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655-705 Level|   Adjectives and Adverbs|   Modifiers|   Modifiers|            
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AndrewN
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 01 Jul 2020, 04:10
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varotkorn
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Since the 1930's aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes with frictionless wings, shaped so smoothly and perfectly that the air passing over them would not become turbulent.

(B) wings, wings so smooth and so perfectly shaped

(C) wings that are shaped so smooth and perfect
Dear AjiteshArun DmitryFarber GMATRockstar GMATGuruNY GMATNinja VeritasPrepHailey MartyTargetTestPrep,

Why is choice C. wrong?

I think the construction in choice C. is very similar to the OA below:

In the traditional Japanese household, most clothing could BE PACKED FLAT, and so elaborate closet facilities were unnecessary.

Since "BE PACKED FLAT" is right, why is "ARE SHAPED SO SMOOTH and PERFECT" wrong?
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Hello, varotkorn. Although I was not named above, I saw your post and felt compelled to help out. I have written a reply on the previous page that explains why shaped + smooth/smoothly will not work. You can read that post here. In short, I think you are focused too much on how a notion is being expressed, rather than on the meaning that is being conveyed.

Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 01 Jul 2020, 21:21
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varotkorn
Dear AjiteshArun DmitryFarber GMATRockstar GMATGuruNY IanStewart GMATNinja VeritasPrepHailey MartyTargetTestPrep,

Why is choice C. wrong?

I think the construction in choice C. is very similar to the OA below:

In the traditional Japanese household, most clothing could BE PACKED FLAT, and so elaborate closet facilities were unnecessary.

Since "BE PACKED FLAT" is right, why is "ARE SHAPED SO SMOOTH and PERFECT" wrong?
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Hi varotkorn,

We should a little careful here: not every verb can be followed by an adjective, and I think that is true for shaped and smooth.

The be packed flat example is fine, but it is not possible to follow shaped with smooth. This is just one of those things in English that we need to watch out for. However, as this is an idiomatic issue, we should wait for more opinions on this.
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 02 Jul 2020, 03:16
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batliwala
Since the 1930's aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes with frictionless wings, shaped so smoothly and perfectly that the air passing over them would not become turbulent.


(A) wings, shaped so smoothly and perfectly

(B) wings, wings so smooth and so perfectly shaped

(C) wings that are shaped so smooth and perfect

(D) wings, shaped in such a smooth and perfect manner

(E) wings, wings having been shaped smoothly and perfectly so


SC58461.01


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https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/11/science/new-plan-wing-design-greatly-cuts-drag-to-save-fuel.html

Since the 1930's aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes with laminar-flow wings, wings so smooth and perfectly shaped that the air passing over them would not become turbulent. The World War II B-24 Liberator bomber and P-51 Mustang fighter had wings designed to maintain laminar flow, but manufacturing imperfections, dents and other inevitable flaws always spoiled laminar flow.
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I understand why B is the right answer, however i have following doubt on this option.
wouldn't the clause after comma become an independent clause when the word "wings" is repeated?
In that case shouldn't the 2 clauses either be separated by a semi colon or by a period or are connected by command followed by coordinating conjunction?

Somebody kindly clarify me on this.
Thank you.
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 02 Jul 2020, 05:44
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omadangopal123

I understand why B is the right answer, however i have following doubt on this option.
wouldn't the clause after comma become an independent clause when the word "wings" is repeated?
In that case shouldn't the 2 clauses either be separated by a semi colon or by a period or are connected by command followed by coordinating conjunction?
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Hi omadangopal123, the portion after the comma is not an independent clause. It is (what's called) a resumptive modifier. You can do a Google search for this term, to know more about it.

The structure is:

Phrase (wings so smooth and so perfectly shaped) + Dependent clause (that the air passing over them would not become turbulent)

Grammatically, such structures function as phrases.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses Clauses, their application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 18 Jul 2020, 22:28
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Sentence Analysis



One ambiguity in the sentence is that it’s not clear what the modifier ‘shaped’ modifies; it can modify either ‘wings’ or ‘airplanes’. Even though I wouldn’t call this a major error in the sentence, it’s indeed a deficiency.

The second issue with the sentence is that both ‘smoothly’ and ‘perfectly’ modify ‘shaped’. It makes much more sense to say that the wings are smooth than to say that the wings are shaped smoothly.

Option Analysis

A. wings, shaped so smoothly and perfectly
Incorrect. For the reasons mentioned above.

B. wings, wings so smooth and so perfectly shaped
Correct. Many people reject this option since “wings, wings” seems unacceptably awkward. However, “wings” after comma begins a Noun+Noun modifier (or an absolute phrase). This Noun+Noun modifier modifies “wings” before the comma. The meaning communicated here is that the wings are smooth and shaped perfectly. Thus, the meaning corrects the second problem of the original sentence.

C. wings that are shaped so smooth and perfect
Incorrect. Both issues present in the original sentence are present in this option as well. This option has an additional deterministic error that the adjectives “smooth” and “perfect” are used to modify the verb-ed modifier “shaped”. We need adverbs (“smoothly” and “perfectly”) to modify a verb-ed modifier.

D. wings, shaped in such a smooth and perfect manner
Incorrect. This option has both issues present in the original sentence.

E. wings, wings having been shaped smoothly and perfectly so
Incorrect. This option repeats the second issue of the original sentence. This option has an additional issue. “Having been shaped” is a perfect participle. Thus, it presents an action that happened earlier than another action. In this context, this means that the action of “shaping” happened before the action of “trying to build”. This is completely illogical.
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 27 Sep 2020, 16:04
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GMATNinja VeritasKarishma

please tell why option A incorrect
and why B correct
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 28 Sep 2020, 23:43
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saby1410
GMATNinja VeritasKarishma

please tell why option A incorrect
and why B correct
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saby1410

Option (A) says that the wings are smoothly shaped and perfectly shaped. Does that make sense? Think about it - what is a smooth shape? The surface of the wing can be smooth or rough but the shape? Even if you assume that they mean smooth edges etc, wouldn't that already be a part of "perfect shape"? Hence, (A) is not correct.

On the other hand, it makes sense that the wings are smooth and perfectly shaped to ensure that the air over them does not become turbulent. Hence (B) is correct.
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 29 Sep 2020, 22:24
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One move the GMAT will make to increase clarity in a sentence is to repeat a noun so that we know exactly what is being modified. As discussed above, "shaped" could be read as modifying airplanes or wings. Repeating the needed noun makes the meaning unambiguous. You can see the same move in this question: https://gmatclub.com/forum/proponents-o ... 17516.html
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 30 Sep 2020, 05:23
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One reason why A is wrong because

Since the 1930's aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes with frictionless wings ----DC
, shaped so smoothly and perfectly that the air passing over them would not become turbulent.--Modifier

The Sentence structure of A is "DC,modifier" in which the long modifier "shaped so smoothly and perfectly that the air passing over them would not become turbulent" is "trying" to modify wings. Although the usage of this modifier is ambiguous as it can modify both airplanes or wings. Now, even if we consider the modifier is modifying the closest noun i.e. wings (which is also more logical), the "DC,modifier" is not a complete sentence.

Since 1930's aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes with wings, (some description about wings)..... where is the rest of the story?

In Option B, even though the noun was repeated, the sentence structure is more clear and concise. (DC,IC)
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 30 Sep 2020, 05:31
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AntrikshR
Since the 1930's aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes with frictionless wings ----DC
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Hi Antriksh, this is actually an Independent clause.
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 30 Sep 2020, 08:02
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EducationAisle
AntrikshR
Since the 1930's aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes with frictionless wings ----DC
Hi Antriksh, this is actually an Independent clause.
Show more

Thanks Sir. I understand it now. Somehow, when I read this sentence for the first time, it occurred to me as an incomplete thought therefore I was considering it as DC. I understand now that it's actually an IC.

Since the 1930's-----------Modifier modifying 'have tried'
aircraft manufacturers -------Noun
have tried ---------------------Verb
to build airplanes with frictionless wings ----infinitive/prepositional phrase
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over all IC as it is giving a complete thought that "since 1930s aircraft manufacturers tried to build the airplanes with friction less wings".

, shaped so smoothly and perfectly ---Ambiguous Modifier (wings/airplanes)
that the air passing over them would not become turbulent.(DC)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over all a big modifier that is basically trying to modify Wings/Airplanes.

Overall structure "IC,verb-ed modifier".

Please correct me if I am wrong.
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 31 Oct 2020, 08:17
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Would D be correct if there was no comma?
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 31 Oct 2020, 09:11
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AntrikshR
Overall structure "IC,verb-ed modifier".

Please correct me if I am wrong.
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Yep..that's correct; by "verb-ed modifier", I am assuming you are referring to the past participial phrase (shaped so smoothly...).
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 31 Oct 2020, 09:15
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zerotoone
Would D be correct if there was no comma?
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Not sure if you read the entire thread. Meaning-wise, the issue with option D is similar to the issue with option A: these options basically state that wings are shaped in a smooth manner.

This is not very logical. Wings can be shaped in a perfect manner, but smooth is more a characteristic of the surface (and not of the shape).
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 25 Feb 2021, 07:59
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GMATNinja
Can you please provide explanation for this question. I was confused between B and C.
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 26 Feb 2021, 20:47
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Can you please provide explanation for this question. I was confused between B and C.
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Let's compare (B) and (C):

Check out the noun modifier in (C): "... that are shaped so smooth and perfect..." - does this modify "wings" or "airplanes"? Notice that it could technically modifier either one. (If you're wondering why it can modifier "airplanes," check out this article, particularly usage #4.

In (B), we don't have that ambiguity. The word "wings" is repeated, so we know without a doubt that "so smooth and so perfectly shaped" modifies "wings". That gives us one solid vote in favor of (B) over (C).

Also, "so smooth and perfect..." is trying to give us more information about how the wings are shaped -- so we'd actually want to use adverbs here (i.e. "smoothly and perfectly"), not adjectives ("smooth and perfect").

Lastly, notice that in (B), the wings are "so smooth," but in (C), the wings are "shaped so smooth..." -- what exactly does it mean to be "shaped so smooth(ly)"? Aren't we just trying to say that the wings are smooth? This is a minor point, but the modifier is more direct and clear in (B).

That gives you enough reason to pick (B) over (C)!
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 30 Aug 2021, 09:24
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A- So smoothly and perfectly: so perfectly May be correct
B- S smooth and so — shaped followed by that – seems good
C- Same error like In A
D- B looks more convincing than F
E- Having been – wrong

Posted from my mobile device
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 09 Sep 2021, 00:55
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So use of that and which is correct if we want to modify a noun with prepostional phrases and ver-ed modifier doesnt have this flexiblity ?am i right?

That is correct.

Follow the links below, very helpful in clearing the doubts in discussion here. It is better to understand the concept clearly than simply remember grammar rules

https://gmatclub.com/forum/usage-of-that ... 50338.html

https://gmatclub.com/forum/noun-modifier ... 35868.html

https://gmatclub.com/forum/verb-ed-modif ... 25611.html

Hope I was of help

Cheers
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One can also refer to Gmatclub Grammer book for this ?
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 04 Oct 2022, 09:11
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Dear experts,

I can eliminate A C D and E but I am wondering that double so in C is acceptable :
"so smooth and so perfectly shaped that.. "
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Since the 1930s aircraft manufacturers have tried to build airplanes 08 Jan 2023, 11:26
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Tanchat
Dear experts,

I can eliminate A C D and E but I am wondering that double so in C is acceptable :
"so smooth and so perfectly shaped that.. "
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Presumably you're asking about the double "so" in choice (B)... and since that's our OA, we know it must be acceptable!

It's no problem to add the second "so" for emphasis. For example:

    "The fudge was so rich and so creamy that it melted in my mouth." :-P

Is the second "so" necessary? No. But it adds emphasis and makes it clear that we want to apply a "so" to both of the modifiers.

I hope that helps!
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