Hi thangvietnam,

Why do you feel that the usage is wrong? We know of a gerund rule that if a gerund is preceded by a noun, and the noun is the doer of the action depicted by the gerund, then the noun should be in possessive. e.g.,

Right: I love Arnold's acting. (gerund as an object).
Wrong: I love Arnold acting.
Arnold's acting is impressive. (gerund as a subject).
Wrong: Arnold acting is impressive.

According to the above rule, why should our attending the conference be wrong? The gerund attending is the subject of the sentence and since we are the doer of the action attending, our attending also seems to be correct. Could you elaborate your view please?

Note: I do agree that the usage is awkward, but is it grammatically wrong altogether?

Btw, the usage pilot receiving is wrong because of the same gerund rule mentioned above.

Hi,

IMO:
In options A, B and D, 'receiving clearance to take off' acts as a Verb-ing modifier modifying the preceding noun, which is pilot. Now, the sentence just becomes, Our attending the conference depends on the pilot. This is incorrect. Attending the conference doesn't depend on the pilot but the pilot's receiving of clearance to take off.
E conveys the meaning in right way.

Thanks!

You didn't explain why C is not the answer.
In fact C could be the answer.
or why not.
What is wrong with this question.
somebody help

i'm not a gmat genius, but we can easily narrow down to E.



A. Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot receiving clearance to take off.
is dependent on our pilot. well, I believe the meaning should be "dependent on our pilot's received acceptance to take off" rather than on pilot.

B. Our attending the conference depends on our pilot receiving clearance to take off.
same error.

C. We will attend the conference only if our pilot receives clearance of take off.
clearance OF - of is incorrect. clearance TO should be used.

D. Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot receiving clearance for take off.
same meaning error as in A and B.

E. Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot’s receiving clearance to take off.
now this one looks good. dependent on pilot's receiving clearance.

Agree with u mvictor. Clearance of take doesn't seem right.
'Clearance to take off' in E is much better.

Thanks!

our attending the conference
is wrong grammatically

Since "our" is a possessive pronoun, "our attending" does seem to be difficult to understand.

What does it suggest? We possess what?

in E, possesive+doing+direct object is wrong

Hello Nez,
I'm Happy to help !
Actually, This question tests our reasoning skills along with our ability to correct grammatical errors.

Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot receiving clearance to take off.
Here the bold phrase (beginning with verb-ing modifier) is modifying the noun "pilot".
Always keep this in mind: "Verb-ing modifier that precedes a noun without comma, always modifies that noun."

Now if you would apply the rule that I mentioned above, you'll notice that in the original sentence, the noun "pilot" is an object of the sentence. Also, if you'd think logically, it will come in your mind that their chances of attending the conference does not depend on the pilot, but the pilot's clearance for a take off(Read the original sentence as "Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot" Logically incorrect. isn't it ? ). This will help us eliminate option A,B and D.

Option C completely distorts the intended meaning of the original sentence. For example,
In the original sentence, the intended meaning is that their chances of attending the conference depends on the pilot's clearance to take off.
Whereas according to option C, it seems that attending the conference is already in their control and they will only attend it if the pilot receives the clearance. That's not what the original sentence wanted to convey.

Hope that helps.

Kindly do give me kudos if you find this helpful (Badly Need'em )

Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot receiving clearance to take off.

Here from the meaning it is clear that the sentence essentially says that attending the conference is dependent on receiving the clearance. Here attending and receiving are both nouns or gerunds more specifically. Our is a possessive pronoun modifying the noun or is an adjective to the noun attending. More examples: his pen, our shop, her sandal. Here his, our and her are adjective modifying respective nouns. However "pilot receiving" is wrong since Pilot is a noun and not an adjective and therefore cannot modify a gerund. Here receiving is acting as present participle modifying noun Pilot and therefore it conveys wrong meaning that attending the conference is dependent of pilot(who is receiving clearance to take off.). So we should have a possessive Pilot's before receiving to convey the correct meaning.

A. Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot receiving clearance to take off.
Wrong as suggested in above analysis. We need possessive pilot's.

B. Our attending the conference depends on our pilot receiving clearance to take off.
Wrong as suggested above.

C. We will attend the conference only if our pilot receives clearance of take off.
Changes the meaning completely. From a mere dependence to a condition.

D. Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot receiving clearance for take off.
Wrong as suggested above.

E. Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot’s receiving clearance to take off.

Correct as s suggested above.

What i do is structure the original sentence as
1st part
middle part
last part

last part says to take off vs of take off vs for take off----A,B,E are the correct ones here; to take off is the right choice
middle part-dependent on our pilot vs dependent on our pilot's receiving?---we are not dependent on pilot but pilot's receiving-----A,B out
1st part is irritating here because only C looks good here, but the middle and the last part is not in line.
So the best one is E

This one is…tricky. I think C can be taken out, immediately, because ‘clearance of take off’ is not idiomatic, ‘clearance to take off’ or ‘clearance for take off’ needs to be used. This took a while but I was able to figure out how to eliminate all three of the incorrect options still remaining. In A b and D ‘receiving clearance…’ is used as a modifier for pilot. This alters the meaning of the sentence to just be ‘Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot’ rather than on the pilot’s receiving clearance for take off.



So the correct option is E.

Clearly, a possessive is required for the ing-modifier here but I feel that the sentence should have read- Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot’s receiving of clearance to take off

please help GMATNinja, daagh

Hey vinayakvaish same doubt!
@e-gmat daagh GMATNinja

Hey Ekland, I am probably about 3 years and some change months late, but none the less, C is wrong because of incorrect usage of the idiom - clearance of take off. It is also arguable that option C slightly distorts the original meaning. X is dependent on Y is different from saying X will happen only if Y happens.

Hope this helps anyone who has the same doubt. cc: sharathnair14

Cheers
AA

Hey, thank you for your reply

please note that we feel that "receiving of clearance" should have been used instead of "receiving clearance". I do agree that "clearance of" is incorrect

Indeed a nice question.

Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot receiving clearance to take off.

A. Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot receiving clearance to take off.
B. Our attending the conference depends on our pilot receiving clearance to take off.
C. We will attend the conference only if our pilot receives clearance of take off.
D. Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot receiving clearance for take off.
E. Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot’s receiving clearance to take off.

What I have got is:
Our X is dependent on pilot's Y NOT on the pilot.

E is the right answer.
_________________

I think C alters the meaning of the sentence. "only if" implies a mandatory condition which is not the case here. E is more appropriate and conveys the meaning very well.