The fact is, if youve bought a used car or truck lately,

Question

The fact is,  if you’ve bought a used car or truck lately , there is about a one in five chance that you’re a victim of odometer fraud.
 
 1)if you’ve bought a used car or truck lately
2)lately if you’ve bought a used car or truck
3)that if you’ve bought a car or truck that is used lately
4)if you bought a car or truck that was used lately
5)that if you’ve bought a used car or truck of late

rlevochkin · Answer

+ 1 for D.

Corrects the intended meaning.

NewSc2 · Answer

I think A. Even new cars have been used lately -- they had to have been driven off the lot. The author wants to point the statement only towards used cars and used trucks (i.e. pre-owned).

anish319 · Answer

A is the only choice that makes sense. used car or truck is what the author is pointing out.

Dreamy · Answer

A it shoud be

3 and 4 changes the meaning from used car to car that is used lately
5 - that is not needed.

psychomath · Answer

A is the correct usage of lately here!

admad10 · Answer

its clear A... sentence shud never change the intented meaning and D does just that...
usage of 'that' is not required makes it wordy else E wud have been right...

but here its clear A

geturdream · Answer

here lately is an adverb which is modifying the verb bought. 
used is an adjective which is modifying the noun car

so eliminate C and D as lately is modifying the verb used
In B lately is not modifying anything
E also awkward.

In A , lately is modifying bought and used is modifying car So A is correct

tingle15 · Answer

I believe the author wants to say that "if you have bought a used car recently..." and only A conveys the intended meaning.

Hence A.

dixitraghav · Answer

right ..
the OA is A

shrouded1 · Answer

Is (b) grammatically incorrect ? Or is it that between two grammatically correct sentences one should choose (a) as a preference keeping it unchanged ?

Posted from my mobile device

gauravnagpal · Answer

B seems very awkward.... A looks correct

TommyWallach · Answer

Hey All,

I got asked by PM to take this one on and explain what's wrong with D. I'll do the whole shebang.

The fact is, if you’ve bought a used car or truck lately, there is about a one in five chance that you’re a victim of odometer fraud.

1)if you’ve bought a used car or truck lately
ANSWER

2)lately if you’ve bought a used car or truck
PROBLEM: You can't put the adverb "lately" before the verb. It doesn't make any sense. Try other examples, "Quickly I ran to the store." "Slightly I liked the movie." "Beautifully she put on the dress." We simply don't do this in English. Adverbs modifying verbs have to come AFTER the verb.

3)that if you’ve bought a car or truck that is used lately
PROBLEM: First, you can't have "that" after a comma. Also, "lately" is now modifying "is used," which wasn't the point. "Lately" should be modifying "bought."

4)if you bought a car or truck that was used lately
PROBLEM: Same as C above on the "lately" issue.

5)that if you’ve bought a used car or truck of late 
PROBLEM: "That" issue. Believe it or not, "of late" is actually okay (it means "recently").

Hope that helps!

-t

The fact is, if youve bought a used car or truck lately,

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