Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red su

Will certainly reproduce that example here if/when I come across that sentence again.

AndrewN

Dear Andrew some users are saying there is no verb for heirloom tomatoes for example in option A, but there is one after the -

Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes- [...] -they ARE often green and striped

does the verb always have to be before the -

Thanks

Hello, MPRS22. Yes, there is a verb after the dash, but the problem is that there is also a pronoun, one that takes the place of heirloom tomatoes from earlier in the sentence. A noun and its pronoun should not compete for the same verb—it does not make sense to say, Heirloom tomatoes, they are often green and striped. Either the noun or its pronoun would have to be removed to make the sentence work.

I hope that helps clarify the matter. Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

GMATNinja, Please help with this, how to tackle the use of "-" in a sentence.

Here's the thing about dashes: they can do basically anything. They can separate independent clauses. They can be used to set off modifiers. They can be used to introduce examples. So when you're looking at a dash (or dashes) in an SC problem, it's not helpful to think about iron-clad rules. Instead, just consider the context.

In this case, we get a descriptive clause set off by dashes: "—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—" It appears to be providing additional information about the preceding clause, telling us how heirloom tomatoes are less appetizing than their healthier-looking relatives. And because it seems to be setting off a non-essential modifier in the same that, say, commas might set off a modifier, its role in the sentence doesn't appear to be vital.

So if I saw this on the exam, I'd spend very little time worrying about it. It's in the non-underlined portion, and aside from providing a bit of background, doesn't really impact the rest of the sentence.

The takeaway: you don't need to know tons of esoteric grammar or punctuation rules for SC! You can usually figure out what's going on by using a bit of context and logic. And anytime a rule is fuzzy, or you're not sure if there is one, you'll want to move on to other elements of the sentence.

For more on GMAT punctuation -- including a fairly long rant about why you shouldn't really worry about dashes -- check out this video.

I hope that helps!

Hello I want to understand how modifiers work.
In option B - grown from seeds saved during the previous year - is a modifier that modifies heirloom tomatoes
appear less appetizing than most of their cousins - is also a modifier that modifies heirloom tomatoes

Am I correct?
If yes, is it okay to have 2 modifiers consecutively modifying heirloom tomatoes?
Is it okay for the second modifier "appear... " to not be next to heirloom tomatoes..

Please clarify the gaps in my understanding. Thank you.

Hi Bhu750, this isn't really a modifier; "appear" is a verb (modifiers are generally adjectives or adverbs).

Hi Bhu750,

EducationAisle has already made the most important point here, that appear is a complete verb.

Generally speaking, using "two modifiers consecutively" is possible. Whether it's okay or not depends on how good the other options are.

Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

The non-underlined part within the two dashes explains heirloom tomatoes.
After the dash, we have a clause that says heirloom tomatoes are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand. As “although” is used for contradiction, we need to have a clause that denotes something negative about heirloom tomatoes in the first clause.

(A) Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year
There is no corresponding verb for “heirloom tomatoes”. Eliminate.

(B) Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins
Correct.

(C) Although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year
Same as A.

(D) Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins
There’s no punctuation or conjunction that suggests a contrast in the sentence. Eliminate

(E) Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins

The placement of the subordinating conjunction “although” is faulty.
There is no corresponding verb for “heirloom tomatoes”. Eliminate.

In answer choice B, why isn't there a Comma after "cousins"?

Hi whichscore,

That's because we can't use both a comma and a dash together there.

1. Although heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their cousins,—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful... ← We can't use both a comma and a dash together like this.

The comma is dropped because we have an element within a pair of dashes immediately after cousins.

So can we take it as a rule that whenever we see two em-dashes, the middle clause (after first dash and before second dash) is extraneous?

Hi GK002,

Yes. A pair of dashes introduces additional information. The element within a pair of dashes may or may not be a clause though.

Although I did arrive at the right answer using POE, I have a doubt in Option B.


In the option, the portion between the 2 dash 'they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises' seems to be modifying 'supermarket cousins' as that is the closest plural subject to 'they'. Do we have to use the rule that the subject of the second clause can refer back to subject of the 1st clause? Because in this case, it seems that the sentence is just extra information to supermarket cousins.

Can someone please explain this in detail? Thanks.

Hi amoljain,

Pronoun reference is extremely resistant to rules. We should certainly consider that they ambiguous, but we should also keep in mind that ambiguity is not an "absolute" error.

I ve solved this question based on the following two concepts::
-- any info within single dash or double dashes or parentheses is extra information and can be avoided
-- "Although" should immediately be followed by Subject + Verb
==> only B justifies the use of "although" and gives a complete sense as intended

Hey Community
I am new to Prep on GMAT Club for SC, I am not able to understanding the below explanation from daagh, can you provide any reading material or explain me in depth?
-D Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins. ---------- The two ICs forming the compound sentence are not conjugated with the conjunction and hence is a run-on
daagh EMPOWERgmatVerbal souvik101990
Any suggestion in general for SC will also be appreciated!!
Thank you for the help