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605-655 Level|   Idioms/Diction/Redundancy|   Pronouns|   Verb Tense/Form|                  
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EducationAisle
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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment offi 28 Nov 2022, 20:19
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PriyamRathor

Please help me understand the meaning of the below sentences:-
1/ Some countries have begun to tackle the issue
2/Some countries have began to tackle the issue
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It does appear that you correctly realized that "present perfect" tense should be used in this sentence. :thumbsup:

Present perfect tense has the following structure:

Have/has + Past Participle

The Simple Past tense of the verb 'begin' is began, while the Past Participle is begun. Hence, have begun is the correct usage.

There are verbs (called regular verbs) for which 'simple past tense' and 'past participle' forms are the same form. For example: for the verb 'laugh', both the simple past tense and past participle are laughed. It might be worthwhile to note that for almost all regular verbs, their 'simple past tense' and 'past participle' forms end in a '-ed'.

But for other verbs (called irregular verbs), the 'simple past tense' and 'past participle' are different. For example, for the verb 'see', Simple Past tense is saw, while the Past Participle is seen.

'begin' is an irregular verb.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses regular and irregular verbs. Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference.
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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment offi 02 Dec 2022, 08:26
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egmat
Hi Team, We have covered in the modules that allow is subjunctive therefore I chose C. Can you please help me figure out why D is better than C ?

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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment offi 18 Apr 2023, 18:10
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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment officers' fees to be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations began paying their investment advisers a small basic fee, with a contract promising higher fees if the managers perform well.


(A) investment officers' fees to be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations began

(B) investment officers' fees to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations began

(C) that fees of investment officers be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations have begun

(D) fees of investment officers to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations have begun

(E) that investment officers' fees be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations began


Unsure why D is the correct answer here. Isn't "of investment officers" simply modifying fees? In which case the noun would be singular. So how can "they" be refer back to a singular noun? Same way we consider "number of chirps" as a singular noun. Why do we ignore what comes before investments officers in this case, since investment officers is only supposed to be modifying something else here?
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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment offi 18 Apr 2023, 19:42
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Ishatyagi100
Unsure why D is the correct answer here. Isn't "of investment officers" simply modifying fees? In which case the noun would be singular. So how can "they" be refer back to a singular noun? Same way we consider "number of chirps" as a singular noun. Why do we ignore what comes before investments officers in this case, since investment officers is only supposed to be modifying something else here?
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What you are referring to, is only applicable for "subject-verb agreement" Isha.

For example:

Fees of investment officers is high.

Here however, we are talking about a different topic: pronoun antecedent (whether they can refer to investment officers, which appears as part of prepositional phrase "of investment officers").

There is really nothing that prevents Pronouns from referring to nouns inside of prepositional phrases.
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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment offi 18 Apr 2023, 22:31
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Unsure why D is the correct answer here. Isn't "of investment officers" simply modifying fees? In which case the noun would be singular. So how can "they" be refer back to a singular noun? Same way we consider "number of chirps" as a singular noun. Why do we ignore what comes before investments officers in this case, since investment officers is only supposed to be modifying something else here?
What you are referring to, is only applicable for "subject-verb agreement" Isha.

For example:

Fees of investment officers is high.

Here however, we are talking about a different topic: pronoun antecedent (whether they can refer to investment officers, which appears as part of prepositional phrase "of investment officers").

There is really nothing that prevents Pronouns from referring to nouns inside of prepositional phrases.
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By that logic, the correct answer D in the following question:

In some species of cricket, the number of chirps per minute used by the male "for attracting females rise and fall in accordance with the surrounding temperature, and they can in fact serve" as an approximate thermometer.
(A) for attracting females rise and fall in accordance with the surrounding temperature, and they can in fact serve
(B) for attracting females rises and falls in accordance with the surrounding temperature, which can in fact serve
(C) in attracting females rise and fall in accordance with the surrounding temperature, in fact possibly serving
(D) to attract females rises and falls in accordance with the surrounding temperature, and it can in fact serve
(E) to attract females rises and falls in accordance with the surrounding temperature, in fact possibly serving

, would still be correct if we replaced "it" with "they"?
So can the pronoun match in number with both the prepositional phrase as a whole or only part of it depending on what makes sense?
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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment offi 18 Apr 2023, 23:05
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Ishatyagi100
By that logic, the correct answer D in the following question:

In some species of cricket, the number of chirps per minute used by the male "for attracting females rise and fall in accordance with the surrounding temperature, and they can in fact serve" as an approximate thermometer.
(A) for attracting females rise and fall in accordance with the surrounding temperature, and they can in fact serve
(B) for attracting females rises and falls in accordance with the surrounding temperature, which can in fact serve
(C) in attracting females rise and fall in accordance with the surrounding temperature, in fact possibly serving
(D) to attract females rises and falls in accordance with the surrounding temperature, and it can in fact serve
(E) to attract females rises and falls in accordance with the surrounding temperature, in fact possibly serving

, would still be correct if we replaced "it" with "they"?
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Not at all! What can in fact serve as an approximate thermometer?

Answer: the number of chirps per minute.

So, the usage of "it" (to refer to the "number") is correct. "They" cannot refer to "the number" ("they" can only refer to plural entities, while "the number" is singular).

Pronouns referring to nouns in a prepositional phrase is a really common phenomenon Isha.

For example:

Peter spent the evening with a group of Professors who teach at Harvard.

The relative pronoun who refers to "Professors" (which is inside of prepositional phrase "of Professors").
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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment offi 19 Apr 2023, 15:33
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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment officers' fees to be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations began paying their investment advisers a small basic fee, with a contract promising higher fees if the managers perform well.


(A) investment officers' fees to be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations began

(B) investment officers' fees to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations began

(C) that fees of investment officers be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations have begun

(D) fees of investment officers to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations have begun

(E) that investment officers' fees be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations began
Show more

How to solve this question in 30 seconds? Well, here's a way (not the shortcut!):
1. Whenever "Since" is used in regard to time, it always requires perfect tense. Why? Because "since" indicates that some action started in the past, but its effect is continuing in the present. Therefore, options where perfect tense is not used can be eliminated - (A), (B), and (E) are eliminated
2. The correct idiom is "allow to" not "allow that" - this is again one of the frequently tested subjunctive verbs. Therefore, (C) is eliminated.

Therefore, the correct answer is (D)!
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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment offi 24 Apr 2023, 09:38
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option C was not the correct choice because of the sentence formation is passive, and hence it is awkward. But is there any other reason to eliminate this option ?
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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment offi 24 Apr 2023, 09:50
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option C was not the correct choice because of the sentence formation is passive, and hence it is awkward. But is there any other reason to eliminate this option ?
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Notice that "to be based" in the correct answer is passive as well. So, the use of the passive voice is not what makes choice (C) incorrect.

What makes (C) incorrect is that "that fees of investment officers be based on how the funds they manage perform" is an idea. We can tell because a noun clause that begins with "that" states a fact or idea.

Thus, "the Department of Labor began to allow that fees of investment officers be based on how the funds they manage perform" conveys that the Department of Labor began to allow an idea. Since that meaning is nonsensical, (C) is incorrect.
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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment offi 19 Jul 2023, 00:02
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(D) fees of investment officers to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations have begun
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Sure, this looks better: "allow fees... to be based." Much cleaner than the same part of (C). So we can keep (D).



Hi GMATNinja,

Below is the correct sentence as per the OG. But just wanted to understand why simple present ''they manage'' has been used for an action completed in past? Shouldn't it be ''They managed''?
I believe, since, when the Department of Labor began to allow investment officers' fees to be based on how the funds they manage perform is modifying ''1986'', it should be ''They managed''. Please guide :please:

''Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow fees of investment officers to be based on the performance of the funds ''they manage'', several corporations have begun paying their investment advisers a small basic fee, with a contract promising higher fees if the managers perform well''


Thanks
ASHUTOSH
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Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment offi 22 Jul 2023, 07:03
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Quote:
fees of investment officers to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations have begun

Sure, this looks better: "allow fees... to be based." Much cleaner than the same part of (C). So we can keep (D).

Hi GMATNinja,

Below is the correct sentence as per the OG. But just wanted to understand why simple present ''they manage'' has been used for an action completed in past? Shouldn't it be ''They managed''?

I believe, since, when the Department of Labor began to allow investment officers' fees to be based on how the funds they manage perform is modifying ''1986'', it should be ''They managed''. Please guide :please:

''Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow fees of investment officers to be based on the performance of the funds ''they manage'', several corporations have begun paying their investment advisers a small basic fee, with a contract promising higher fees if the managers perform well''

Thanks

ASHUTOSH
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Let's think about the timeline. In 1986, something about the fees -- the ones charged by investment officers -- changed.

This implies that the investment officers were managing funds and charging fees both before and after the change. The only difference now is that they can base the fees on the performance of the funds they manage. Writing "they managed" would make it sound as if the investment officers are no longer managing funds and thus no longer earning fees, and that wouldn't make sense.

In this case, the phrase "they manage" refers to an ongoing action. It's a bit like saying, "the apartment [that] Tim lives in" -- present tense is fine, even though he started living in the apartment at some time in the past.

Also, note that using present perfect (i.e. "they have managed") would illogically imply that they were NOT managing funds before the 1986 change, and that wouldn't make sense either.

The tenses are definitely a bit confusing here, so your question is a good one!
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