Like many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs that became

Question

Like many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs  that became anthems for a generation of antiwar activists.

(A) Like many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs

(B) Bob Dylan wrote songs like many of his contemporaries

(C) As did many of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan wrote songs

(D) Like the songs of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan wrote songs

(E) As did many of Bob Dylan’s contemporaries, he wrote songs

This question is part of the  GMAT Club Sentence Correction : Comparison" Revision Project.

chetan2u · Accepted Answer

the question checks the following...
1) usage of like vs as... like is used to compare nouns whereas 'as; is to compare actions...
here 'as' is correct...
2) reference of pronoun he/his.. these should correctly refer back to the intended noun..
3)'that" should modify songs...
now the choices..
A. Like many of his contemporaries  did , Bob Dylan wrote songs
 did makes it an action.. so wrong comparison between a person and an action 
B. Bob Dylan wrote songs like many of his contemporaries
 'that' would wrogly modify contemporaries.. also 'like many of his contemporaries' should follow bob dylan 
C. As did many of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan wrote songs
 correct.. follows all three points above 
D. Like the songs of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan wrote songs
 wrong comparison of songs and bob 
E. As did many of Bob Dylan’s contemporaries, he wrote songs
 this also corrects two of the points above but he does not directly refer to bob, it can be any x, y ,z person

souvik101990 · Answer

Official Explanation

The original sentence incorrectly uses “Like” to compare two clauses: “Like many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs.” “Like” can be used to compare nouns, but not phrases containing verbs (clauses).

(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.

(B) As used in this sentence, “like” seems to compare the noun “songs” with the noun “contemporaries,” implying that Bob Dylan’s “songs” were similar to his “contemporaries.” This comparison is illogical, as songs cannot be compared with people.

(C) CORRECT. “As” is correctly used to compare two phrases containing verbs.

(D) The modifying phrase “Like the songs of his contemporaries” incorrectly modifies the adjacent noun “Bob Dylan,” implying that Bob Dylan is similar to the songs of his contemporaries. Songs cannot be logically compared with people.

(E) While “as” is correctly used to compare two phrases containing verbs, the subject pronoun “he” incorrectly refers back to the possessive noun “Bob Dylan’s.” Only possessive pronouns can be used to refer to possessive nouns.

321kumarsushant · Answer

Like many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs  that became anthems for a generation of antiwar activists.

A. Like many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs -  wrong usage of LIKE  
B. Bob Dylan wrote songs like many of his contemporaries -  wrong comparison  
C. As did many of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan wrote songs -  correct comparison 
D. Like the songs of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan wrote songs - wrong comparison  
E. As did many of Bob Dylan’s contemporaries, he wrote songs - wrong comparison, HE Pronoun Error

LoneSurvivor · Answer

Like many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs that became anthems for a generation of antiwar activists.

A.  Like  many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs

B. Bob Dylan wrote songs  like many of his contemporaries

C.  As did many of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan wrote songs
 
D.  Like  the songs of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan wrote songs

E. As did many of  Bob Dylan’s contemporaries ,  he  wrote songs

dcummins · Answer

Like many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs  that became anthems for a generation of antiwar activists.

A is incorrect from a grammatical stand point as we use Like only to compare nouns. Like is used here to compare the actions of Bob Dylan's contemporaries to Bob Dylan
(A) Like many of his contemporaries  did , Bob Dylan  wrote  songs

B is incorrect for similar reasons, but sentence also illogically communicates that Bob Dylan wrote songs that were similar to his contemporaries. Songs that are similar to humans? hmm?
(B) Bob Dylan wrote songs like many of his  contemporaries

C is correct- AS is used to compare the actions here. 
(C) As did many of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan wrote songs

D illogically compares the songs of Bob Dylan's contemporaries to Bob Dylan himself
(D) Like the songs of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan wrote songs

E illogically communicates that Bob Dylan's contemporaries did something. The "he" cannot refer correctly to the possessive here as it is a subject.

Only possessive pronouns can refer back to possessive nouns.

(E) As did many of Bob Dylan’s contemporaries, he wrote songs

Camach700 · Answer

generis

According to your post about this SC question: https://gmatclub.com/forum/recent-studi ... 69787.html

Answer E) should work just fine in that it compares the subject pronoun - he - back to the possessive one - Bob Dylan's contemporaries -

Nonetheless C) corrects the pronoun ambiguity between Bob Dylan and his contemporaries.

Would you confirm that option E) is grammatically correct though?

Thanks for your help

testtakerstrategy · Answer

I wanted to confirm, would it be correct to say "As many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs", if that were a choice?

"As" is used to compare verbs "did" and "wrote songs"

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  testtakerstrategy ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, "As many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs" is a grammatically correct construction, as it uses "As" to compare the actions "did" and "wrote".

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

Goncalo13072001 · Answer

I agree with answer C, with the usage of as, but "his" does not have a clear antecedent, as we have not yet mentioned Bob earlier in the sentence, could someone please clarify!

Kind regards,
Gon??alo

KarishmaB · Answer

We can use pronouns in phrases and clauses beginning a sentence even if their antecedents have not appeared yet as long as the noun antecedent immediately follows the comma. 
It is similar to how we use a modifier at the beginning and put the noun immediately after the comma.

e.g.

Since his divorce, Adam hasn't left home. 
'his' stands for 'Adam.'

Since his divorce, I haven't seen Adam. 
Not correct. 'Adam' should immediately follow the comma but here 'I' follows the comma.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

May want to be a bit flexible with this sort of pronoun usage. Here's an example of another one that could be a bit tricky if a person were too strict. https://gmatclub.com/forum/although-she ... 08881.html

nivivacious · Answer

LIKE can be only used for nouns/pronouns and not phrases so we can straight up eliminate A B and D

(A) Like many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs
(B) Bob Dylan wrote songs like many of his contemporaries
(D) Like the songs of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan wrote songs

Nothing wrong with C technically so lets hold this for now
(C) As did many of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan wrote songs

E illogical comparison aside, HE here is clearly wrong. Should be Bob Dylan so straight up eliminate.
 (E) As did many of Bob Dylan’s contemporaries, he wrote songs

Hence C

Like many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs that became

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Like many of his contemporaries did, Bob Dylan wrote songs that became

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