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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 20 Sep 2021, 00:23
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ArindamLucky
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Hey @e-gmat, can you explain two things here please:

1) Use of of being and for being
2) Option E violates that that parallelism.



Hello AyeeshaJ,
Sincere apologies for the late revert.

1) It is not about the phrase of being and for being. The phrases that we need to consider are reputation of and reputation for. Now, the usage of being is correct in the sentence because it has been used as a verb-ing noun word.


2) There is no parallelism violation in Choice E with the omission of that before the verb had. The subject the mansion has two verbs - contained and had. These two verbs are properly connected by the connector and. The parallelism is maintained here.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha


Can we say that the usage of ,that is wrong and eliminate the options?
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Egmat, Could you advise on the option D.
I uderstand in terms of sentence structure . OPtion D is wrong but few posts question the Pronoun " IT" also as an error.
My query, IT can refer to story or Mansion. But it doesnot make sense if replace IT with story thus pronoun IT must refer to only mansion thus IT is not error here.
IS my understanding right?
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 20 Sep 2021, 20:32
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Correct option E

Preposition always follow Noun, Gerund, and Pronoun
Preposition "For" - to talk about a purpose or a reason for something
Preposition "of" - when we want to show that people or things relate to other things or people
this makes reputation for being - all wrong usage of preposition and can eliminated A,C ,and D

Eliminated:
A. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house
C. mansion, that the mansion contained thirteen rooms, and said that it had a reputation for being haunted
D. mansion, said that it contained thirteen rooms and had a reputation for being a haunted house

Remaining B, redundancy with pronoun "it" and "that"
Two "it" creates ambiguity, refer to which Noun - Newspaper, Mansion, or the rooms
B. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation of being haunted

E Gives , clear message of the sentence:
The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial mansion and said that the mansion contained thirteen rooms and had the reputation of being haunted
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 22 Sep 2021, 17:38
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vickytvn
Egmat, Could you advise on the option D.
I uderstand in terms of sentence structure . OPtion D is wrong but few posts question the Pronoun " IT" also as an error.
My query, IT can refer to story or Mansion. But it doesnot make sense if replace IT with story thus pronoun IT must refer to only mansion thus IT is not error here.
IS my understanding right?
Show more

Hi, friend!

I also wrongly choose D but now it is clear for me that E is the correct answer.

In D I really do not think that "it" has a pronoun-reference problem, I agree with you that "it" must refer only to "mansion" to make sense.

The problem in D is that considering the pronoun "it" as "mansion" you are starting a new and-list with the verbs "contained" and "had", but what about the verb "said" preceding "it"? You can not separate the previous verbs "recounted" and "said" with a comma, they also require an and-list and E makes things right.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Cheers!
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 15 Nov 2021, 10:56
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can we eliminate A, B, C for the usage of ', that '

As we know 'that' is not followed by a comma only 'which' is.
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 17 Nov 2021, 04:46
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Vibha6
can we eliminate A, B, C for the usage of ', that '

As we know 'that' is not followed by a comma only 'which' is.
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Hello Vibha6,

We hope this finds you well.

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

In this case, A, B, and C can indeed be eliminated for the incorrect use of "comma + that" construction.

However, "comma + that" is not incorrect in all circumstances. In rare cases, "that" can be preceded by a comma, and in these cases, "that" does not refer to the noun/phrase immediately before the comma; rather, it refers to the noun/phrase immediately before a preceding comma.

To understand the concept of the rare case when "That" is preceded by "Comma", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 18 Nov 2021, 16:40
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Vibha6
can we eliminate A, B, C for the usage of ', that '

As we know 'that' is not followed by a comma only 'which' is.
Show more
SC Cardinal Rule #1: Do not invent rules. :)

It's true that when we use "that" to introduce a restrictive modifier, we normally wouldn't put a comma before it. For instance:

    "The dog that relieved itself on Tim's leg is actually quite adorable."

Here, it wouldn't make any sense to put a comma before "that."

But it's not hard to come up with a scenario in which you might need a comma before "that." Here, have another example:

    "Tim believes that his children are hungry, that he should feed them, and that it would be easier to call for pizza than to whip up a casserole.

In this case, you have a list of three parallel elements, all clauses beginning with "that," so it's appropriate to separate these elements with commas.

The most glaring problem with (A), (B), and (C), is faulty parallelism. The last two elements of the list are "that" clauses, but the first element seems to be the verb "recounted." You could have three parallel verbs. You could have three parallel "that" clauses. But one verb and two "that" clauses? Not parallel. So (A), (B), and (C) are out.

The takeaway: it is theoretically possible to have a comma before "that," so if you see this construction, make sure to consider context rather than simply eliminating the answer choice.

I hope that clears things up!
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 05 Jan 2022, 11:32
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DmitryFarber
ArindamLucky

Yes, we can! None of the "that" phrases in A-D are parallel with the rest of the structure.
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DmitryFarber GMATNinja is answer choice (D) a run-on sentence? If there was a comma before "and had a reputation" would it be right? Or the meaning of the sentence would still be wrong?

Thank you! :)
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 08 Jan 2022, 09:06
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Will2020
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ArindamLucky

Yes, we can! None of the "that" phrases in A-D are parallel with the rest of the structure.

DmitryFarber GMATNinja is answer choice (D) a run-on sentence? If there was a comma before "and had a reputation" would it be right? Or the meaning of the sentence would still be wrong?

Thank you! :)
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If we put a comma before "and had a reputation," we would seemingly have a parallel list of verbs sharing the same subject ("newspaper story"):

    "The newspaper story...
      1) accurately recounted the history of the colonial mansion,
      2) said that it contained thirteen rooms,
      3) and had a reputation for being a haunted house."

Of course that doesn't make any sense: the newspaper story didn't have a reputation for being a haunted house! Even without the added comma, the lack of an "and" before "said" in choice (D) makes the reader think we are getting a parallel list of verbs that should be tied back to the same subject ("newspaper story").

The "and" before "said" in choice (E) makes the logical interpretation more clear:

    "The newspaper story...
      1) accurately recounted the history of the colonial mansion
      2) and said that the mansion...
        a) contained thirteen rooms
        b) and had the reputation of being haunted."

Also, the "it" in choice (D) is a little ambiguous. That's not a deal-breaker, but (E) avoids that problem entirely. Also, the use of "for" in choice (D) isn't ideal. To help understand why, consider this example:

    "Tim has a reputation for being a real jerk."

This implies that Tim actively acts like a jerk when he interacts with people. Of course, Tim isn't ALWAYS being a real jerk. Sometimes he's just eating or sleeping or watching the Knicks play mediocre basketball. Being a real jerk is something that Tim actively does in certain situations, and presumably he could decide to STOP being a jerk, if he were so inclined. (Also, maybe he'd be nicer if the Knicks could actually win a playoff series?)

Similarly, the "for" in choice (D) seems to suggest that "being a haunted house" is something that the mansion does actively or consciously -- as if the mansion could decide to STOP being a haunted house. On the other hand, the "of" in choice (E) more accurately suggests that "being a haunted house" is a passive characteristic, not something the house can theoretically turn on and off.

That's probably not enough reason to say that the "for" is flat-out WRONG in choice (D), but it's one last small vote in favor of (E).

I hope that helps!
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 14 Jan 2022, 11:01
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BillyZ
The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house.
A. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house
B. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation of being haunted
C. mansion, that the mansion contained thirteen rooms, and said that it had a reputation for being haunted
D. mansion, said that it contained thirteen rooms and had a reputation for being a haunted house
E. mansion and said that the mansion contained thirteen rooms and had the reputation of being haunted
Show more

I chose D - i have not read any posts

Reason -- the blue and the purple have to 'describe' / give more information HOW the newspaper story did what it did.

Below is the skeleton structure of A / B / C and E

Quote:
A - x, y, and z
B - x, y, and z
C - x, y, and z
D - x, y and z
E - x and y and z
Show more


IN A / B / C and E -- per my understanding of the skeleton structure --
y and z are independent of x [i.e. y and z DONT DESCRIBE X]

Only in D -- based on the skeleton structure -- does Y and Z 'describe' / give more information about the sentence before (x)
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 19 Jan 2022, 18:05
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jabhatta2

IN A / B / C and E -- per my understanding of the skeleton structure --
y and z are independent of x [i.e. y and z DONT DESCRIBE X]

Only in D -- based on the skeleton structure -- does Y and Z 'describe' / give more information about the sentence before (x)
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jabhatta2 do you want to type up a fresh analysis to test your learnings from our session?
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 16 Feb 2022, 01:49
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial mansion and said that the mansion contained thirteen rooms and had the reputation of being haunted

Option E has a part: said that the mansion contained thirteen rooms and had the reputation of being haunted

contained is the verb ed modifier for mansion and the after "and", we have "had the reputation", which has a verb. Can these two parts be connected by and. Logically, this makes sense, but can a modifier and verb form be connected in this manner
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 17 Feb 2022, 00:03
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Eshangupta1211

Option E has a part: said that the mansion contained thirteen rooms and had the reputation of being haunted

contained is the verb ed modifier for mansion and the after "and", we have "had the reputation", which has a verb. Can these two parts be connected by and. Logically, this makes sense, but can a modifier and verb form be connected in this manner
Show more
Hi Eshan, "contained" is used as a verb here and not as a past participle.

Hence, contained is grammatically parallel to the verb had.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses how to differentiate between "Simple Past Tense verbs" and "Past Participles". If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 17 Feb 2022, 05:37
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Eshangupta1211
The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial mansion and said that the mansion contained thirteen rooms and had the reputation of being haunted

Option E has a part: said that the mansion contained thirteen rooms and had the reputation of being haunted

contained is the verb ed modifier for mansion and the after "and", we have "had the reputation", which has a verb. Can these two parts be connected by and. Logically, this makes sense, but can a modifier and verb form be connected in this manner
Show more

Hello Eshangupta1211,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in this sentence "contained" actually serves as an active verb, so there is no parallelism issue between it and "had".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 28 Jun 2022, 10:03
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BillyZ
The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house.
A. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house
B. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation of being haunted
Show more

Hi GMATNinja DmitryFarber EducationAisleIanStewart AjiteshArun - quick question on (A) and (B).

Can the blue and the pink modifiers refer to the noun - mansions ?

I thought the blue and the pink, written as is, refer back to the noun "mansions"

Is that grammatically not possible ?
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 28 Jun 2022, 23:06
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BillyZ
The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house.
A. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house
B. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation of being haunted
- quick question on (A) and (B).

Can the blue and the pink modifiers refer to the noun - mansions ?

I thought the blue and the pink, written as is, refer back to the noun "mansions"

Is that grammatically not possible ?
Show more
No. For "that" to refer to "mansion", the sentence should have been:

.....the colonial mansion that it contained thirteen rooms and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house.
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 29 Jun 2022, 06:40
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BillyZ
The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house.
A. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house
B. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation of being haunted
- quick question on (A) and (B).

Can the blue and the pink modifiers refer to the noun - mansions ?

I thought the blue and the pink, written as is, refer back to the noun "mansions"

Is that grammatically not possible ?
No. For "that" to refer to "mansion", the sentence should have been:

.....the colonial mansion that it contained thirteen rooms and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house.
Show more

Thx EducationAisle - you dropped the "it"

Is it incorrect because "that contained thirteen rooms " is a relative pronoun - so the "That" already stands for the noun.

Hence "that it contained thirteen rooms " - would be double counting the subject, because the "That" already stands for colonial mansion
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 29 Jun 2022, 08:41
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jabhatta2
Is it incorrect because "that contained thirteen rooms " is a relative pronoun - so the "That" already stands for the noun.

Hence "that it contained thirteen rooms " - would be double counting the subject, because the "That" already stands for colonial mansion
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That's correct.

Also, when used as a relative pronoun, "that" is an essential modifier and so, there should not be any comma before that.
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 30 Jul 2022, 09:40
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EMPOWERgmatVerbal
Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house.

A. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house
B. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation of being haunted
C. mansion, that the mansion contained thirteen rooms, and said that it had a reputation for being haunted
D. mansion, said that it contained thirteen rooms and had a reputation for being a haunted house
E. mansion and said that the mansion contained thirteen rooms and had the reputation of being haunted

After a quick glance over the options, we have a few places we can focus on to narrow down our choices:

1. that it / that the mansion (pronouns & meaning)
2. that it had / said that it had / had (pronouns & parallelism)
3. for being / of being (idioms)

Let's start with #3 on our list because it's an "either/or" split. While it may seem like the phrases "had a reputation of" and "had a reputation for" are interchangeable, they are not. Deciding which one you use has to do with what comes after it:

had a reputation of X = X needs to be a verb phrase
He had a reputation of being late to class every Wednesday.
My dog has a reputation of going to the door every time I get home from work.

had a reputation for Y = Y needs to be a noun
He had a reputation for procrastination.
My cat has a reputation for nastiness.

Let's see how our options tackle this:

A. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation for being a haunted house
B. mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation of being haunted
C. mansion, that the mansion contained thirteen rooms, and said that it had a reputation for being haunted
D. mansion, said that it contained thirteen rooms and had a reputation for being a haunted house
E. mansion and said that the mansion contained thirteen rooms and had the reputation of being haunted

We can eliminate options A, C, & D because "had a reputation for being" is not idiomatically correct. Now that we have it narrowed down to only 2 options, let's focus on the other items on the list. To make problems easier to spot, let's add in the non-underlined part also:

B. The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial mansion, that it contained thirteen rooms, and that it had a reputation of being haunted

This is INCORRECT because the structure of it is all wrong. It turns this into a giant list, where each item is attributed back to the verb "recounted." The newspaper didn't recount the number of rooms or the haunted reputation - it only recounted the history of the mansion. It also SAYS that the mansion has 13 rooms and might be haunted, but that's not part of the recounting. The pronouns "it" in each phrase are also problematic - it's not 100% clear if "it" is referring back to the mansion or the story??

E. The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial mansion and said that the mansion contained thirteen rooms and had the reputation of being haunted

This is CORRECT. It eliminates the vague "it" pronouns entirely, and it also clears up the "recounted" parts from the "said" parts.

There you have it - option E is our correct choice! By starting with the "either/or" split, we could eliminate 2-3 options right away, giving us more time to focus on the more intricate differences.


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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EMPOWERgmatVerbal

Can you please help me understand, how to identify that "it" in option B is wrong referring to recounted. When I was attempting this question, I understood "it" as referring to "mansion".
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 29 Nov 2022, 09:24
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Hello!

In option E is there an issue with with the two "and". Is a comma not required?

Also, in a case with two separate ands do we need to check for parallelism?

Thanks
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The newspaper story accurately recounted the history of the colonial 29 Nov 2022, 20:37
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Hi experts

I eliminated A,B and C because IMO that refers to mansion (its preceding noun). Is this correct reason for eliminating these choices. What is the function of that here is it a modifier or a connector?

Thanks for your help.
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