Prep SC question: Because of the Sun, which...

[RonPurewal]

Officially correct answers are not wrong!
Do not question them!
Trying to fight the correct answers is a complete waste of time and effort.
Of the time you spend posting "isn't this official answer wrong?", 0% is productive and 100% is wasted.

"Is this correct?" is never a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers. The answer is always yes.
"is this wrong?" / "is this X type of error?" is never a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers. The answer is always no.

The questions you should be asking about correct official answers, if you don't understand them, are:
"Why is this correct?"
"How does this work?"
"What understanding am I lacking that i need to understand this choice?"

This is a small, but hugely significant, change to your way of thinking. You will suddenly find it much easier to understand the format, style, and conventions of the official problems if you retire the idea that they might be wrong.

--

The principle of "removing the modifier" extends only to the core sentence that remains. It doesn't include the relationships built with other modifiers (such as the adverb "also" here), or, in general, other things that are also removable from the sentence.
As long as the remaining core sentence -- the stuff you can't remove -- still works, that's the concern.

[RonPurewal]

Another way to think about it: Often a "team" is formed from more than one modifier. For instance, here, the modifier in question "teams up" with the adverb also. So, you wouldn't "remove" just one of those at a time.

[onkipak]

Hi Instructors,

I don't understand why E is incorrect. The only reason I can think of is that " and also" sounds redundant.

And there is "so" in both B & E. I don't understand why "so" in E is grammatically incorrect.

B: The Sun, which is 400 times larger than the Moon, is also 400 times farther away from Earth, so the Sun and the Moon have the same apparent size in the sky.

OA: The conjunction so introduces the logical consequence of this combination of conditions.

E: Four hundred times larger than the Moon and also 400 times farther away from Earth, so the Sun in the sky has the same apparent size as the Moon.

OA: The opening phrase describes the Sun, so the Sun should be the subject of a final independent clause; the conjunction so is grammatically incorrect.

Thank you for answering in advance!!

[RonPurewal]

When "so" connects two ideas"”i.e., idea #2 is a consequence of idea #1"”you need to have complete sentences before AND after "so".
(complete sentence) + so + (other complete sentence)

E.g.,
I got stuck behind an accident, so I was late to work.
"I got stuck behind an accident" is a complete sentence, as is "I was late to work".

In choice E, the stuff before "so" is not a complete sentence. It's just a giant modifier. (It has neither a subject nor a verb!)

[thanghnvn]

//Because of the Sun, which is 400 times larger than the Moon, but also 400 times farther away from Earth, so both the Sun and the Moon have the same apparent size in the sky.//

B. The Sun, which is 400 times larger than the Moon, is also 400 times farther away from Earth, so the Sun and the Moon have the same apparent size in the sky.

C. The Sun and the Moon have the same apparent size in the sky because the Sun, which is 400 times larger than the Moon, and also 400 times farther away from Earth.

D. Four hundred times larger than the Moon and 400 times farther away from Earth, the Sun has the same apparent size in the sky as the Moon's.

E. Four hundred times larger than the Moon and also 400 times farther away from Earth, so the Sun in the sky has the same apparent size as the Moon.

I want to come back to this problem to know why D is wrong

we do not need "of noun" or " noun 's " in the first half of comparision to use " noun 's" in the second half. there is many questions in og book justify this point.

so, Why D is wrong.?

[thanghnvn]

please, tell me after "the same +noun+as" we use a noun or a clause.

I have the same pen as the pen you have (1)

I have the same pen as you have (2)

I have the same pen as your pen (3)

some person said (3) is wrong because it means

I have the same pen as your pen has

some person said (2) is correct

why (2) can be correct? because (2) is = (1)

I am confused, pls,help

grammar books have no explanation for this point

[RonPurewal]

#1 and #3 are wrong.

#2 is correct.
Also, "have" is unnecessary; "I have the same pen as you" is correct, too.

The whole point of "the same NOUN as ___" is that ___ is not the same NOUN.
If a comparison like this can be made, then the NOUN must exist in two different sets of circumstances. Thus, "___" will represent the other set of circumstances surrounding the NOUN. (In this example, the two sets of circumstances are your and my ownership of the pen in question.)

"The same pen as your pen" would be redundant by nature. Not good.

[RonPurewal]

The above also explains why choice D is incorrect. "The Moon's" is "the moon's size"; therefore, choice D says "the same size as the Moon's size". Oops.

Please don't provide non-justifications, such as "many problems in OG book". Please either (a) mention specific OG problem numbers, or (b) don't.
Thanks.

[geemat18]

I was just reading through the explanations and still have some trouble understanding the modifier concept with answer choice B (not questioning it is correct or not).

Can you please help me understand why the use of "which" modifier does not deduce the clause to be non-essential? Is it because the "which" clauses have relationships with the "also" and "so" clauses that will make it essential? Initially, I didn't think B was the answer because I thought the modifier clauses had to be essential and fell into the trap of selecting D.

Thanks for clarifying in advance!

[RonPurewal]

what do you mean by 'essential'?

i'm not sure what you mean by that. so, i can't really tell what you're asking.
(if this is actually a grammar term, then please ask the question in a way that doesn't use it... because i don't know grammar terms.)

please clarify, thanks.

[RichaChampion]

I am still confused why moon's is wrong.

Do we say:
I have the same book as you or
I have the same book as your or
I have the same book as yours?

Don't overcomplicate the issue. Just look for simple parallelism whenever possible.

"Yours" should go with "my book" or "mine". Not with "me".

"You" goes with "I".

So...
I have the same book as you (do) --> works.
I have the same book as yours --> nah
My book is the same as you --> nope
My book is the same as yours --> works.

Mr. Purewal before posting this question to you I pondered two days to understand this option -
D. Four hundred times larger than the Moon and 400 times farther away from Earth, the Sun has the same apparent size in the sky as the Moon's.

and relate it to the example that you have cited, but I am still confused.

I think moon's correctly implies the size of the moon or perhaps the reason for its refusal is that moon's can refer to so many other things such as
moon's size
moon's color
moon's water
moon's satellite
moon's density
moon's radius

I thinks this raise an ambiguity and I feel that this is the reason why D is not good, Right?

One more question whats is the difference between moon's & moons'


I have one more understanding why Option B is a better choice then option D.
B. The Sun, which is 400 times larger than the Moon, is also 400 times farther away from Earth, so the Sun and the Moon have the same apparent size in the sky.
D. Four hundred times larger than the Moon and 400 times farther away from Earth, the Sun has the same apparent size in the sky as the Moon's.

Option B uses the conjunction "so" that is able to connect the causal flow of the sentence. I mean Since Sun has X(400 times larger than the Moon) and Y( 400 times farther away from Earth) comparable properties so sun and moon has the same apparent size. Is my Understanding correct?

When "so" connects two ideas"”i.e., idea #2 is a consequence of idea #1"”you need to have complete sentences before AND after "so".
(complete sentence) + so + (other complete sentence)

E.g.,
I got stuck behind an accident, so I was late to work.
"I got stuck behind an accident" is a complete sentence, as is "I was late to work".

In choice E, the stuff before "so" is not a complete sentence. It's just a giant modifier. (It has neither a subject nor a verb!)

Wow Ron Sir, This Was the Classic reason to eliminate Option E.

#1 and #3 are wrong.

#2 is correct.
Also, "have" is unnecessary; "I have the same pen as you" is correct, too.

The whole point of "the same NOUN as ___" is that ___ is not the same NOUN.
If a comparison like this can be made, then the NOUN must exist in two different sets of circumstances. Thus, "___" will represent the other set of circumstances surrounding the NOUN. (In this example, the two sets of circumstances are your and my ownership of the pen in question.)

"The same pen as your pen" would be redundant by nature. Not good.

Ron Sir, I have difficulty understanding this point. Can you elucidate this with more examples. Thanks!

[RichaChampion]

_

[RonPurewal]

I think moon's correctly implies the size of the moon or perhaps the reason for its refusal is that moon's can refer to so many other things

no. you can't write "same size as the moon's size", so, that version is incorrect no matter what.

I have as many books as my brother (correct)
I have as many books as my brother's books (incorrect)

again, though, there's no need to think this deeply—you can just notice that "sun" and "moon" are parallel, while "sun" and "moon's" are not parallel. that's all you have to notice.

[RonPurewal]

Option B uses the conjunction "so" that is able to connect the causal flow of the sentence. I mean Since Sun has X(400 times larger than the Moon) and Y( 400 times farther away from Earth) comparable properties so sun and moon has the same apparent size. Is my Understanding correct?

^^ if your point here is that "so" makes logical sense, then, yes, that's true.

[RichaChampion]

[redacted]

Just as X, so Y
It shows the comparison of X and Y and X and Y should be parallel - Is it a Valid Idiomatic Construction, considering what you have told previously