SC: Several financial officers of the company spoke

[roller0081]

I came across this problem in GMATprep Practice Test 2:

Several financial officers of the company spoke on condition that they not be named in the press reports.

A. that they not be named
B. that their names will not be used
C. that their names are not used
D. of not having their names
E. of not naming them

I chose D because I thought D is perfect. I just thought A looks strange.
Does A use Subjunctive Mood? Do we have to use subjunctive mood in the clause "on condition that..."?

Many thanks,
Daisy

[george.kourdin]

i got this wrong, but in hindsight, i think A is right because of subjunctive

[RonPurewal]

I just thought A looks strange.

it may sound strange -- the english subjunctive is not often heard in spoken language -- but it's a correct construction. if you read lots of formal english, you'll become more accustomed to seeing it.

Does A use Subjunctive Mood? Do we have to use subjunctive mood in the clause "on condition that..."?

yes and yes.

[sabharwal.bhavna]

I agree that the usage of subjunctive mood in A is correct. However, I felt that option B provides clear and unambiguous meaning. Why is the choice B not correct?

[RonPurewal]

I agree that the usage of subjunctive mood in A is correct. However, I felt that option B provides clear and unambiguous meaning. Why is the choice B not correct?

see the post directly above yours. last part of the post.

[adelishakk]

hi ron,

I understand that you have to use the command subjunctive for the bossy verb ' condition'.

however condition is the object of the preposition here . i.e on conditions, hence a noun. so how does the subjunctive apply here ?

thanks.
adel

[RonPurewal]

hi ron,

I understand that you have to use the command subjunctive for the bossy verb ' condition'.

however condition is the object of the preposition here . i.e on conditions, hence a noun. so how does the subjunctive apply here ?

thanks.
adel

not following you here -- this kind of "condition" is ALWAYS a noun. ("condition" can be a verb, but that verb doesn't mean anything like this.)

in any case, such nuances don't influence anything here; you just have to know what kinds of things (regardless of their particular forms) take these constructions.
e.g.
the boss demanded that steve show up early every friday.
the boss's demand that steve show up early every friday seems unreasonable.
--> same principle here. sure, "demand" is a verb in the first one and a noun in the second, but that doesn't change the context of the sentence.

[thanghnvn]

pls, explain fully why choices B,C,D and E are wrong. Thank you

[RonPurewal]

pls, explain fully why choices B,C,D and E are wrong. Thank you

please narrow the scope of your question (i.e., ask about one or more specific constructions).
thanks.

[thanghnvn]

we use "doing" when the context of the sentence clearly show the subject/maker of "doing"

this point is why "having" and "naming" refer to "officers" in D and E and D and E are wrong.

is my thinking correct? please, confirm

this point is hard.

[thanghnvn]

if noun exists for an action, we have to use the noun, not "doing of". we can use possessive with a general noun. This is a hard and fast rule.

"the attempt at gmat can bring good results" is good
"my attempt at gmat can bring good results" is good
"my trying at gmat can bring good results" is not acceptable.

if noun dose not exists, we have to use "doing of" to say about a general action. for example:

learning of gmat is good for any one.

question: can we use "doing" without "of " here.

"learning gmat is good for any one" is acceptable or not. is there any difference between 2 above sentences.

when a noun exists, we still have to use "doing" to show the action of specific person. for example

I learn gmat by trying to find the meaning distortion.

in this case, noun "attempt" exist, but we use "doing, trying" to show the action of specific person. we do not use "my attempt" because this use is wordy.

Pls, answer/confirm my quesiton/idea above. Thank you

[tim]

we use "doing" when the context of the sentence clearly show the subject/maker of "doing"

this point is why "having" and "naming" refer to "officers" in D and E and D and E are wrong.

is my thinking correct? please, confirm

this point is hard.

the biggest problem with the participle in D and E is the preposition in front of the participle. again though, as Ron and I have told you countless times, one of the most harmful things you can do in your GMAT preparation is to try to reduce everything down to increasingly narrow and obscure rules. pay attention to what the words are doing in the sentence and how they fit together, and it should become clear to you that this sort of construction just doesn't happen in correct sentences..

[tim]

if noun exists for an action, we have to use the noun, not "doing of". we can use possessive with a general noun. This is a hard and fast rule.

"the attempt at gmat can bring good results" is good
"my attempt at gmat can bring good results" is good
"my trying at gmat can bring good results" is not acceptable.

if noun dose not exists, we have to use "doing of" to say about a general action. for example:

learning of gmat is good for any one.

question: can we use "doing" without "of " here.

"learning gmat is good for any one" is acceptable or not. is there any difference between 2 above sentences.

when a noun exists, we still have to use "doing" to show the action of specific person. for example

I learn gmat by trying to find the meaning distortion.

in this case, noun "attempt" exist, but we use "doing, trying" to show the action of specific person. we do not use "my attempt" because this use is wordy.

Pls, answer/confirm my quesiton/idea above. Thank you

i'm really not sure what in your post constitutes a question and what constitutes an unsupported assertion. either way, i cannot stress enough (and both Ron and i have, dozens of times) that you need to focus less on rules and more on learning how proper English is written. most of the issues you struggle with will become incredibly clear as you gain the requisite experience with the language. no list of rules, no matter how detailed, will ever replace this imperative..

[gauravtyagigmat]

question 1.How do i know that certain word is bossy and that word will work with command subjunctive..

Question 2.Even there are words which accept both command subjunctive and infitive.how do I distinguish among them.for example "require"

the biggest problem with the participle in D and E is the preposition in front of the participle

question 3.Can you please explain why can't we write preposition in front of participle.

[tim]

For 1 and 2, you just have to learn them from experience. Most of this experience is acquired through years of reading and listening to English. For question 3, all prepositions require a noun to be an object.