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605-655 Level|   Idioms/Diction/Redundancy|   Parallelism|   Verb Tense/Form|                     
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 08 Sep 2021, 09:00
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tony1stark
Hi there,

I am a bit confused on the modifier of choice A, "letting employees pick those most important to them".

How is it structured? Should it be letting employees pick those "that are" most important to them? Or we can leave "that are" in this case as it is the modifier?

If so, how about in a normal sentence? Can we say "Companies let employees pick benefits most important to them." or "Companies let employees pick benefits that are most important to them." ?

Thank you!
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Don't overthink this! You're right that "most important to them" is functioning as a modifier describing "those" or "the benefits." Your job, when you recognize this, isn't to determine the "correct" way to modify the benefits. It's to figure out of the modification in question makes sense. That's it.

Ultimately, there are lots of ways to modify any particular noun! We could write about "the benefits most important to them" or "the benefits that are most important to them." Both constructions are logical ways to describe "the benefits," so either would be acceptable, and you wouldn't use this distinction as a decision point.

I hope that clears things up!
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 09 Sep 2021, 09:28
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Correct option : A

Sentence Exam on :
- Parallelism (Offering || letting)
- Pronoun (those - benefits) and (them - Employees)

To attract the most talented workers, some companies are
offering a wider range of benefits,
letting employees pick those most important to them.

(A) benefits, letting employees pick those most important to them - Rejected
(B) benefits, letting employees pick the most important of them to themselves - Rejected
(C) benefits and letting employees pick the most important to themselves - Rejected
(D) benefits and let employees pick the most important to them - Rejected
(E) benefits and let employees pick those that are most - Rejectedimportant to themselves
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 10 Feb 2022, 13:40
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I still don't understand why themselves is wrong. I mean lets consider the following:
I did this to me : Correct?
I brought this on myself : Correct?

I am confused about how do we decide when to use reflexing and when not?

GMATNinja
I see different calls for help in at least three different posts, so I'll try to address everything in one big, fat explanation:

Quote:
(A) benefits, letting employees pick those most important to them
"Those" is just a plural pronoun here, so we should look for some plural noun that it can refer back to. "Benefits" makes sense, right? "...letting employees pick the benefits most important to them." So we're good there. (And for more on demonstrative pronouns, check out our Topic of the Week or our YouTube video about the many uses of "that.")

And yes, "benefits" is an object, but there's no reason why a pronoun can't refer back to an object. There's some weird myth going around about that, and I'm not sure where it's coming from. Pronouns can refer to subjects or objects.

"Letting" is used as a modifier here (click here for more on "-ing" modifiers), and that makes sense: "letting employees pick (the benefits) most important to them" is giving us more information about what happens when "companies are offering a wider range of benefits." So it makes sense for "letting" to be a modifier, not a verb. Keep (A).

Quote:
(B) benefits, letting employees pick the most important of them to themselves
"Themselves" is a reflexive pronoun. Correct uses of reflexive pronouns:

    Mike was proud of himself when he successfully surfed a 25-foot wave.
    Bogdan and Souvik admired themselves in the mirror after crushing the GMAT.

But I don't think we can justify using "themselves" in the original sentence. Employees can pick the benefits that are most important to them -- but there's no need for the reflexive "themselves." (And for whatever it's worth: I can't think of another official GMAT question that draws any sort of distinction between reflexive and non-reflexive pronouns.) Also, I think it's a little bit confusing to have "them" refer to "benefits", while "themselves" refers back to "employees" -- but either way, (B) is out.

Quote:
(C) benefits and letting employees pick the most important to themselves
I think I could live with the parallelism here: "letting" follows "and", so we need to find something that's parallel to "letting." How about "offering"? So "some companies are offering..." and "some companies are letting..." I guess that's OK, though I think the sentences works a little bit better if "letting" is a modifier, but I wouldn't automatically eliminate (C) because of that.

But the "themselves" is wrong again - "them" would be fine. Eliminate (C).

Quote:
(D) benefits and let employees pick the most important to them
Now there's a clear parallelism issue. "Let" is a verb, and I guess it could be parallel to "are offering" -- but if that's the case, why are they in different tenses? That can't be right. The only other option is "attract", and that would make any sense, either. Eliminate (D).

Quote:
(E) benefits and let employees pick those that are most important to themselves
Same parallelism error as in (D), and the same error with "themselves" as in (B) and (C).

So (A) wins.
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 15 Feb 2022, 09:22
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Quote:
I still don't understand why themselves is wrong. I mean lets consider the following:
I did this to me : Correct?
I brought this on myself : Correct?

I am confused about how do we decide when to use reflexing and when not?
Show more
We use a reflexive pronoun when some entity functions as both the subject and the object of the same action -- when someone does something to himself or herself.

So your first example is incorrect. It should be, "I did this to myself." But your second example is correct. In both cases the subject is performing an action on himself or herself.

For more detail on why the "themselves" is problematic in the official example, check out this post and let us know if you still have questions.

I hope that helps!
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Ahh thanks for that clarification. I am still not sure why themselves is wrong to use here.

Aren't the employees (the subject/doer) PICKING (the action) the most important to themselves (the object)? What am I getting wrong here?

GMATNinja


So your first example is incorrect. It should be, "I did this to myself." But your second example is correct. In both cases the subject is performing an action on himself or herself.

For more detail on why the "themselves" is problematic in the official example, check out this post and let us know if you still have questions.

I hope that helps!
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 09 Jul 2022, 06:11
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GMATNinja


Quote:
(D) benefits and let employees pick the most important to them
Now there's a clear parallelism issue. "Let" is a verb, and I guess it could be parallel to "are offering" -- but if that's the case, why are they in different tenses? That can't be right. The only other option is "attract", and that would make any sense, either. Eliminate (D).

Show more

GMATNinja , could you elaborate on the parallelism with 'and' here? I thought the two elements do not necessarily need to be in the same tense (e.g. there was another question that says something like "The army of Terra-Cotta warriors is 2000 years old and took 36 years to complete).

Yet you questioned why the tenses here are different. Is there a contextual clue that one should take into account when evaluating whether this kind of parallelism should have the same tense? Thank you!
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi Updated on: 31 Oct 2022, 02:33
Originally posted by Mmoncef1337 on 09 Jul 2022, 07:51.
Last edited by Mmoncef1337 on 31 Oct 2022, 02:33, edited 1 time in total.
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 11 Jul 2022, 05:35
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Mmoncef1337
Hello,

In answer A, isn’t the part between commas a non essential modifier? When this modifier is removed it makes no sense to say :

To attract the most talented workers letting employees pick those most important to them.

can you please help ? What’s wrong in my approach ?

Thank you

[
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Hello Mmoncef1337,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, "some companies are offering a wider range of benefits" is not a non-essential modifier; in fact, it is not a modifier at all; it is a clause-- the main clause of the sentence.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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GMATNinja


Quote:
(D) benefits and let employees pick the most important to them
Now there's a clear parallelism issue. "Let" is a verb, and I guess it could be parallel to "are offering" -- but if that's the case, why are they in different tenses? That can't be right. The only other option is "attract", and that would make any sense, either. Eliminate (D).


GMATNinja , could you elaborate on the parallelism with 'and' here? I thought the two elements do not necessarily need to be in the same tense (e.g. there was another question that says something like "The army of Terra-Cotta warriors is 2000 years old and took 36 years to complete).

Yet you questioned why the tenses here are different. Is there a contextual clue that one should take into account when evaluating whether this kind of parallelism should have the same tense? Thank you!
Show more
If you're going to use verbs with different tenses, there should be a good reason.

In the example with the terra-cotta warriors, it wouldn't make sense to say that the army was 2000 years old, because the age hasn't changed, right? (Just as it wouldn't make sense to say that the army takes 36 years to complete, as if this type of production is now happening regularly.) So here, different tenses is not just logical, but necessary if we want a coherent meaning.

Contrast the above with "some companies are offering... and let." I wouldn't say this is WRONG, exactly, but it's unnecessarily confusing.

For starters, the verb "let" could be either simple present or simple past tense. If it's past tense, does that mean the employees no longer have a choice about something that is currently being offered? Wouldn't it be clearer to just write that the companies "are offering" and "are letting?"

So the parallelism here is less an issue of right and wrong, and more one of clarity and meaning.

And if you're not totally sold, the phrase, "pick the most important" makes it sound like the employees can only pick one benefit! Theoretically possible, I guess, but not really something a company would do to attract talent. So you could also kill (D) on logical grounds as well.

I hope that helps!
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GMATNinja
I see different calls for help in at least three different posts, so I'll try to address everything in one big, fat explanation:

Quote:
(A) benefits, letting employees pick those most important to them
"Those" is just a plural pronoun here, so we should look for some plural noun that it can refer back to. "Benefits" makes sense, right? "...letting employees pick the benefits most important to them." So we're good there. (And for more on demonstrative pronouns, check out our Topic of the Week or our YouTube video about the many uses of "that.")

And yes, "benefits" is an object, but there's no reason why a pronoun can't refer back to an object. There's some weird myth going around about that, and I'm not sure where it's coming from. Pronouns can refer to subjects or objects.

"Letting" is used as a modifier here (click here for more on "-ing" modifiers), and that makes sense: "letting employees pick (the benefits) most important to them" is giving us more information about what happens when "companies are offering a wider range of benefits." So it makes sense for "letting" to be a modifier, not a verb. Keep (A).

Quote:
(B) benefits, letting employees pick the most important of them to themselves
"Themselves" is a reflexive pronoun. Correct uses of reflexive pronouns:

    Mike was proud of himself when he successfully surfed a 25-foot wave.
    Bogdan and Souvik admired themselves in the mirror after crushing the GMAT.

But I don't think we can justify using "themselves" in the original sentence. Employees can pick the benefits that are most important to them -- but there's no need for the reflexive "themselves." (And for whatever it's worth: I can't think of another official GMAT question that draws any sort of distinction between reflexive and non-reflexive pronouns.) Also, I think it's a little bit confusing to have "them" refer to "benefits", while "themselves" refers back to "employees" -- but either way, (B) is out.

Quote:
(C) benefits and letting employees pick the most important to themselves
I think I could live with the parallelism here: "letting" follows "and", so we need to find something that's parallel to "letting." How about "offering"? So "some companies are offering..." and "some companies are letting..." I guess that's OK, though I think the sentences works a little bit better if "letting" is a modifier, but I wouldn't automatically eliminate (C) because of that.

But the "themselves" is wrong again - "them" would be fine. Eliminate (C).

Quote:
(D) benefits and let employees pick the most important to them
Now there's a clear parallelism issue. "Let" is a verb, and I guess it could be parallel to "are offering" -- but if that's the case, why are they in different tenses? That can't be right. The only other option is "attract", and that would make any sense, either. Eliminate (D).

Quote:
(E) benefits and let employees pick those that are most important to themselves
Same parallelism error as in (D), and the same error with "themselves" as in (B) and (C).

So (A) wins.
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GMATNinja,
Hope you are well sir. I saw few official SC where the 'same' pronoun refers back to 2 different nouns! Am I missing anything?
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GMATNinja


Quote:
(D) benefits and let employees pick the most important to them
Now there's a clear parallelism issue. "Let" is a verb, and I guess it could be parallel to "are offering" -- but if that's the case, why are they in different tenses? That can't be right. The only other option is "attract", and that would make any sense, either. Eliminate (D).

Quote:
(E) benefits and let employees pick those that are most important to themselves
Same parallelism error as in (D), and the same error with "themselves" as in (B) and (C).

So (A) wins.
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GMATNinja
Sir, is it the matter of 'tenses' or 'parallelism' issue?
Suppose, if we say:
To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wider range of benefits and were VERBing employees pick the most important to them.
This is the issue of tense. Is this wrong way in GMAT? I've a vast curiosity on it. Can you share more lights here, please?
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 11 Nov 2022, 14:32
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Quote:
To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wider range of benefits, letting employees pick those most important to them.

(A) benefits, letting employees pick those most important to them
(B) benefits, letting employees pick the most important of them to themselves
(C) benefits and letting employees pick the most important to themselves
(D) benefits and let employees pick the most important to them
(E) benefits and let employees pick those that are most important to themselves
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Will the sentence be wrong if the sentence is something like below?

To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wider range of benefits, letting employees pick those benefits most important to them.
Thanks__
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 05 Dec 2022, 23:54
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As "those" is plural, is there a possibility that it can refer to the plural noun "companies" and so this sentence is ambiguous? Can someone please explain this?
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 08 Dec 2022, 15:22
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Mackie1995
As "those" is plural, is there a possibility that it can refer to the plural noun "companies" and so this sentence is ambiguous? Can someone please explain this?
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Please review the following posts from earlier in the thread:

1) https://gmatclub.com/forum/to-attract-t ... l#p1930058
2) https://gmatclub.com/forum/to-attract-t ... l#p2594303

Enjoy!
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 23 May 2023, 04:41
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Hi experts!

I'm convinced of the reasons we use to eliminate BCDE, but I'm still struggling with A :
In answer A it says 'those most important' and I assume that there's an omitted 'that are' between 'those' and 'most'. If this is true, then we get 'those that are most important', right? (just like in answer E)
My question is, I think there should always be a 'the' (or a possessive) before a superlative adj./adv.
For example : the highest mountain, my best friend...
And here it should be 'those the most important', isn't it ?
Why and when should the 'the' be omitted?

Thanks in advance!
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 02 Jun 2023, 14:30
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Elodie00die
Hi experts!

I'm convinced of the reasons we use to eliminate BCDE, but I'm still struggling with A :

In answer A it says 'those most important' and I assume that there's an omitted 'that are' between 'those' and 'most'. If this is true, then we get 'those that are most important', right? (just like in answer E)

My question is, I think there should always be a 'the' (or a possessive) before a superlative adj./adv.

For example : the highest mountain, my best friend...

And here it should be 'those the most important', isn't it ?

Why and when should the 'the' be omitted?

Thanks in advance!
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"Most" can be used to mean "to a great extent/degree," and in such cases an article ("the") isn't necessary:

  • "The movie was most amusing." = "The movie was amusing to a great degree."
  • "Tim's argument was most compelling." = "Tim's argument was compelling to a great degree."
  • "These benefits are most important [to the employees]." = "These benefits are important to a great degree [to the employees]."

It would be most annoying (<--- see?) if the GMAT tried to get us with something like this, but luckily, that's not really how they roll. If you aren't sure, be conservative and look for other decision points. (As you saw in this question, you could eliminate the other options without worrying about this point at all.)

I hope that helps!
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 23 Aug 2023, 21:25
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In A, them can refer back to so many things, so isn't them in A ambiguous?

Posted from my mobile device
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 28 Aug 2023, 15:09
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pramodshukla
In A, them can refer back to so many things, so isn't them in A ambiguous?

Posted from my mobile device
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As discussed in these two posts from earlier in the thread, pronoun ambiguity isn't an absolute rule on the GMAT:


Enjoy!
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 03 Oct 2023, 09:37
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wider range of benefits, letting employees pick those most important to them.

When I did this question, I thought there was an ambiguity problem in the use of 'them':

1) ...letting employees pick those most important to them (to the employees)
or
2) ...letting employees pick those most important to them (to the companies)

Reading the replies I saw that it wasn't the case. Can someone please explain the error in my reasoning?
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To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wi 06 Oct 2023, 11:40
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Gustavoncf
To attract the most talented workers, some companies are offering a wider range of benefits, letting employees pick those most important to them.

When I did this question, I thought there was an ambiguity problem in the use of 'them':

...letting employees pick those most important to them (to the employees)

or

...letting employees pick those most important to them (to the companies)

Reading the replies I saw that it wasn't the case. Can someone please explain the error in my reasoning?
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As we mentioned earlier in the thread, pronoun ambiguity isn't an absolute rule on the GMAT. As long as it's reasonably clear what the pronoun should logically refer to, it's okay if there are technically multiple options.

In this case, it's pretty obvious that the benefits picked by the employees are going to be important to the employees who are picking those benefits. The company doesn't really care, for example, whether an employee elects to pay an extra monthly premium to get the dental plan.

For more on ambiguity, check out this lovely vintage YouTube webinar on pronouns, or this shorter, newer one.
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