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605-655 Level|   Modifiers|   Parallelism|                                 
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TheUltimateWinner
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 14 Nov 2022, 14:17
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AjiteshArun
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Hi,

Isn't Option D supposed to have a comma after 'Jazz pianist and composer' as it describes Thelonious Monk.
Hi Ayushpandiya,

It depends on how important that information is. For example:

1. Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed that... ← This is fine.

If we feel that the Prime Minister bit is not really important, we could introduce a comma, but then we'd have to add an article as well:
1a. A Prime Minister, Boris Johnson claimed that... ← Change in meaning.
1b. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson claimed that... ← This one is not correct.

Similarly, if we wanted a comma in the correct option, we'd have to go with a "A jazz pianist and composer, TM..." and not "Jazz pianist and composer, TM". However, the more important point here is that, like (1), option D is perfectly fine the way it is.
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AjiteshArun, this is the very powerful info in this thread, maybe. kudos to you, brother.
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 14 Nov 2022, 14:24
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arun@crackverbal
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A. Thelonious Monk (noun), who was a jazz pianist and composer (appositive modifying the preceding noun), produced a body of work both (we don’t require “both” this because we have a singular body of work) rooted

The reasoning is correct but a few corrections:

1) "who was a jazz pianist and composer" is a relative clause and not an appositive
2) "both" is wrong because the correlative conjunction then must be "both X and Y" (explained below)

gurudabl

B. Thelonious Monk (noun), the jazz pianist and composer (appositive modifying the preceding noun), produced a body of work that was rooted both (“both” is used here for “the stride-piano tradition of Willie (The Lion) Smith and Duke Ellington”) How can this option be wrong?

Both can be used in the following ways:

Both Ram and Shyam played cricket.

Here, "both" is attaching itself to the nouns X = Ram and Y = Shyam. At the core, this is really the rule being tested.

Now, in this option, we have a word "both" that has to attach/apply itself to some nouns or noun phrases.

Both X=(rooted in the stride-piano tradition of Willie (The Lion) Smith)) and Y=(Duke Ellington)) --> X & Y don't match hence wrong

Rooted in both X=(the stride-piano tradition of Willie (The Lion) Smith) and Y=(Duke Ellington) --> X & Y don't match hence wrong

Rooted in the stride-piano tradition of both X=(Willie (The Lion) Smith)) and Y=(Duke Ellington) --> X & Y match hence okay but redundant

In short - the word "both" doesn't make sense here. So we can take off the options which attempt to create that structure.

In general, correlative conjunctions are the easiest (if you know how) to eliminate - so ensure you understand the mechanics.

gurudabl


C. Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, who produced a body of work rooted
D. Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted (Official answer)
E. Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk produced a body of work rooted both
I directly eliminated options C, D and E because the starting sentence “Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk” implied to me that “Jazz pianist” and “composer Thelonious Monk” are actually two different people.

Okay so to understand this better, let me use an analogy:

Chairman and Managing Director, Mr.Mukesh Ambani produced a great result for his shareholders.

What is wrong with this sentence? Nothing!

So I think one thing we need to be very wary of is using rules that we are not sure about. Always use a bigger juicer grammatical reason to eliminate.

For example, C is a sentence fragment as there is no predicate for the subject Thelonious Monk.

Hope this helps,
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Hello arun@crackverbal,
According to Mr AjiteshArun's above post it seems that we need an 'article' before ''Chairman and Managing Director''! Am i missing anything here?
Can you clarify a little bit, please?
Appreciating your help.
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 15 Nov 2022, 05:09
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In D, don't we need a comma after "Jazz pianist and composer" and before "Thelonious Monk", othewise it would look like two subjects, Jazz pianist ( 1st subject) and composer Thelonious Monk (2nd subject)
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 16 Nov 2022, 05:02
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jim441
In D, don't we need a comma after "Jazz pianist and composer" and before "Thelonious Monk", othewise it would look like two subjects, Jazz pianist ( 1st subject) and composer Thelonious Monk (2nd subject)
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Hello jim441,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, for "Jazz Pianist" to even ambiguously refer to a separate person, it would need to be preceded by an article such as "a" or "the"; as the sentence is structured, "Jazz pianist" and "composer" are clearly modifiers acting upon "Thelonious Monk".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 16 Nov 2022, 05:55
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Quote:
Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body of work both rooted in the stride-piano tradition of Willie (The Lion) Smith and Duke Ellington, yet in many ways he stood apart from the mainstream jazz repertory.

(A) Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body of work both rooted
(B) Thelonious Monk, the jazz pianist and composer, produced a body of work that was rooted both
(C) Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, who produced a body of work rooted
(D) Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted
(E) Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk produced a body of work rooted both
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Hi Experts,
What if the choice B is written with following format?
(B) The jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted both
Thanks__
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 17 Nov 2022, 04:33
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Quote:
Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body of work both rooted in the stride-piano tradition of Willie (The Lion) Smith and Duke Ellington, yet in many ways he stood apart from the mainstream jazz repertory.

(A) Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body of work both rooted
(B) Thelonious Monk, the jazz pianist and composer, produced a body of work that was rooted both
(C) Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, who produced a body of work rooted
(D) Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted
(E) Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk produced a body of work rooted both
Hi Experts,
What if the choice B is written with following format?
(B) The jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted both
Thanks__
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Hello TheUltimateWinner,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, your edited version of B is correct, though a bit awkward.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 17 Nov 2022, 09:50
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Quote:
Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body of work both rooted in the stride-piano tradition of Willie (The Lion) Smith and Duke Ellington, yet in many ways he stood apart from the mainstream jazz repertory.

(A) Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body of work both rooted
(B) Thelonious Monk, the jazz pianist and composer, produced a body of work that was rooted both
(C) Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, who produced a body of work rooted
(D) Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted
(E) Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk produced a body of work rooted both
Hi Experts,
What if the choice B is written with following format?
(B) The jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted both
Thanks__

Hello TheUltimateWinner,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, your edited version of B is correct, though a bit awkward.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Thanks for the support. But, if we remove the article the then the sentence will be wrong, right?
Here is the new version:
Jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted both
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 18 Nov 2022, 05:00
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TheUltimateWinner

Thanks for the support. But, if we remove the article the then the sentence will be wrong, right?
Here is the new version:
Jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted both
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Hello TheUltimateWinner,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, no; the removal of "the" does not make the sentence incorrect; the inclusion of the comma between the phrase "Jazz pianist and composer" and the noun it modifies - "Thelonious Monk" - is unnecessary but not incorrect.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 21 Nov 2022, 11:00
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TheUltimateWinner
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Hi Experts,
What if the choice B is written with following format?
(B) The jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted both
Thanks__

Hello TheUltimateWinner,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, your edited version of B is correct, though a bit awkward.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
Thanks for the support. But, if we remove the article the then the sentence will be wrong, right?
Here is the new version:
Jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted both
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Hello AjiteshArun,
Can I have feedback from you of course if you have a time?
Thanks___
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 22 Nov 2022, 01:03
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Hello AjiteshArun,
Can I have feedback from you of course if you have a time?
Thanks___
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Hi TheUltimateWinner,

The question doesn't test this issue, but I don't agree with ExpertsGlobal5 here.

ExpertsGlobal5
TheUltimateWinner

Thanks for the support. But, if we remove the article the then the sentence will be wrong, right?
Here is the new version:
Jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted both

Hello TheUltimateWinner,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, no; the removal of "the" does not make the sentence incorrect; the inclusion of the comma between the phrase "Jazz pianist and composer" and the noun it modifies - "Thelonious Monk" - is unnecessary but not incorrect.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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If we use a comma, we absolutely need an article in this case (we can't say Jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk produced a body of work). It'd be good to see more opinions on this though.
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 22 Nov 2022, 10:27
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AjiteshArun
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Hello AjiteshArun,
Can I have feedback from you of course if you have a time?
Thanks___
Hi TheUltimateWinner,

The question doesn't test this issue, but I don't agree with ExpertsGlobal5 here.

ExpertsGlobal5
TheUltimateWinner

Thanks for the support. But, if we remove the article the then the sentence will be wrong, right?
Here is the new version:
Jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted both

Hello TheUltimateWinner,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, no; the removal of "the" does not make the sentence incorrect; the inclusion of the comma between the phrase "Jazz pianist and composer" and the noun it modifies - "Thelonious Monk" - is unnecessary but not incorrect.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
If we use a comma, we absolutely need an article in this case (we can't say Jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk produced a body of work). It'd be good to see more opinions on this though.
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Yes, I think it would be tremendous help for the student if experts put more opinion on this issue. Thank you brother..
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 27 Apr 2023, 02:22
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Shouldn't there be a comma after "Jazz pianist and composer" in option D? without comma isn't what "jazz pianist" modifying unclear? How can we say it's referring to Thelonious Monk
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 27 Apr 2023, 20:33
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Shouldn't there be a comma after "Jazz pianist and composer" in option D? without comma isn't what "jazz pianist" modifying unclear? How can we say it's referring to Thelonious Monk
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Hi vikonomics,

We use modifiers without commas all the time.

1. light music
2. Prime Minister Boris Johnson
3. a student in the class who has taken the GMAT

(2) uses an actual title, without a comma. We wouldn't want to go with something like "Prime Minister, Boris Johnson".
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 29 Apr 2023, 22:48
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Short answer: no commas! :)

Longer answer: As AjiteshArun has shown, it's very normal to put a modifier directly before someone's name (without a comma) to indicate what the person is known for. In many cases, this involves more than one modifier joined with AND: "actress and singer Doris Day." We might even have a list of modifiers, in which case we would have commas. Here's a quote from NPR's recent obituary of the great Harry Belafonte. (Notice that NPR doesn't use the Oxford Comma, so we only see a comma after the first item.) "Singer, actor and human rights activist Harry Belafonte died Tuesday at age 96 of congestive heart failure."

It's important to realize that in none of these cases do we have any ambiguity. We are only talking about one person! This is typically true in real-world sentences, and it is even more true on the GMAT. Since SC questions always present ONE stand-alone sentence with no other context, we'll never see a sentence that just mentions some random, unnamed pianist before moving on to talk about a named person. That provides no clarity for the reader, so any interpretation based on the idea that this would occur should be thrown out. From there, we can know with certainty that "Jazz pianist and composer" are two modifiers for Thelonious Monk. (And what a great pianist and composer he was!)
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 29 Apr 2023, 23:02
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As for the question from TheUltimateWinner, if we add THE, we absolutely cannot add a comma. This would imply that he is THE ONLY jazz pianist and composer. To use this form, we'd need to restrict the modifier further to apply to just one person: "The jazz pianist and composer most frequently copied by contemporary artists, Thelonious Monk . . . "

We also can't add a comma without THE. We'd only add a comma if we started with "A jazz pianist and composer," and even then, this would create something more like an adverbial modifier, in which we'd be showing WHY/HOW he was able to do what he did. For instance, I might say "A gifted composer, Monk could come up with enough solid material for an entire album in one sitting." Sure, that initial modifier describes Monk, but it's also providing context for the specific ideas that follow. We don't have a need for this type of construction in the sentence as presented.
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 31 Oct 2023, 12:55
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GMATNinja
This is one of my favorites, just because I see a lot of errors on it – but it’s actually really straightforward, and is easy to solve if you follow a couple of simple rules. And that doesn’t happen as often as we’d like on GMAT SC, unfortunately.

Quote:
A. Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body of work both rooted
OK, the thing that should jump out at us is the word “both.” In this case, “both” is paired with the word “and” – and this is a very strict parallelism “trigger”. The word “both” and the word “and” must be followed by two parallel elements.

And in this case, we don’t have those parallel elements: “…both rooted… and Duke Ellington…” Nope: “rooted” is an adjective in this situation, and “Duke Ellington” definitely is not. So we can eliminate (A).

(And for anybody who was paying extremely close attention in our YouTube webinar on parallelism and meaning: when I mentioned “special parallel triggers”, this both/and construction is one of the most important examples I had in mind.)

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GMATNinja
Hello Sir, it seems that rooted is a verb! Can you explain why do you think rooted as adjective, please?
Thank you...
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 31 Oct 2023, 14:16
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TheUltimateWinner

It's very normal to see things that CAN be verbs appear as modifiers. I'm sure you see this all the time! For instance, we might say "I stopped to talk with a professor considered by many to be the foremost authority on Mesopotamian pottery." How can we tell that "considered" is a modifier, and specifically an adjective modifying "professor"? First, it makes sense that the professor IS CONSIDERED an expert, rather than that the professor WAS CONSIDERING some other expert. The latter would be a strange and confusing thing to say. Second, a verb wouldn't work structurally here. Before "considered," we have a subject, a verb, and an object. We can't just tack on another verb. If we WERE writing about a professor WHO CONSIDERED someone else, we'd need to start a modifier before introducing a verb: "I met a professor WHO CONSIDERED Yoko Ono to be the greatest composer of all time."

Looking back at the original example, we can see that the same things are going on. First, nothing is ROOTING anything. Neither Monk nor the body of work ROOTED anything. In fact, no one can root a body of work in a tradition. To say that the work WAS ROOTED in a tradition just means that it HAS ITS ROOTS in that tradition. It's like saying a day was "filled with happiness." That doesn't mean someone actually filled the day with happiness. It's just describing the day. Second, if the work DID root something, we'd need a bridging modifier: "He created a body of work WHICH ROOTED." As it stands, all 5 choices say that the work was rooted, either by attaching ROOTED directly to WORK (A/C/E) or by saying "work that was rooted" (B/D). So in all the answers, ROOTED describes the body of work. That makes it an adjective.
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 31 Oct 2023, 14:19
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GMATNinja
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Isn't the correct answer choice incorrectly implying that the two persons, "Jazz pianist" and "composer Thelonious Monk" produced a body of work that was rooted....?


Quote:
(D) Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted...
"Jazz pianist" and "composer" are both describing Thelonious Monk, not two separate people. If it helps, think about whether it would make sense to say "Jazz pianist... produced a body of work..." That's a mess, right? We could say "a jazz pianist produced a body of work" or "the jazz pianist produced a body of work" -- but either way, we'd need an article for "jazz pianist" to work properly as a noun in this context.

Since "jazz pianist" can't make sense as a noun in this sentence, it must be a modifier for "Thelonious Monk." And that makes perfect sense: why would we talk about a generic "jazz pianist", but then mention a specific composer (Thelonious Monk)? And it's completely reasonable for a musician to be both a pianist and a composer.

I hope this helps!
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GMATNinja and AjiteshArun
What if the sentence is written as follows?
A Jazz pianist and the composer, Thelonious Monk produced a body of work that was rooted....
How many people are there? only one? or two?
Thanks...
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 31 Oct 2023, 14:46
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TheUltimateWinner

These are interesting questions you're answering, but I think it's important not to ignore the underlying content of the sentence. The sentence is about one person: Thelonious Monk. Whatever we say in the modifier, that doesn't change that he is the singular subject of the sentence.

We could actually do what you're saying if the "the composer" portion was used to introduce a modifier: "A jazz pianist and the composer of such classics as 'Round Midnight and Ruby, My Dear, Thelonious Monk produced . . . "

Both parts of that initial modifier still describe Monk, who is one person. I could imagine having a compound modifier that applies to two people in the subject, but it would be a little weird: "A pianist and a saxophone player, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane produced . . . " I don't think the GMAT would do that, because it isn't terribly clear. We'd at least need "respectively" after "player" to indicate that the modifiers were meant to refer to the two subjects in turn, but it would be more elegant to apply them directly where they belong: "Thelonious Monk, a pianist, and John Coltrane, a saxophone player," or "Pianist Thelonious Monk and saxophonist John Coltrane."
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Thelonious Monk, who was a jazz pianist and composer, produced a body 05 Oct 2025, 03:03
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