V01-37

Official Solution:


The section’s new manager is limited in his effectiveness because he is convinced that, of all the possible methods for monitoring progress, the most effective is to check on his employees every few minutes.


A. the most effective is to check on
B. it is the most effective checking in on
C. the one that is most effective is to check on
D. the most effective method is checking on
E. the most effective one is to check upon


A. After the adjective “effective”, a noun or a pronoun is required. It is sometimes alright to omit a repeated word in a sentence in order to make the sentence concise, but here the required word “method” does not occur anywhere else in the sentence and hence must not be omitted (even though its plural form “methods” occur elsewhere.) Use of the infinitive vs. gerund: in this case gerund is preferred but not incorrect to use infinitive either. On the GMAT, however, Infinitives are preferred to express purpose.

B. The pronoun “it” doesn't have an antecedent. A noun or a pronoun is missing after the adjective “effective”.

C. “The one that is most effective” is unnecessarily wordy - “most effective one” is more concise. Use of the infinitive “to check” is incorrect - gerund “checking” is better as explained in A.

D. CORRECT. After the adjective “effective”, the noun “method” is correctly used. The gerund ”checking” is appropriately used. Infinitive would be OK to use as well with some perhaps arguing gerund is slightly more correct to be used as noun but both could have been acceptable

E. Use of the infinitive “to check” is incorrect - gerund “checking” is better as explained in A. “Check upon” is not idiomatic.


Answer: D
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The question or/and solution has been revised and edited. Thank you sayantanc2k !!!
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You sure!?? Look at the 2% accuracy on the OA.
Experts may opine.
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The OA and the OE are alright. If you do not agree with either of them, please let me know which part you do not agree with and why.

bb Bunuel GMATNinja Souvik karishma
sayantanc2k

Can you explain when to use infinitive (to check) and when to use gerund (checking)?
Why is use of infinite incorrect here?

why is to check wrong? Doesnt the manager check on his employees with an intent

How is "checking" a gerund? "Is checking" is a verb right? Similar to "is limited" and "is convinced"?

How is "checking" a noun here?

bb Bunuel GMATNinja Souvik KarishmaB
sayantanc2k

The answer to your question lies in what does “IS” belong to.

You have decided that it belongs to checking. Have you considered that it may belong to the word method? As in “the most effective method is relaxation” does that make the word relaxation also a verb? Because it has an “is” in front of it?

Not every “IS” is equal.

You can say “He is checking the car.” In that case this is a present progressive and checking is the verb.

But you can also say “the process of checking the car is tedious” it is clearly a gerund.

Or “ the process we agreed on, is checking every car” in this case it is a gerund but it has an “IS” right next to it as a linking verb but not as a verb attached to checking.

I hope it clarifies it. I have to admit I am a tad rusty with all the grammatical terms.

Posted from my mobile device
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Hi. There are some rules for infinitive and gerund as outlined in the GMAT Club Grammar book P107 if you want to learn more about these. But this case is not quite a discussion of Infinitive vs. Gerund as either one could have been used. (Update - I see the explanation actually argued that it had to be gerund - I don't think it is the case, so you are correctly questioning it)

In this case, the options that you have are not gerund vs. infinitive. (see below the answer choices)
We are not comparing is checking on vs. to check on. I think both could be used here.
The mistake is not infinitive used vs. gerund. Both could have been used correctly-enough. You can use Infinitive as a noun and you can use Gerund as a noun. E.g. To take the GMAT requires courage and $300 as an example. In this case "to take" is the subject of the sentence.

The explanation says gerund is used correctly not to mean that there would have been a mistake with infinitive if it were placed in the same situation, but to indicate this is a correct usage. I will change that word in the explanation to "acceptable" so that it does not imply infinitive is incorrect.



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Thank you PalkinGarg. I have updated the explanation. Previously, we have incorrectly indicated that it had to be gerund in this case, which I don't believe is the case. I wonder if other experts disagree.

I feel both could have been used and GMAT won't try to test you on a case where either one could have been used. If there is ever a test of infinitive vs. gerund, it will be fairly clear cut as to why one or the other had to be used such as idiomatic expression or a verb that must be followed by one or the other OR will have other reasons for why a certain choice will be more correct than another.
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I don't think it would be wrong to say "to check". I have changed the explanation to reflect that. There is no change to the question is needed since the other answer choices are clearly incorrect (let me know if you disagree)

Sayantan may over-rule me but I feel you can use both in many cases and they are interchangeable. There may be a grammatical preference but I feel it has to be MORE than just a preference to prove an answer choice incorrect.

P.S. 4 Replies in a row. I think I am spamming
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I think this is a high-quality question and I agree with explanation.
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I think this is a poor-quality question and the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate. Please help guide how to identify V+ing as a gerund or a present continuous action.

I thought choice D presents continuous actions instead of gerund for this case.

I think this is a poor-quality question and I agree with explanation.

Would not it ne a repetition?