OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONProject SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)
Quote:
Paranthropus are a group of hominids that existed at the same time as the Australopithecines and some other species of the Homo genus.
This question tests verb tenses, logic, parallelism, and ellipsis.
You could easily overthink this question.
You can avoid overthinking by moving your eyes to the next option. No kidding.
Our goal is to eliminate the four worst answers, not to find the best answer.
THE OPTIONSQuote:
A) Paranthropus are a group of hominids that existed at the same time as the Australopithecines and some other species of the Homo genus [existed].
• I see no errors
• Meaning? Very simple.
Paranthropus, Australopithicus, and "some other" hominid species all existed at the same time.• The word
existed does not need to be repeated.
→ In English, in the second part of a sentence, we frequently do not repeat simple verbs.
Correct: Samuel cooks breakfast more often than Safia.
Meaning: Samuel cooks breakfast more often than Safia cooks breakfast.
-- The verb in this sentence is simple:
existed.
→ when can we omit a verb or verb phrase? On the GMAT, very frequently and as long as the sentence still makes sense.
Original:
Kenyatta arrived at the same time as Samuel arrived. Ellipsis, verb implied is in brackets:
Kenyatta arrived at the same time as Samuel [arrived].
• In this sentence,
existed is implied and if written, would be placed after
Homo genus as I have indicated.
KEEP
Quote:
B) Paranthropus are a group of hominids that had existed at the same time as had the Australopithecines and some other species of the Homo genus.
•
had existed is incorrect in both instances
→ we use the past perfect tense
had existed to depict the earlier of two past events
→ These groups—Paranthropus, Australopithecines, and "some others"—existed at the
same time.
→ In addition, we do not use past perfect (had + __ED) when simple past will suffice
Wrong: He had relocated recently.
Correct: He relocated recently.
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
C) Paranthropus are a group of hominids that existed at the same time as had the Australopithecines and some other species of the Homo genus.
• we cannot use
had (coupled with the Australopithecines) as a substitute for
existed (coupled with
that, referring to
Paranthropus)
→ IF the original verb contains
had, then we can repeat just the "had" part later in the sentence
Correct: When the train lurched, people in the aisles stumbled, but I
had sat down by then, as
had Daniel.
→ If the original verb does not or should not contain
had and we want to repeat a shortened verb phrase, we use
did or
did so.
Correct:
The train seemed unsteady, so I put my phone away, as did Daniel.
•
had is not needed because past perfect is inappropriate, and
•
had cannot be used as a substitute for
existedELIMINATE C
Quote:
D) Paranthropus are a group of hominids existing at the same time as the Australopithecines and some other species of the Homo genus.
•
existing does not fit with the timeline in which at least three hominid groups existed at the same time
• we speak about general truths with present tense verbs such as
are, but because we are talking about a
historical fact, the present participle
existing is confusing.
→ In order fix what seems like "tense hopping,"
existing should be changed to
who existed ELIMINATE D
Quote:
E) Paranthropus are a group of hominids existing at the same time as were the Australopithecines and some other species of the Homo genus.
•
existing does not fit with the timeline in which at least three hominid groups existed at the same time
• we speak about general truths with present tense verbs such as
are, but because we are talking about a
historical fact, the present participle
existing is confusing, especially when set next to "
were the Australopithecines. . .
→ In order fix what seems like "tense hopping,"
existing should be changed to
who existed • what is this "were" word supposed to be doing? What verb is
were drawing upon?
→ no
were existing is present.
-- We cannot repeat an elided verb that never existed in the first place
-- That is, we cannot shorten
were existing to
were because
were existing never showed up in the first place
-- Besides,
were existing is horrible English 99.9 percent of the time and you will never see were existing on the GMAT
ELIMINATE E
Notes→ →
Past perfectPast perfect is often described as "the past of the past."
Event ABC happened in the past.
Before event ABC, event XYZ happened:
← --[XYZ] --->-->-----[ABC] ---->----> now
Event ABC takes simple past verb tense.
Event XYZ takes past perfect verb tense.
→ past perfect construction: HAD + past participle (verbED)
→
Correct: Luckily, I remembered before I drove very far from home that I had forgotten to lock the door.→ We do not use past perfect when simple past tense will suffice.
→ Finally, in order to use past perfect, the sentence must contain at least one event that is rendered in simple past, or a time stamp that marks off a later-in-time event, or a context that does the same thing.
We need a discrete past "marked off in time" in order to talk about what came before that time.
ASKaramveerBakshi , in answer to your question, first
→
As is not always followed by a clause.Role: She went to the Halloween party dressed as Neytiri from Avatar.
Equals: Though we are not related, I think of her as my sister.
Stage: As a teenager, he contracted chicken pox.
→ We can omit verbs and the implied verbs are still "there," as are the clausesOn this point, I am going to quote
Mike McGarry, because he gets away with a lot more snark than I, at least for now:
Quote:
Parallelism: A told B about X at lunch on Monday, and about Y on Wednesday, but on Friday C told A that X and Y are not true.
Is this correct? YES! Is the part “.. and about Y on Wednesday …” a full clause? YES. It is a full clause, properly in parallel, despite the fact that many common words, including the subject and verb of this clause, have been omitted. Don’t look at one little piece of real estate in the sentence and conclude: something’s wrong here, because I don’t see a subject and a verb right here. You always have to look at the whole flow of the sentence, and ask yourself whether words that appear to be missing in the second branch of parallelism are implied by the first branch. Parallelism is a large organizing structure, relating different parts of the sentence to each other. (My emphasis)
KaramveerBakshi , I'm glad that you brought up the issue.
This
as IS followed by a clause. The verb in that clause,
existed, is implied: there, but hidden.
SUGGESTION Parallelism and ellipsis can be challenging.
I suggest that you read two of Mike McGarry's blog posts. Three minutes each. (Okay. I read quickly. Ten minutes each.)
(1) Dropping Common Words in Parallel on the GMAT, which you can find
here, and
(2) Repeating Verb Phrases on the GMAT, which you can find
here.
COMMENTSharrywm ,
daniformic , and
Babineaux , welcome to SC Butler.
As always, I am glad to see everyone.
Random facts:
Today is the
International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples.Today is also National Book Lovers Day in the U.S.
I think yesterday was National Beer Day. I don't like beer. I've tried to like beer.
I do like books. A lot. I don't have to try, either.
So, my nascent bibliophiles, I am going to remind you all yet again:
read. Every day. Find 10 minutes.
Read novels. Read the highbrow stuff, but read books with great stories in them, too.
Love the task.
Or learn to love the task.
Reading? Learning? Perhaps the task even becomes a labor of love.
This SC question?
Labeling (e.g. "pronoun error") is not explanation. Assertion (e.g. "not correct") is not explanation.
Kudos go to those who reasoned well, got the correct answer, or both—and who also explained.
This question is hard. Nicely done.
, for depicting the difference between parallelism and ellipsis.
And the suggestion for Sir Mike McGarry's post.
09 Aug 2020, 05:44
.Oh I see my mistake with that statement that the present tense would have been acceptable,generis! You are absolutely right! Many thanks for that and I'll put up a correction in my post so that it doesn't mislead anyone 
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