Also in your earlier post below, can you please give an example that native speaker has problem with? Thanks!
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... tml#p26678
Also in your earlier post below, can you please give an example that native speaker has problem with? Thanks!
RonPurewal Wrote:ever79 Wrote:Ron,
Can I eliminate D by wrong modification:
The number of people purchasing plane tickets online...
"purchasing plane tickets online..." doesn't modify "people" but modifies "The number of people".
no, it can modify "people".
if you have a construction that modifies nouns, following NOUN1 + PREP + NOUN2, then that construction can modify either NOUN1 or NOUN2. to make the distinction, you have to use the context (intended meaning) of the sentence.
the construction (preposition) + NOUN + VERBing is WRONG, unless the preposition refers directly to the NOUN.
eveH982 Wrote:so i wonder can i eliminate D, because in sentence "the number of people purchasing tickets on line is increasing" , "people" seems to take the core status, while "purchasing..." is just a modifier that can be removed anytime?
aflaamM589 Wrote:In D and E, phrase despite the fact that also problematic?
RonPurewal Wrote:aflaamM589 Wrote:In D and E, phrase despite the fact that also problematic?
that's not a bad construction, no.
it's clearly worse than the corresponding part of the other choices -- it's more wordy / bulkier / less efficient, for no apparent reason -- so you can eliminate it here. (don't forget—this is a multiple-choice test!)
however, there might be some other sentence that's best written with "despite the fact that..."
aflaamM589 Wrote:RonPurewal Wrote:aflaamM589 Wrote:In D and E, phrase despite the fact that also problematic?
that's not a bad construction, no.
it's clearly worse than the corresponding part of the other choices -- it's more wordy / bulkier / less efficient, for no apparent reason -- so you can eliminate it here. (don't forget—this is a multiple-choice test!)
however, there might be some other sentence that's best written with "despite the fact that..."
Can you give an example or two ?
RonPurewal Wrote:
the easy way to eliminate (b) is to know that "would" is incorrect.
"would" can be used as a past-tense form of "will" -- for instance, i know that we will win translates into the past tense as i knew that we would win -- or to express a hypothetical situation that isn't true. neither of these is the case here; this is a prognostication of future events, so the future tense makes sense and the conditional ("would") doesn't.
RonPurewal Wrote:
the easy way to eliminate (b) is to know that "would" is incorrect.
"would" can be used as a past-tense form of "will" -- for instance, i know that we will win translates into the past tense as i knew that we would win -- or to express a hypothetical situation that isn't true. neither of these is the case here; this is a prognostication of future events, so the future tense makes sense and the conditional ("would") doesn't.
RonPurewal Wrote:i don't know where you're getting this whole "prediction involving uncertainty" thing... i certainly didn't mention it.
please read the words that i wrote, again:RonPurewal Wrote:
the easy way to eliminate (b) is to know that "would" is incorrect.
"would" can be used as a past-tense form of "will" -- for instance, i know that we will win translates into the past tense as i knew that we would win -- or to express a hypothetical situation that isn't true. neither of these is the case here; this is a prognostication of future events, so the future tense makes sense and the conditional ("would") doesn't.
neither of those two pink things is happening here.
RonPurewal Wrote:for #3, the first part should say "If I earned ... I would invest..."
you don't write "if I earn..." unless that is actually a reasonable possibility.
(i've never seen this sort of thing actually tested on the exam.)
--
in #4, you use "would" if the situation is EXTREMELY UNLIKELY or IMPOSSIBLE. otherwise you use "will".