When we use "had + verb" to indicate the past perfect, we're referring to an action happened before something else in the past. For example:

"By 2012, Tim had already alienated every other member of the homeowner's association by practicing outside with his Klezmer band until 2am every night."

Here, "2012" is in the past, and Tim alienated the other members of the association sometime before 2012, so the past perfect "had alienated" is appropriate here.

Now take another look at (A):


The moment of Willkie's nomination was in the past, and Willkie neglected to change his voter registration before this past event, so "had yet to change" makes sense here.

(D), on the other hand, contains the problematic verb phrase "was yet to be changed," which suggests that this failure to change his registration didn't necessarily happen before the moment of the nomination. Does that mean they happened at the same time? That wouldn't make much sense, particularly because the "yet" suggests we're talking about an interval of time covering everything before the moment of his nomination.

Also, the passive construction "to be changed" implies that someone else might have changed Willkie's voter registration, a meaning that is confusing at best.

So while (D) doesn't necessarily have a definitive grammar error, its meaning is fuzzier and less logical than option (A), so (A) is our winner here.

I hope that helps!
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Can someone provide an explanation on why A is preferred to D?

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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

Sentence Correction

Wendell Willkie was the Republican nominee for U.S. president in 1940. The underlined portion of this sentence is a subordinate clause stating that when he was nominated, he had not yet changed his voter registration. This clause must be concisely worded to convey this meaning clearly, smoothly, and unambiguously. The phrase at the moment of his nomination must be carefully placed so that it unambiguously modifies the entire phrase indicating that he had not yet changed his voter registration.

A Correct. This wording is clear and concise. The use of that demarcates the beginning of the subordinate clause, clarifying that at the moment of his nomination is part of the clause. The placement of at the moment of his nomination before he had yet to change his voter registration shows that the former phrase modifies the latter.

B This wording confusingly suggests that at the moment of his nomination modifies only change his voter registration rather than the entire phrase he had yet to change his voter registration.

C With no that to mark where the subordinate clause begins, this phrasing confusingly suggests that at the moment of his nomination is part of the main clause and modifies converted to the Republican party. The phrasing there was yet his voter registration to change is awkward and unclear.

D This awkward use of the passive voice is unnecessarily confusing, leaving it unclear who or what had not yet changed Willkie's voter registration. The placement of at the moment of his nomination confusingly suggests that the phrase modifies only changed rather than the entire phrase his voter registration was yet to be changed.

E This awkward combination of the gerund phrase changing his registration with the passive voice is unnecessarily wordy, convoluted, and confusing, leaving it unclear who or what had not yet changed Willkie's voter registration. The use of both changed and done is unnecessarily redundant. The placement of at the moment of his nomination confusingly suggests that the phrase modifies only done rather than the entire phrase changing his voter registration was yet to be done.

The correct answer is A.

AjiteshArun egmat could y'all please assist in decoding this sentence? How is the usage of past perfect correct in Option A?

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The difference between A and D is that:
Option A specifies that Democrat was the one who had to change his registration
Option D does not say who is going to change the registration, so it does not give complete meaning

EducationAisle, could you explain the nuances of this sentence and tell why A is correct and the others are wrong?

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EducationAisle could you please help decode this and tell why A is correct and others are wrong?

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Wendell Willkie was a Democrat so newly and casually converted to the Republican party that at the moment of his nomination he had yet to change his voter registration.

A) that at the moment of his nomination he had yet to change his voter registration
>> Correct. The best choice.

B) he had yet to change his voter registration at the moment of his nomination
>> Wrong because of missing of that. so newly and casually converted to the Republican party that; The correct idiom is so...that.

C) at the moment of his nomination there was yet his voter registration to change
>> Same reason as B

D) that his voter registration was yet to be changed at the moment of his nomination
>> The placement of "at the moment of his nomination" changes the intended meaning of sentence

E) that changing his voter registration was yet to be done at the moment of his nomination
>> Same reason as D

Whenever simple past conveys the meaning correctly, it is preferred to past perfect. But that doesn't make use of past perfect incorrect.

In absence of better alternatives, we have to choose option that uses past perfect. Best to keep 'was vs. had' difference as last point of elimination, after you have exhausted other issues.

A is the correct answer here.

GMATNinja Please explain the difference between Option A & Option D. I am not able to understand the sequence of events in Option A, to justify the usage of "had".

A) that at the moment of his nomination he had yet to change his voter registration Correct

=>so..that
=>Per the intended meaning, WW had yet to change his voter registration at the moment of his nomination

B) he had yet to change his voter registration at the moment of his nomination Incorrect

=>so..that is a correct idiom

C) at the moment of his nomination there was yet his voter registration to change Incorrect

=>so..that is a correct idiom

D) that his voter registration was yet to be changed at the moment of his nomination Incorrect

=> Meaning changed: This sentence fails to express who changed WW's voter registration. Per the intended meaning, WW had yet to change his voter registration at the moment of his nomination

E) that changing his voter registration was yet to be done at the moment of his nomination Incorrect

=> Meaning changed: This sentence fails to express who changed WW's voter registration. Per the intended meaning, WW had yet to change his voter registration at the moment of his nomination
=> Wordy
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Yes, it's correct.

"he had yet to" is another way of saying "he had not yet."

So, the version created via the use of (A) says essentially, "at the moment of his nomination, he had not yet changed his voter registration."

To see why that wording would be correct, we can use it without "not yet" to get "at the moment of his nomination, he had changed his voter registration."

We can see that that version conveys that he changed his voter registration before the moment of his nomination.

So, this version, "at the moment of his nomination, he had not yet changed his voter registration," conveys that he did not change his registration before the moment of his nomination, as does this version, "at the moment of his nomination, he had yet to change his voter registration."
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Hi,

Can someone explain the role of 'that' in option a. What is it substituting?

Srikar

https://gmatclub.com/forum/experts-topi ... l#p1879038

I believe 'that' is introducing a sub-ordinate clause.

"to be to do" is a future action. it is a plan.
we want to talk about a fact after "so.... that". we need a fact, not a future plan after the phrase "so... that". so, choice D and E is wrong

Two questions.
Firstly, in D is there a tense issue too? I don't think there is a tense issue because his registration was yet to be changed directly tells us that at the moment of his nomination his registration was not changed. two issues which made me eliminate this option were firstly passive construction and secondly there is no doer of the action (was yet to be changed).
Secondly, In A is had really a past perfect, because for it we need a verb too, like had played etc. I think had is simply used as a past tense verb of has. Can you clear this.
IanStewart GMATNinja DmitryFarber
MartyTargetTestPrep
egmat

A) that at the moment of his nomination he had yet to change his voter registration
it's grammatically and tense wise perfect therefore let us hang on to it

B) he had yet to change his voter registration at the moment of his nomination
Absence of that makes the sense distorted and akward

C) at the moment of his nomination there was yet his voter registration to change
The absence of that and it would require a comma to accomdate independent clauses

D) that his voter registration was yet to be changed at the moment of his nomination
was yet usage distorts the meaning otherwise it's grammatically correct

E) that changing his voter registration was yet to be done at the moment of his nomination
changing isn't the right usage and the meaning becomes distorted

Therefore IMO A

Have you tried reviewing this post?
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Hello SURAVI1995,

Thank you for sending the PM on this question.

You asked:




You are confused about this question because you think that "had" in the underlined portion of the sentence is a past perfect tense verb, the usage of which should be incorrect in the sentence. This is certainly not the case.

The verbs have, has, and had work as the past perfect tense ONLY when these words are followed by another verb in its past participle form. For example, had said, had eaten, etc. But that is NOT the case in this official sentence. The word "had" is followed by "to change", which is not a verb. So, when have, has, and had are used just by themselves, they act as simple tense verbs. So, in this sentence, "had" is the simple past tense verb.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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