V01-38

Question

If the building’s contractor does not agree to repair the damages caused during renovation,  we maybe have no choice, but to  bring a lawsuit.

A. we maybe have no choice, but to 
B. it may be we have no choice but to
C. we maybe have no choice but to
D. we may have no choice, but to 
E. we may have no choice but to

Bunuel · Answer

Official Solution:

If the building’s contractor does not agree to repair the damages caused during renovation,  we maybe have no choice, but to  bring a lawsuit.

A. we maybe have no choice, but to 
B. it may be we have no choice but to
C. we maybe have no choice but to
D. we may have no choice, but to 
E. we may have no choice but to

In this sentence the adverb  maybe  is inappropriate for expressing the possibility of bringing a lawsuit;  may  is correct. Additionally, the comma before the conjunction  but  is incorrect.     Maybe  is incorrect, and the comma before  but  is unnecessary. 
 This option breaks up the word  maybe , but is awkward and wordy. 
 The adverb  maybe  is inappropriate for expressing conditional tense. 
 A comma before the conjunction  but  is incorrect. 
 This option identifies the correct use of the word  may  to express the possibility of a lawsuit, and the comma before  but  has been eliminated.

Answer: E

puneetgangrade · Answer

I want to understand the differences between usage of "but" with and without comma.
Can you please share more examples on the usage of "but" ?

dharan · Answer

I think this is a poor-quality question and the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate. Not sure why but cannot be used to connect two independent clauses. Here is an example from MGMAT SC 6th edition. page no. 47.

Lin drove to work, but Guy rode his bike.
Here but is a conjunction connecting two independent clauses.

Lin drove to work, but Guy rode his bike.
Here but is a conjunction connecting two independent clauses.

sayantanc2k · Answer

Of course "but" can be used to join two independent clauses. The erroneous sentence has been removed. However that does not affect the answer choice.
Thank you for pointing out.

kanthaliya · Answer

the answer should be D. But is a conjunction and comma in front of but is acceptable.
Please help me understand this.

mayursurya · Answer

Just because , I got this one incorrect. 
 
Does it work for all Conjunction. Could you explain  GMATNinja   Bunuel

Amrutha1 · Answer

Can you please explain the difference between "But with comma" & "But without it"?

dm360xyz · Answer

The way I see this question is that 'If' implies a conditional sentence, 'if this happens then that happens' and therefore the second half of the sentence requires a  Verb  that implies a future action. 'May' is a Verb whilst 'Maybe' is a Noun or an Adverb and is not a Verb. 'May' also solidly implies a future action whilst 'Maybe' does not.

Furthermore, when two commas are used in a sentence then you should be able to ignore the fragment (the bit between the commas) as a test and see if the remainder (the main clause) still makes sense, and to make sense it requires a verb. This reinforces the choice between May and Maybe and the non-use of a comma.

I agree that  Ans E  is correct

I hope that helps

ayu1989 · Answer

, but -> it is used when there are two independent clauses.

In this case Option E is correct as the clause after "but" is not independent.

OhsostudiousMJ · Answer

This is the explanation that I needed. Nobody else seemed to have an answer for this. Thanks a lot!

nlx23 · Answer

punctuation is never tested in GMAT. Why the hell was this question made.

Harishankara · Answer

I understand the non-essential modifiers where phrase is separated by comma pair. But Option D is not that case. Why is comma before "but" wrong? This is still not clear to me. Request you to please assist.

swim2109 · Answer

In not only xxxxxx, but also xxxxxx - we use a comma but we havent used here. Whats the difference?

egmat

anish823 · Answer

"A comma before the conjunction but is incorrect"

Despite having chosen the correct answer, I wanted to understand the use of commas. This explanation confused me. We have seen the commas before the but, but here it says as if it is wrong to use it.
and would that apply to the other coordinating conjunctions?

studyninja · Answer

I think this is a  poor-quality  question and the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate.

BottomJee · Answer

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

V01-38

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards