Concerned about the safety of Preston, James Murray wrote to the local

Question

Concerned about the safety of Preston, James Murray wrote to the local commander,Colonel Dalrymple,recommending  that he brings some troops back into Boston,to serve as a guard during Preston’s trial

(A) that he brings some troops back into Boston,to serve as a guard during Preston’s trial
(B) him to bring some troops back into Boston,to serve as guards during Preston’s trial
(C) that he bring some troops back into Boston,to serve as a guard during Preston’s trial
(D) that he must bring some troops back into Boston,serving as a guard during Preston’s trial
(E) that he should send some troops back into Boston,to serve as a guard during Preston’s trial

hiranmay · Accepted Answer

Concerned about the safety of Preston, James Murray wrote to the local commander,Colonel Dalrymple, recommending that he brings some troops back into Boston, to serve as a guard during Preston’s trial.

Note:
Type: Subjunctive mode
Structure: <commanding verb/word> + that + <subj> + <present indefinite form of the verb w/o and s/es> <=> recommend that he ~~brings~~ bring

(A) that he brings some troops back into Boston, to serve as a guard during Preston’s trial
(B) him to bring some troops back into Boston, to serve as guards during Preston’s trial
(C) that he bring some troops back into Boston, to serve as a guard during Preston’s trial --> correct
(D) that he must bring some troops back into Boston, serving as a guard during Preston’s trial
(E) that he should send some troops back into Boston, to serve as a guard during Preston’s trial

SweetyTikkil · Answer

Can someone explain why B is the wrong choice? It's not clear to me.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

SweetyTikkil  We can either recommend a thing ("I recommend the caramel latte.") or recommend THAT something BE done. (This latter is the subjunctive that everyone above is talking about. hiranmay lays out the required form.) We cannot, however, recommend someone TO DO something. It's just not a valid usage of that word.

sparshgs97 · Answer

Why is B the wrong option? Can someone explain this?

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Sparsh, B is incorrect because it does  not  use  command subjunctive .

The usage is:

X recommends that something be done.

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  Subjunctive , its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

kaustav04 · Answer

I get the subjunctive aspect in this question. However, in option C, How can "troops" act as 'a' guard?
Can someone please explain? Am i reading too much into it?

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  kaustav04 , I believe that  a guard  here means  a  defense   (and  not   a  person  ).

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  kaustav04 . I understand the confusion. In the context of the sentence,  a guard  can be thought of more as  a safety measure  or  a protective force . Despite the sentence mentioning  troops , the latter part is not focusing on individual guards at the trial. If it were, then  to serve as guards  in choice (B) would be more appropriate.

- Andrew

budhni · Answer

how we will identify that it is actually a command subjunctive.? could you please explain.

Maxximus · Answer

Here is a detailed article with a 20-minute video to explain the concept of the subjunctive, in detail.

https://www.expertsglobal.com/subjunctive-mood-on-gmat

Regards,
Experts' Global team

Pankaj0901 · Answer

Is "comma" before the infinitive "to serve as a guard during Preston’s trial" correct? I read somewhere that there should not be a "comma" before infinitive (I am not able to locate the source, but I will post once I find it.) Can someone please correct if my understanding is wrong? Thanks

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  Pankaj0901 . Your understanding is not unsound, but it may be too extreme. Yes, generally speaking, you will not see a comma before  to  without a list of some sort. However, comma rules are much more flexible than people think. In the sentence at hand,  to  is shorthand for the adverbial  in order to , and this expression can follow a comma without issue, especially when the action that needs explaining is part of a lengthier description— She set out before dawn guided by little more than a headlamp and a narrow, almost indiscernible trail,   to complete the ultra-marathon before the time cutoff.  Of course, the adverbial information at the end of the sentence is meant to explain why  she set out , and it could be placed closer to that action, but then the modifying phrase  guided by...  would be put on hold. It is really a matter of preference.

If we look at answer choice (C), we should ask ourselves whether something similar could be going on. The sentence, with (C) inserted:

At its core, the recommendation is to  bring some troops , and the adverbial phrase explains that recommendation. However, there is a bit of extra information at the end,  back into Boston , and the presence of these three words can better justify the use of the subsequent comma. Is that comma necessary? No. But is it incorrect? Again, the answer is no.

One final point: No matter how well written any question by a third party may be, unless you can find the same issue crop up in an official question, do not look to create a rule out of anything you observe or may be taught. I am not commenting on this question specifically, but I have seen many unofficial questions that test concepts in an unrealistic, non-GMAT™-like manner, and the OAs can be debatable.

Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  Pankaj0901 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, as  AndrewN  has written, the use of the comma preceding the infinitive is not necessary, but it is not incorrect either, as the phrase "to serve" conveys the meaning "in order to serve".

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

jeremqui · Answer

Hi, why is serving as a guard correct even though SV agreement is wrong?

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  jeremqui ,

We hope this finds you well.

There seems to have been a bit of confusion here; the phrase "serving as a guard" is not used in the correct answer choice - Option C.

Rather, Option C uses the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb" - "to + serve" in this sentence) to convey that James Murray recommended that Colonel Dalrymple bring some troops back into Boston   in order to   serve as a guard.

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

EtaCarnia · Answer

Hi ,

Very confused between B and C. Can somebody help please?

(B) him to bring some troops back into Boston,to serve as guards during Preston’s trial
(C) that he bring some troops back into Boston,to serve as a guard during Preston’s trial

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  EtaCarnia ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, Option B is incorrect, as "recommend to do something" is not an idiomatic construction; the correct idiomatic constructions are "recommend + noun" and "recommend that something be done".

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

VerbalBot · Answer

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A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

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Concerned about the safety of Preston, James Murray wrote to the local

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Concerned about the safety of Preston, James Murray wrote to the local

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