If the gardener would sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than the

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION






• QUICK POE

→ Split #1: On the GMAT and 99 percent of the time elsewhere, do not use the word would in the IF (condition) clause.
Options A, C, and E use would in the IF clause.
Eliminate A, C, and E.

→ Split #2: When describing a hypothetical condition (something that has not yet happened) and its probable result, on the GMAT, almost always, use the subjunctive mood (were) in the IF clause.
Option B incorrectly uses sowed whereas option D correctly uses were to sow.
In addition, option D maintains parallelism better than does option B.
That is, option D uses in the greenhouse rather than in the garden.
Option B uses in the greenhouse rather than the garden. (Only one mention of the preposition in. Although we want the most concise sentence possible, prepositions are often repeated in parallel structures.
Eliminate B.

The correct answer is D.

• Overview: The Type 2 Conditional

This sentence describes a hypothetical possibility.
How do we know?
Well, the gardener is not getting what he expects from having planted seeds—namely, a nice display of flowers.
According to the sentence, he is not growing a nice display of flowers because he plants his seeds in the garden rather than in the greenhouse.
(Maybe he lives in Canada. Or Siberia.)
If he were to plant the seeds in the greenhouse rather than in the garden, he might get a better display of flowers.

When we describe the scenario in which his flowers might grow nicely, we are describing a hypothetical possibility: something that has not yet happened.
The IF clause should contain the subjunctive form: were.
→ If I were tall, I would be a basketball star. (But I am not tall and I am not a basketball star.)
→ If you were a Martian, you might have green ears. (But you are not a Martian and you do not have green ears.)
→ Despite his being the child of monolingual Americans in a sleepy U.S. town, if he were to grow up in Spain, he might be fluent in Spanish. (But he is not growing up in Spain and is not fluent.)
→ If she were to take the GMAT tomorrow, she might score above a 650, whereas if she were to take the GMAT in three months, she would score above 700.

There are four major types of conditionals (IF-THEN statements). (Zero, and Types 1, 2, and 3.)*
These IF/THEN statements require different kinds of verbs.

Type 2 conditionals present hypothetical (theoretical) statements NOT based on what is actual.
The scenario is counterfactual, unreal, or imaginary—in a word, hypothetical.
The IF clause is called the condition clause.
The condition is not real.
The THEN clause is called the main clause. (The word "then" is usually tacit.)

In hypotheticals, we use
→ IF simple past, THEN present conditional (or present continuous conditional)
The present conditional is often would, but we can use other modals such as might or could in the THEN (result, main) clause.

The pattern in hypotheticals is thus
If were . . . then would.
If were . . . then might.
If were . . . then could.

→ If THIS thing were to happen, then THAT thing would or might happen
-- If antitrust laws were enforced properly, then oligopolies would not control entire sectors of the economy.


• Elaboration on Split #1, above: Do not use would in the IF (condition) clause

About 99 percent of the time, do not use would in the if clause in any kind of conditional. (The types are referenced in the footnote.)
(Polite conditionals and future effects are exceptions about which you need not worry.)

The IF clause is a condition. Do not put a modal such as would in that part. (You can put a modal in the then clause, i.e., the main or result clause.)
Instead, use simple present or simple past.

Options A, D, and E use would in the IF clause and should be eliminated.

• Elaboration on Split #2 above: on the GMAT, use the subjunctive mood if the sentence describes a hypothetical condition (one that has not yet happened and is either not going to happen or, based on reality thus far, is not likely to happen).

Do not believe that the subjunctive is nearly out of fashion in formal English.
The Chomskyites have taken over the airwaves; don't listen.
The subjunctive is alive and well. Memorize it. I've given lots of examples above.

GMAC tests the issue, sometimes in sneaky ways.
This sentences, for example, is correct (and hypothetical):
Were I less claustrophobic, I would visit catacombs.
↑↑↑ In that sentence, the word IF is omitted and in the first clause, the subject and verb are inverted.

Options B and D remain.
Only D uses the subjunctive were.
Option D also keeps the word in before both "the greenhouse" and "the garden."
Parallelism in option D is cleaner and stronger than that in B.
Eliminate B.

(This sentence is tough because it might be argued that option B is correct. That case is less clear cut than the case in option D, in which the subjunctive mood correctly conveys the hypothetical condition (in the form of the verb phrase "he were to plant").

The answer is D.

COMMENTS

sam1219 , welcome to SC Butler.
I like your strategic reasoning! Good thinking.
Looking for patterns such as you did is an enormous part of verbal "reasoning."

These answers are quite good.
A misstep here or there? No matter. You all were brave and gave good explanations for what you chose.
Kudos to all.


* For a condensed overview of conditionals, read a post of mine, especially or perhaps only the footnote, by clicking here. The footnote contains the most condensed information.

Option (D) is correct.

The conditional ("If") clause does not require "would." And the given sentence also lacks parallelism- it should be "in the greenhouse" which would then be parallel to "in the garden." Only option D does this. So D is the correct answer.
_________________

Correct Option D

If and Would both are conditional meaning usage.
dual usage makes sentence redudancy

If the gardener would sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than the garden, he might get a better display of flowers.

Eliminate A, C and E for If and would reducancy
A) If the gardener would sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than the garden
C) If the gardener would sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than in the garden
E) If the gardener would sow the seeds in the greenhouse instead of the garden

Elimiate B: usage of "sowed" past tense, demeans the intened meaning of the sentence.
If is a conditional word used to describe event in future to be occur
B) If the gardener sowed the seeds in the greenhouse rather than the garden

Correct:
though were is past tense but it can also be used to hypothesize about something that might happen in future or possiablity of event to occur
D) If the gardener were to sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than in the garden

If were would need to be present to reflect the right tense, all three are mandatory and neither two can occur with out the other. Probably Option B is the right answer

Thank you for the explanation @generis;

If the gardener would sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than the garden, he might get a better display of flowers.



A) If the gardener would sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than the garden Incorrect

would is past form of will, in this sentence would uses incorrect

B) If the gardener sowed the seeds in the greenhouse rather than the garden Incorrect

parallelism problem - 'in the' missing after rather than

C) If the gardener would sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than in the garden Incorrect

same as A

D) If the gardener were to sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than in the garden Correct

E) If the gardener would sow the seeds in the greenhouse instead of the garden Incorrect

same as A
_________________

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION






• QUICK POE

→ Split #1: On the GMAT and 99 percent of the time elsewhere, do not use the word would in the IF (condition) clause.
Options A, C, and E use would in the IF clause.
Eliminate A, C, and E.

→ Split #2: When describing a hypothetical condition (something that has not yet happened) and its probable result, on the GMAT, almost always, use the subjunctive mood (were) in the IF clause.
Option B incorrectly uses sowed whereas option D correctly uses were to sow.
In addition, option D maintains parallelism better than does option B.
That is, option D uses in the greenhouse rather than in the garden.
Option B uses in the greenhouse rather than the garden. (Only one mention of the preposition in. Although we want the most concise sentence possible, prepositions are often repeated in parallel structures.
Eliminate B.

The correct answer is D.

• Overview: The Type 2 Conditional

This sentence describes a hypothetical possibility.
How do we know?
Well, the gardener is not getting what he expects from having planted seeds—namely, a nice display of flowers.
According to the sentence, he is not growing a nice display of flowers because he plants his seeds in the garden rather than in the greenhouse.
(Maybe he lives in Canada. Or Siberia.)
If he were to plant the seeds in the greenhouse rather than in the garden, he might get a better display of flowers.

When we describe the scenario in which his flowers might grow nicely, we are describing a hypothetical possibility: something that has not yet happened.
The IF clause should contain the subjunctive form: were.
→ If I were tall, I would be a basketball star. (But I am not tall and I am not a basketball star.)
→ If you were a Martian, you might have green ears. (But you are not a Martian and you do not have green ears.)
→ Despite his being the child of monolingual Americans in a sleepy U.S. town, if he were to grow up in Spain, he might be fluent in Spanish. (But he is not growing up in Spain and is not fluent.)
→ If she were to take the GMAT tomorrow, she might score above a 650, whereas if she were to take the GMAT in three months, she would score above 700.

There are four major types of conditionals (IF-THEN statements). (Zero, and Types 1, 2, and 3.)*
These IF/THEN statements require different kinds of verbs.

Type 2 conditionals present hypothetical (theoretical) statements NOT based on what is actual.
The scenario is counterfactual, unreal, or imaginary—in a word, hypothetical.
The IF clause is called the condition clause.
The condition is not real.
The THEN clause is called the main clause. (The word "then" is usually tacit.)

In hypotheticals, we use
→ IF simple past, THEN present conditional (or present continuous conditional)
The present conditional is often would, but we can use other modals such as might or could in the THEN (result, main) clause.

The pattern in hypotheticals is thus
If were . . . then would.
If were . . . then might.
If were . . . then could.

→ If THIS thing were to happen, then THAT thing would or might happen
-- If antitrust laws were enforced properly, then oligopolies would not control entire sectors of the economy.


• Elaboration on Split #1, above: Do not use would in the IF (condition) clause

About 99 percent of the time, do not use would in the if clause in any kind of conditional. (The types are referenced in the footnote.)
(Polite conditionals and future effects are exceptions about which you need not worry.)

The IF clause is a condition. Do not put a modal such as would in that part. (You can put a modal in the then clause, i.e., the main or result clause.)
Instead, use simple present or simple past.

Options A, D, and E use would in the IF clause and should be eliminated.

• Elaboration on Split #2 above: on the GMAT, use the subjunctive mood if the sentence describes a hypothetical condition (one that has not yet happened and is either not going to happen or, based on reality thus far, is not likely to happen).

Do not believe that the subjunctive is nearly out of fashion in formal English.
The Chomskyites have taken over the airwaves; don't listen.
The subjunctive is alive and well. Memorize it. I've given lots of examples above.

GMAC tests the issue, sometimes in sneaky ways.
This sentences, for example, is correct (and hypothetical):
Were I less claustrophobic, I would visit catacombs.
↑↑↑ In that sentence, the word IF is omitted and in the first clause, the subject and verb are inverted.

Options B and D remain.
Only D uses the subjunctive were.
Option D also keeps the word in before both "the greenhouse" and "the garden."
Parallelism in option D is cleaner and stronger than that in B.
Eliminate B.

(This sentence is tough because it might be argued that option B is correct. That case is less clear cut than the case in option D, in which the subjunctive mood correctly conveys the hypothetical condition (in the form of the verb phrase "he were to plant").

The answer is D.

COMMENTS

sam1219 , welcome to SC Butler.
I like your strategic reasoning! Good thinking.
Looking for patterns such as you did is an enormous part of verbal "reasoning."

These answers are quite good.
A misstep here or there? No matter. You all were brave and gave good explanations for what you chose.
Kudos to all.


* For a condensed overview of conditionals, read a post of mine, especially or perhaps only the footnote, by clicking here. The footnote contains the most condensed information.
_________________