaning of the sentence.

Per the context of the sentence, the stockbrokers need help to buy those stocks that they could actually buy easily.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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For the colored portion above, I feel that the intended meaning of the sentence is exactly that -- a possible present situations that have not happened --- for which "could have been" appears to be correct phrase to use.
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 11 Oct 2017, 11:02
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egmat

Choice D uses the verb could have been bought. This verb phrase suggests a possibility of an action that could have happened but actually does not happen. This certainly is not the intended meaning of the sentence.


For the colored portion above, I feel that the intended meaning of the sentence is exactly that -- a possible present situations that have not happened --- for which "could have been" appears to be correct phrase to use.
Show more


Hello sevenplusplus,


In my explanation of Choice D, what I meant to say is that per the context of the sentence, we need to present an action that will possibly take place. That is why the sentence uses the verb could be bought.

The verb could have been bought denotes an action that certainly had the possibility to happen but actually never took place ever.

Let me present an example here:

In the accident last night, I was lucky to have lost only the headlights of my car; the damages could have been worse.

The above-mentioned sentence clearly mentions the loss I suffered. I just lost the headlights. The latter part of the sentence suggests that there was possibility of more serious damages but nothing of that sort actually took place.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 19 Feb 2018, 19:32
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Hi Experts/ sayantanc2k,

Is my understanding below correct?

Could be bought - present tense passive
Could have been bought - present perfect passive
Could have bought - present perfect.

What is the role of could here? Its not a past tense verb of could, so its just used to show possibility? Can we say its a helping verb?

Does adding could/would to present perfect makes it a past event that didn't happen as in choice D?

Also, what's the difference in meaning in the below?

- stocks that could be easily bought directly
- stocks that could easily be bought directly

Why can't 'easily', an adverb, modify the verb 'bought' in both sentences?

Thank you!
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 28 Feb 2018, 23:18
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sdlife Yes, looks like you are on the right track with all that.

As for your final question, the point in the sentence is to show that it would have been easy to buy the stocks directly. So we need "easily" to apply not just to "bought," but to "bought directly." If we put "be" in front of "easily," we're saying that the stocks are "easily bought," and that this is happening directly. By putting "be" after "easily," we make it clear that "easily" modifies the whole thing: "be bought directly."
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 01 Mar 2018, 05:20
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GMATNinja sayantanc2k generis
GMATNinjaTwo

Can you please confirm if SIMPLE FUTURE tense in (E) is the only one that makes sense
in the context of sentence?
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 01 Mar 2018, 15:44
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GMATNinja sayantanc2k generis
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Can you please confirm if SIMPLE FUTURE tense in (E) is the only one that makes sense
in the context of sentence?
Show more
I'm not sure that I understand the question, but I'll give it a shot!

Quote:
(E) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help in buying stocks that could easily be
Show more
In (E), "are turning" is actually a form of the present tense -- if you like jargon, it's the present progressive tense, which means that it's in the present, but the "-ing" emphasizes that it's an ongoing action in the present. (More on "-ing" verbs here.)

Could you use another form of the verb here? I guess simple present ("turn" instead of "are turning") would be fine, too -- it's just that simple present describes a general characteristic, and it seems that the sentence is trying to emphasize that this change in investor behavior is happening right now. So present progressive ("are turning") is arguably better, but it wouldn't be wrong to choose simple present.

The second verb, the "could be" in the phrase "could easily be bought directly" isn't in the future tense, either -- it's present tense, but the phrase "could be" indicates possibility. If it helps, replace "could" with "can", and the meaning is reasonably similar in this particular sentence.

(E) makes sense since both verbs are in some form of the present tense. I suppose that we could rewrite this in the future tense, but it would very dramatically change the meaning of the sentence.

I'm not sure if I answered your question, but I hope this helps!
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 01 Mar 2018, 15:58
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Thank you GMATNinja

Oops for the confusion! ;) Yes I was talking about the highlighted verb:

Quote:
Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of investment opportunities on the market, many people are turning to stockbrokers for help in buying stocks that could easily be bought directly.
Show more

I guess 'be' in passive tense confused me a bit. :-)

Does 'be' acts as a helping verb (is/are) in passive voice?

Hope we are on same page.
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 03 Apr 2018, 11:08
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Thank you GMATNinja

Oops for the confusion! ;) Yes I was talking about the highlighted verb:

Quote:
Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of investment opportunities on the market, many people are turning to stockbrokers for help in buying stocks that could easily be bought directly.

I guess 'be' in passive tense confused me a bit. :-)

Does 'be' acts as a helping verb (is/are) in passive voice?

Hope we are on same page.
Show more


Hello Arpit/ adkikani,

I am not sure if your doubt still persists. Here is the answer nonetheless. :-)


In Choice E, the verb could be bought is indeed in passive voice.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 27 May 2018, 09:35
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GMATNinja I see your explanation mentioning D wrong because there is use of modal verb.
Whatever material I have gone through until now there is mention of Simple, Progressive and Perfect tenses.
It anyways is overwhelming for me and now I see a question with modal form. So, I was wondering what all forms one should know?

sayantanc2k generis egmat :
Can anyone please suggest exhaustive list of what all verb forms we need to master for GMAT?
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 29 May 2018, 14:22
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Gmat800Champ
GMATNinja I see your explanation mentioning D wrong because there is use of modal verb.
Whatever material I have gone through until now there is mention of Simple, Progressive and Perfect tenses.
It anyways is overwhelming for me and now I see a question with modal form. So, I was wondering what all forms one should know?

sayantanc2k generis egmat :
Can anyone please suggest exhaustive list of what all verb forms we need to master for GMAT?
Show more
If you ask 40 different test-prep experts, you'll probably get about 40 different answers to your question! Most test-prep books basically run through EVERY verb tense, mood, and form that exists. And hey, they're all part of the English language, so in theory, they're all fair game.

But in practice? If you already have a fundamental command of English, I don't think that memorizing a crapload of verb tenses is all that helpful. But I'm a little bit of a heretic. :)

This video is basically an hourlong response to your question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxANHcxwbeM. Basically, my argument is that you should have a deep understanding of past perfect tense, since that appears frequently on the GMAT. Beyond that, the key is to have a strong grasp of how verb tenses might change the meaning of a sentence -- but I personally don't think that it's helpful to obsess over the technicalities of most other verb forms, as long as you have an intuitive grasp of their meaning.

I hope the video helps a bit!
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 29 May 2018, 19:28
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Thanks for your reply GMATNinja. I have gone through your videos and they are pretty good.
I am stuck in V30's and on my analysis of OG 2018 I found I got most of the Verb forms questions wrong.
So, I am kind of wondering what else I need to understand and master to reach elite V40.
I still have few questions of OG left to be practiced. So, what else should I practice? Could you please guide me on that?

GMATNinja
Gmat800Champ
GMATNinja I see your explanation mentioning D wrong because there is use of modal verb.
Whatever material I have gone through until now there is mention of Simple, Progressive and Perfect tenses.
It anyways is overwhelming for me and now I see a question with modal form. So, I was wondering what all forms one should know?

sayantanc2k generis egmat :
Can anyone please suggest exhaustive list of what all verb forms we need to master for GMAT?
If you ask 40 different test-prep experts, you'll probably get about 40 different answers to your question! Most test-prep books basically run through EVERY verb tense, mood, and form that exists. And hey, they're all part of the English language, so in theory, they're all fair game.

But in practice? If you already have a fundamental command of English, I don't think that memorizing a crapload of verb tenses is all that helpful. But I'm a little bit of a heretic. :)

This video is basically an hourlong response to your question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxANHcxwbeM. Basically, my argument is that you should have a deep understanding of past perfect tense, since that appears frequently on the GMAT. Beyond that, the key is to have a strong grasp of how verb tenses might change the meaning of a sentence -- but I personally don't think that it's helpful to obsess over the technicalities of most other verb forms, as long as you have an intuitive grasp of their meaning.

I hope the video helps a bit!
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 01 Jun 2018, 19:39
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Gmat800Champ
Thanks for your reply GMATNinja. I have gone through your videos and they are pretty good.
I am stuck in V30's and on my analysis of OG 2018 I found I got most of the Verb forms questions wrong.
So, I am kind of wondering what else I need to understand and master to reach elite V40.
I still have few questions of OG left to be practiced. So, what else should I practice? Could you please guide me on that?
Show more
Heh heh, that's the gigantic question that has no easy answer. I wish that there was some magic advice I could give to make your score jump from the 30s to an elite level, but that's not really how it works. (Though I can promise that some test-prep company is about to point you to their books/courses/articles/videos, with the implication that THEIR stuff really is magic. Here's a great post from a legendary 760-scorer about how test-prep is kind of like fad diets: https://gmatclub.com/forum/four-years-t ... l#p2069345)

Anyway, here are a few resources that might help a bit:

  • Beginner's guides to RC,CR, and SC if you haven't read them already. (I suspect very strongly that you're beyond these, but maybe there's a nugget in one of them that will help.)
  • A video on verb tenses and meaning on the GMAT, since it sounds like those might be giving you a disproportionate amount of trouble.
  • An article on using LSATs for GMAT CR and RC, since it sounds like you've mostly exhausted the OGs. LSATs aren't perfect, but they're WAY better than doing a bunch of non-official verbal questions. The article discusses the limitations of the LSAT, too.

And when you say that you're "stuck in the V30s", is that on GMATPrep tests? If so, the GMATPrep software provides a breakdown by verbal question type, so that might help you focus your efforts. And if you haven't done any GMATPrep exams yet, it might be time to do one, and see where you really stand. It's basically impossible for any test-prep company to accurately copy the style of the actual exam -- especially on verbal -- so take any non-official verbal test scores with a grain of salt.

I hope this helps, and let me know how things go for you!
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 23 Apr 2020, 07:08
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Hi experts / egmat,

I understand how we arrive at option E over here. Though I'm not sure how "help to buy" shouldn't be used to show intention here?
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 23 Apr 2020, 14:55
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Hi experts / egmat,

I understand how we arrive at option E over here. Though I'm not sure how "help to buy" shouldn't be used to show intention here?
Show more


Hello Soubhik,
Thank you for the query. :-)

Well, there is no solid grammatical reason for not choosing the phrase "help to buy" in this official sentence. It is one of those "unidiomatic expressions" that we just need to remember not to choose.

But yes, there are other entities in the answer choices the correct analysis of which can help us arrive at the correct answer choice.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 31 May 2021, 07:37
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Nevernevergiveup
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of investment opportunities on the market, stockbrokers are helping many people who turn to them to buy stocks that could be easily bought directly.

Meaning analysis:
1. People do not trust themselves to choose wisely
2. Hence they take help of stock brokers to buy stocks
3. (to buy) Stocks that can be easily bought directly


Error analysis:
1. Misplaced modifier. “Not trusting ..” should modify People – logically, How stockbrokers cannot trust themselves to choose. – Option A gives incorrect meaning



(A) stockbrokers are helping many people who turn to them to buy stocks that could be easily
Incorrect – Explained above.

(B) stockbrokers are helping many people who are turning to them for help in buying stocks that they could easily have
Misplaced modifier. – incorrect (same as A)
It creates even more funny meaning, people are turning to help brockers :P

(C) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help from them to buy stocks that could be easily
“turning to stockbrokers for help from them” – from them seems to be redundant. Even if we remove it still sentence can stand.
Incorrect

(D) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help to buy stocks that easily could have been
“Help to buy” – People are turning to stockbroker for help to buy” , it probably saying People are helping brocker

“Could have been “ – past event, but we need to say about possibility not about what happened – incorrect meaning

(E) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help in buying stocks that could easily be
Correct

Nice Analysis Viswa.

Just one more point I want to add:

(D) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help to buy stocks that easily could have been

(E) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help in buying stocks that could easily be

Easily is an adverb and is modifying the verb. Try to put the adverb as close as possible to verb.
For Option D) the verb is bought
So the ideal would be "that could have been easily bought".

For option E) it is already ideal.

Just want to add one more point

(D) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help to buy stocks that easily could have been

(E) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help in buying stocks that could easily be

Here the difference between D and E is ‘TO VERB’ VS ‘FOR VERB-ING’

I feel for help in buying stocks is correct as it is idiomatic. People turned to stockbrokers for help in doing sth(activity).
It is not idiomatic to say that People turned to stockbrokers for help to buy stocks.

Since for defines the purpose of doing something and
to buy changes its meaning as to+ verb is intentional.

Please correct me if am wrong or missed anything
Show more


Hi team,

One question on the same. If we had two options of this sort with a modification in the option E, which would be correct
1) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help in buying stocks that could easily be
2) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help in buying stocks that could be easily
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 31 May 2021, 12:00
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If we want to modify "be bought," then we should put "easily" in front of the whole phrase, not in the middle. Since 2) breaks up "be bought," the implication is that "easily" applies only to "bought." So the meaning of 1) is that one can buy these stocks with ease. This fits the intended meaning. The meaning of 2) is less clear, but the split of the verb phrase might imply that the meaning is "It could be true that these stocks are easily bought." That wouldn't fit what we want.
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 13 Jul 2021, 05:35
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hi AndrewN , can you explain what gives E a preference over D? I didn't understand the tense part that have been is wrong.
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arpita1995
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Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of inves 31 Jul 2021, 03:10
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(D) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help to buy stocks that easily could have been

(E) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help in buying stocks that could easily be


Is there a diference between could easily be bought vs easily could be bought
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