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papahiroshi
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As he was riding his bike to school, Jimmy almost was being hit by 12 Jan 2015, 06:52
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As he was riding his bike to school, Jimmy almost was being hit by a speeding ambulance on its way to the hospital.

a) almost was being hit

b) barely escaped being hit

c) came close to the hitting

d) nearly did being hit

e) was just about being hit

This question is from GMAT club Ultimate GMAT Grammar book. It's free! Thanks bb. :-D
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fireinbelly
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As he was riding his bike to school, Jimmy almost was being hit by 12 Jan 2015, 08:07
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Here the non-underlined part is in past tense - was riding - so the underlined part should be in past tense too. now let's look at the choices -

a) almost was being hit - was being hit means the the time when he was getting hit....the tense used is wrong here....we need simple past tense....

b) barely escaped being hit - this is correct as it is simple past tense correctly explaining the sequence by using 2nd form of verb (escaped) - simple past/past indefinite

c) came close to the hitting - to the hitting - wrong phrase

d) nearly did being hit - did being hit means nothing....completely wrong

e) was just about being hit - same as A....

Please let me know incase of any questions. Thanks.


papahiroshi
As he was riding his bike to school, Jimmy almost was being hit by a speeding ambulance on its way to the hospital.

a) almost was being hit

b) barely escaped being hit

c) came close to the hitting

d) nearly did being hit

e) was just about being hit

This question is from GMAT club Ultimate GMAT Grammar book. It's free! Thanks bb. :-D
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papahiroshi
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As he was riding his bike to school, Jimmy almost was being hit by 12 Jan 2015, 08:39
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Hi tirbah,

Should the verb in the answer be not past continuous but simple past tense, meaningwise, or are there any rules to not use past continuous?
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As he was riding his bike to school, Jimmy almost was being hit by 12 Jan 2015, 09:41
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here meaning wise...as the two actions were not happening at the same time.....Just think about it...can we say - As he was riding, he was getting hit by ambulence...it means he was riding still when he got hit and both action were happening simultaneously without any break....that he kept on riding and kept on getting it.....

Hence he should be one tense in past continous and other in simple past to convey that something was happening and then something else happened....

Both tenses will be past continuous only when they both are happening at the same time....for example -

I was playing while she was watching movie (means both actions are taking place without break at the same time)

Got it??


papahiroshi
Hi tirbah,

Should the verb in the answer be not past continuous but simple past tense, meaningwise, or are there any rules to not use past continuous?
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vicky2019
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As he was riding his bike to school, Jimmy almost was being hit by 04 Sep 2019, 09:56
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papahiroshi
As he was riding his bike to school, Jimmy almost was being hit by a speeding ambulance on its way to the hospital.

a) almost was being hit

b) barely escaped being hit

c) came close to the hitting

d) nearly did being hit

e) was just about being hit

This question is from GMAT club Ultimate GMAT Grammar book. It's free! Thanks bb. :-D
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barely escaped being hit?

I felt like he barely escaped from being hit means he almost dodged but anyways he got hit by the ambulance.
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As he was riding his bike to school, Jimmy almost was being hit by 04 Sep 2019, 14:10
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vicky2019
papahiroshi
As he was riding his bike to school, Jimmy almost was being hit by a speeding ambulance on its way to the hospital.

a) almost was being hit

b) barely escaped being hit

c) came close to the hitting

d) nearly did being hit

e) was just about being hit

This question is from GMAT club Ultimate GMAT Grammar book. It's free! Thanks bb. :-D

barely escaped being hit?

I felt like he barely escaped from being hit means he almost dodged but anyways he got hit by the ambulance.
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vicky2019 , I am not sure I understand the confusion.

You may be thinking of barely as "almost," in which case, true, he did not actually escape being hit.
He almost escaped being hit [but he did not escape].

Barely, though, means almost NOT.
See the definition here.
The sentence actually says, "He almost did not escape being hit."

"Almost not" is cumbersome.
An easier way to understand barely might be to use the synonym narrowly = by a small margin.

He escaped being hit by a very small margin.
Okay, the distance between him and the ambulance was not wide, but still, he escaped being hit.

These sentences should not be confused:
(1) Affirmative construction: He almost got hit.
-- [He very nearly got hit, but he did not get hit.]
* (2) Negative construction: He almost did not escape being hit.
-- [He very nearly did not avoid getting hit = he avoided getting hit, but by a narrow margin.]
(3) He almost escaped being hit.
-- [Although he came very close to escaping, he failed to escape. He got hit.]
* (4) He barely escaped being hit.
-- [He avoided getting hit, but only by a small margin.]

Sentences 2 and 4 mean the same thing.

The easiest way to answer this question is to find the four worst answers.
The meaning in (B) may be confusing, but I suspect that you can sense the correct interpretation.
The other four options are disasters.

Hope that helps.
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As he was riding his bike to school, Jimmy almost was being hit by 18 Feb 2023, 00:18
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