grad_mba wrote:
It is well known in the supermarket industry that how items are placed on shelves and the frequency of inventory turnovers can be crucial to profits.
(A) the frequency of inventory turnovers can be
(B) the frequency of inventory turnovers is often
(C) the frequency with which the inventory turns over is often
(D) how frequently is the inventory turned over are often
(E) how frequently the inventory turns over can be
2Summarize all explanations:
1. The concept of parallelism solves anything here.
1.1. First of all, we need "how" in the second part to maintain parallelism in this sentence -----> A, B, C are out.
1.2. Second of all, again parallelism.
First part: how
items are placed on shelves - first comes noun, second comes verb
D: how frequently
is the inventory turned over - first come "is", than comes "the inventory" (and it is not even important that "turned over" comes after the noun)
E: how frequently
the inventory turns over - first comes noun, second comes verb
So, only in E all parts are parallel. Verb after noun, so we have to choose E.
2. From sayantanc2k:
"When we frame a question (interrogative sentence), the verb must come before the subject.
Example: How is it done?
However when the same idea is expressed in a statement (declarative sentence), the verb follows the subject:
Example:
Declarative correct: I asked him how it is done.
Declarative wrong: I asked him how is it done."
Our case: we have to choose E.
3. From l0rrie: "If you look closely, you see that the sentence just isn't right.. Compare: how ARE placed (present) + how TURNS (present) and how ARE placed (present) + how TURNED (past)"
Again, parallelism. Present has to be with present, not with the past.
E.