Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was making the case for womens equality

I am not confused about semi colon. I wanted to check if Choice D had Verb-ing after common, then it would have been acceptable choice. In that case, we have a Verb ing modifier providing results of the previous clause.

In B, we have two clause joined by and.

Hit05



You meant a ‘comma’ and not’ common’ I suppose. I had to search for some time for the word ‘common’ to suppose that.

But even then it wouldn’t be correct because you seem to be mistaking what the previous clause is. The previous clause is – that the convent provided the perfect environment for intellectual pursuits, achieving – Please do not mistake the previous clause for ---- Sor Juana found that the convent provided the perfect environment for intellectual pursuits, achieving …

If you put a comma before achieving, the participle will modify the convent and not Sor Juana as you might be thinking. The convent achieving something is absurd a serious logic error.

HTH

Genoa2000
We sometimes say that idea or institutions are "born," but this is only a metaphor, and we usually use it when talking about the influences or struggles that led to that thing's creation. I don't think we'd ever say a building was "born." In any case, if we're in doubt, we should definitely assume that the intent is to talk about a person.

In this case, it also makes more sense meaning-wise to apply "born" to Sor Juana. The intended meaning is that since Sor Juana was born before the fight for women's equality had begun, the convent provided her with a useful refuge. So the initial modifier ("Born . . . ") adds clarity to the clause that follows. It's *because* she was born in the 17th c. that the convent was perfect for her. We can't do the same if we're talking about the building. Knowing that the building itself dated to the mid-seventeenth century would not tell us why it was a perfect environment for Sor Juana.

Hi gmatwhiz I have been using your course for verbal and in the course, we talk about deriving the intended meaning from the sentence. Now in the original sentence, there is no indication that Sor Juana found herself something, which option B indicates, So I eliminated option B directly because it changed the intended meaning. I want to check how should we pursue such questions?

Hello RohitSaluja,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe that we can help resolve your doubt.

On GMATsentence correction, the intended meaning of the sentence is typically understood to be that of the original sentence, or that produced through the application of Option A. However, this principle does not hold if the meaning produced by Option A is illogical or incoherent. Here, in Option A you can see that the phrase "Born in the mid-seventeenth century in San Miguel Nepantla, Mexico" incorrectly modifies the noun "the convent", illogically implying that the convent was "born" in the mid-seventeenth century in San Miguel Nepantla, Mexico; please remember, in the “phrase + comma + noun” and “noun + comma + phrase” constructions, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction. As a building cannot be said to have been "born", we can conclude that Option A does not convey the intended meaning of the sentence.

To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Hello experts,
there is a new concept for me to learn here,
First there was an IC "was making" and then there was another IC Sor juana found.
They are only connected by punctuation (:),
but two ICs are seperated by either ; or ,conjuction.

1. so we can say there is a third case as well?
2.whats the meaning here, why the sentence is using
3.D is wrong just because of ; ?

Hi, in this question in option B, it seems that Sor Juana herself found the environment, should the sentence not mean that she grew up in such an environment and did not find it herself?

Hello ynan456,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in this context "found" serves as a synonym for "discovered" or "realized"; the meaning is that Sor Juana discovered certain information - the fact that the convent provided the perfect environment for intellectual pursuits.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

AndrewN
Based on your analysis above, I came up with my reasoning.
Take a glance please.

Option A:-
1. Modifer Error. The convent can't be born in the mid seventeenth century.
2. Comma+verb-ing error. The convent cannot achieve renown as a mathematician.....

Option B:- This is the correct answer choice.

Option C:-
1. Error No.1 of option A.
2. We need an independent clause after a semi-colon. Who is going on to achieve renown? This part is not clear.

Option D:-
1. We need an independent clause after a semi-colon.
2. Who is achieving renown? This part is not clear.

Option E:-
1. Opening Modifier Error.

Yes, krndatta. I agree with your analysis in its entirety. Just to be on the safe side, keep in mind that a semicolon can also be used to separate items in a list when any item within that list contains an internal comma. To illustrate the point, I use the following sentence with my students:

I went to the store to buy a few items: kale, my favorite, cabbage, and carrots.

Now, if we were speaking, my inflection would make it clear whether kale or cabbage was my favorite vegetable, but in writing, we lean on punctuation besides a comma to do the job:

1) I went to the store to buy a few items: kale, my favorite; cabbage; and carrots. (Kale is my favorite vegetable.)

2) I went to the store to buy a few items: kale; my favorite, cabbage; and carrots. (Cabbage is my favorite vegetable.)

3) I went to the store to buy a few items: kale (my favorite), cabbage, and carrots. (Kale is my favorite vegetable.)

Oddly enough, we would not want a parenthetical ahead of cabbage:

4) I went to the store to buy a few items: kale, (my favorite) cabbage, and carrots.

Now, it sounds as though I went to the store to pick out my favorite cabbage from among different varieties of cabbage. The semicolon in sentence 2 above would be more appropriate to indicate that cabbage in general was my favorite vegetable, or, alternatively, we could move the parenthetical and place it after cabbage.

Thank you for thinking to ask me about this one. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

D is wrong because after the semicolon, there is not Independent Clause.

;achieving renown as a mathematician, poet, philosopher, and playwright. - is not independent.

correct answer is b)
a) c) e) are out because of modifier error. The convent is not born
d) the semi colon before achieving denotes the start of an Independent clause which isn't there

I am not expert, and hope you do not mind.

The semicolon(;) connects two related independent cluse. That's why Option D is wrong.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was making the case for women’s equality long before the cause had a name: Born in the mid-seventeenth century in San Miguel Nepantla, Mexico, Sor Juana found that the convent provided the perfect environment for intellectual pursuits, and she went on to achieve renown as a mathematician, poet, philosopher, and playwright.

Before colon (:), the sentence must be a stand alone sentence. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was making the case for women’s equality long before the cause had a name - is a stande alone sentence. After colon, what comes may not be stand alone sentence.
ex. I like rock music: namely Black is Black, Already gone, and Night Moves.

If you add main clause after colon, then this second clause must explain preceding cluase. Like in this sentence, before colon, one clause; after colon another clause explaining role of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.
The structure of this sentence: IC +colon+ modifier + IC + COMMA AND + IC

Hope it helps.