GMAT Sentence Correction Discussions

Hi All,

I have a little confusion on pronouns usage.

You can do it better than I.
OR
You can do it better than me.

which one of the above is correct and why?

It may sound trivial but am confused right now.


txn

Acc to me first one is correct. I am writing the complete sentences and then lets decide which one is correct.
You can do it better than I can do it
You can do it better than me can do it.

I think this is what we wanted to compare in our sentences so now acc to me it shld be first one. Also we know that X better than Y....X and Y shld be parallel. "You" is subject case of pronoun so we need the subject case of pronoun for Y also...hope this helps....correct me if I amd wrong
Hi All,

I have a little confusion on pronouns usage.

You can do it better than I.
OR
You can do it better than me.

which one of the above is correct and why?

It may sound trivial but am confused right now.


txn


@peak is correct...
the way he has explained is the right method....
you should finish the sentence (which is left because its understood) and then compare...

but rules in english are quite flexi. the second version is also correct in modern english. But for the sake of removing any confusion...consider the first one to be correct ...atleast on GMAT the first one will be correct.
Acc to me first one is correct. I am writing the complete sentences and then lets decide which one is correct.
You can do it better than I can do it
You can do it better than me can do it.

I think this is what we wanted to compare in our sentences so now acc to me it shld be first one. Also we know that X better than Y....X and Y shld be parallel. "You" is subject case of pronoun so we need the subject case of pronoun for Y also...hope this helps....correct me if I amd wrong



Here's my take on this one ......

Given a sentence "You can do it better than I" I feel this would be incorrect .
The second sentence "You can do it better than me " is the correct form .
@peak is correct...
the way he has explained is the right method....
you should finish the sentence (which is left because its understood) and then compare...

but rules in english are quite flexi. the second version is also correct in modern english. But for the sake of removing any confusion...consider the first one to be correct ...atleast on GMAT the first one will be correct.



This is how I went about it . We normally use the sentence " I did it better than you " and the other way to it is " You did it better than me " . Similarly in the sentence " I bettered you " or " You bettered me " we use You and me

But while using the sentece " You have a better house than I have " we can drop off the "have" but cant we substitute " I have " for "me" ??

"Houston ...help required :confused:"
Acc to Manhattan SC correct idioms are: forbid X to Y and prohibits X from Y
A)Though this option doesn't use "forbid X to Y" idiom but conveys the same intent.
B)wrong idiom
C)wordy...unnecessary there be
D)furture tense not required
E)same as E

Though I am not convinced with the following explanation but may be helps you:
GMAT Sentence Correction: Idiom


In this case I feel the usuage should be " Forbid X from Y " so teh answer option which we could follow would be (D) , though it is in future tense but doesn't mean it is incorrect
This is how I went about it . We normally use the sentence " I did it better than you " and the other way to it is " You did it better than me " . Similarly in the sentence " I bettered you " or " You bettered me " we use You and me

But while using the sentece " You have a better house than I have " we can drop off the "have" but cant we substitute " I have " for "me" ??

"Houston ...help required :confused:"

Don't confuse us!! Here's what I got from a very reliable source for english grammar rules :

"Choosing Cases after Linking Verbs and after But, Than, and As

In formal or academic text, we need the nominative or subject form of the pronoun after a linking verb: "It was he who represented the United Nations during the 1960s," "That must be she on the dock over there." In casual speech and writing, however, that sounds awfully stuffy. Imagine the detective who's been looking for the victim's body for days. He jimmies open the trunk of an abandoned car and exclaims, "It's she!" No self-respecting detective since Sherlock Holmes would say such a thing.
When the personal pronoun follows except, but, than, or as, you've got an argument on your hands. Traditionally, these words have been regarded as conjunctions and the personal pronoun that follows has been regarded as the subject of a clause (which might not be completed). Thus "No one could be as happy as I." (If you provide the entire mechanism of the clause "as I " you see the justification for the subject form.) The same goes for these other conjunctions: "Whom were you expecting? who else but he?" "My father is still taller than she" .
Many grammarians have argued, however, that these words are often used as prepositions, not conjunctions (and have been used that way for centuries by many good writers). In a structure such as "My mother is a lot like her," we have no trouble recognizing that "like" is acting as a preposition and we need the object form of the pronoun after it. Why, then, can't we use "than" and "but" as prepositions in sentences such as "Dad's a lot taller than him" and "No one in this class has done the homework but me"? Such usage is now widely regarded as acceptable in all but the most formal writing. The same argument is sometimes used for the object form after as "The coach is not as smart as me" but this argument does not enjoy the cogency of using the object form after but and than.
Garner* argues that when the pronoun precedes the but phrase, the objective case should be used ("None of the students were interested but him"); when the but phrase precedes the verb, the subject case is appropriate ("None of the students but he were interested"). The argument goes that in the former case but is behaving as a preposition, in the second as a conjunction."






Hope that helps!!

dded to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(A) Added to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(B) Added to the increase in hourly wages which had been requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(C) The railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits added to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July.
(D) In addition to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(E) In addition to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.


Any explanation ........????

dded to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(A) Added to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(B) Added to the increase in hourly wages which had been requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(C) The railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits added to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July.
(D) In addition to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(E) In addition to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.


Any explanation ........????

Acc to me ans is E:
A)modifier error....sounds like employees added to the increase
B)same as A...also which shld be preceded by comma in most cases of GMAT...also which here is modifying hourly wages....this is wrong as increase was requested and not hourly wages.
C)"retirement benefits added to increase in hourly wages" is not the intent...the prepositional phrase "to the increase in hourly wages" is misplaced...that modifies hourly wages....as it shld modify increase so "were" is wrong.
D) that modifies hourly wages....it was increase that was requested...so were is also wrong
E) Correct
dded to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(A) Added to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(B) Added to the increase in hourly wages which had been requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(C) The railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits added to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July.
(D) In addition to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(E) In addition to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.


Any explanation ........????


Is teh answer (E)
In addition to the increase ......., the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.

Thanks Everybody.. I am posting only those SC which i am unable to understand.......

According to some economists, Japan is in danger of plunging into a depression that, with double-digit unemployment, could severely strain a society that regards lifetime employment as a virtual right of citizenship.
(A) that, with double-digit unemployment, could severely strain
(B) that, because of double-digit unemployment, could be a severe strain for
(C) with double-digit unemployment, and it could severely strain
(D) with double-digit unemployment and could be a severe strain
(E) with double-digit unemployment and could severely strain

Any expalannation?????

Thanks Everybody.. I am posting only those SC which i am unable to understand.......

According to some economists, Japan is in danger of plunging into a depression that, with double-digit unemployment, could severely strain a society that regards lifetime employment as a virtual right of citizenship.
(A) that, with double-digit unemployment, could severely strain
(B) that, because of double-digit unemployment, could be a severe strain for
(C) with double-digit unemployment, and it could severely strain
(D) with double-digit unemployment and could be a severe strain
(E) with double-digit unemployment and could severely strain

Any expalannation?????


The answer according to me is option(A) . This is how I arrived at it

(A) According to some economists, Japan is in danger of plunging into a depression that, with double-digit unemployment, could severely strain a society that regards lifetime employment as a virtual right of citizenship. ........This option seems to be apt . It also states clearly that depression along with unemployment could strain the society

(B) that, because of double-digit unemployment, could be a severe strain for ....This option tells us that teh depression because of unemployment could strain the Japanese society . Also , we don't use "strain for " rather we use "strain a society " ....Incorrect

(C) Here the pronoun " it " referes to the process rather than a noun

(D) and (E) doesn't seem to be correct as they don't hold the depression responsible for the strain

Any other answers here ..
Thanks Everybody.. I am posting only those SC which i am unable to understand.......

According to some economists, Japan is in danger of plunging into a depression that, with double-digit unemployment, could severely strain a society that regards lifetime employment as a virtual right of citizenship.
(A) that, with double-digit unemployment, could severely strain
(B) that, because of double-digit unemployment, could be a severe strain for
(C) with double-digit unemployment, and it could severely strain
(D) with double-digit unemployment and could be a severe strain
(E) with double-digit unemployment and could severely strain

Any expalannation?????

i'm giving you my line of thinking on this, correct if i'm wrong.

(B) we do not have anything to link depression to unemployment as yet. so 'with' instead of 'because of' would be better.
(C) seems like it is Japan that will cause the strain and not the unemployment
(D) if we substitute this, there seems to be a 'for' missing, so cross this out.
(E) seems like Japan could severely strain a society. incorrect.

I think A would be correct here. if not, please come up with the explanations as well.

slam.

After Queen Isabella asked Admiral Columbus to describe the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti), which was newly discovered, he had reached for a sheet of paper, crumpled it, and said, It looks like thatbeyond the mountains, more mountains.
(A) After Queen Isabella asked Admiral Columbus to describe the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti), which was newly discovered, he had reached
(B) On being asked to describe the new discovery of the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti) by Queen Isabella, Admiral Columbus, reaching
(C) Queen Isabella asked Admiral Columbus to describe the newly discovered island of Hispaniola (now Haiti), then he reached
(D) When asked by Queen Isabella to describe the newly discovered island of Hispaniola (now Haiti), Admiral Columbus reached
(E) After Queen Isabella had asked Admiral Columbus to describe the discovery of the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti), he had reached


any explanation ... ?????

After Queen Isabella asked Admiral Columbus to describe the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti), which was newly discovered, he had reached for a sheet of paper, crumpled it, and said, It looks like thatbeyond the mountains, more mountains.
(A) After Queen Isabella asked Admiral Columbus to describe the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti), which was newly discovered, he had reached
(B) On being asked to describe the new discovery of the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti) by Queen Isabella, Admiral Columbus, reaching
(C) Queen Isabella asked Admiral Columbus to describe the newly discovered island of Hispaniola (now Haiti), then he reached
(D) When asked by Queen Isabella to describe the newly discovered island of Hispaniola (now Haiti), Admiral Columbus reached
(E) After Queen Isabella had asked Admiral Columbus to describe the discovery of the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti), he had reached


any explanation ... ?????


I think the answer should be Option(D) . Here's how I approached it

(B) We can rule out this option as "being" is almost always wrong on GMAT unless we find other options equally bad

(A) , (C) & (E) The use of perfect tense here makes the sentence less better a choice compared to option (D) which seems to have the proper format


Do let everyone know the correct answers for the questions which you are posting . By suich discussions we not only get to know the diverse reasoning applied into such questions but also get to correct our mistakes πŸ˜‰
I think the answer should be Option(D) . Here's how I approached it

(B) We can rule out this option as "being" is almost always wrong on GMAT unless we find other options equally bad

(A) , (C) & (E) The use of perfect tense here makes the sentence less better a choice compared to option (D) which seems to have the proper format


Do let everyone know the correct answers for the questions which you are posting . By suich discussions we not only get to know the diverse reasoning applied into such questions but also get to correct our mistakes ;)


Thanks for explanation
the answer is D but
i was confused with C and D how C is in Perfect tense can u explain more on that
Thanks for explanation
the answer is D but
i was confused with C and D how C is in Perfect tense can u explain more on that


Yups correct (C) is not in Perfect Tense the other two options use perfect tense . The reason C couldn't be the answer is that in option(C) the cause and effect relation is not established . ...THE USE of the word "then" implies a sequence of events rather than a causal one . Hope I clarified ur point .

Although he is as gifted as, if not more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished.
(A) Although he is as gifted as, if not more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished.
(B) Although he is as gifted, if not more gifted, than many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and with his poetry remaining unpublished.
(C) Although he is as gifted as, if not more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and will not publish his poetry.
(D) Despite his being gifted, if not more gifted than his colleagues, he is extremely modest and will not publish his poetry.
(E) Being a gifted as, or more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished.


any explanation ??????
will tell the answer also once i get the reply ......

Although he is as gifted as, if not more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished.
(A) Although he is as gifted as, if not more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished.
(B) Although he is as gifted, if not more gifted, than many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and with his poetry remaining unpublished.
(C) Although he is as gifted as, if not more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and will not publish his poetry.
(D) Despite his being gifted, if not more gifted than his colleagues, he is extremely modest and will not publish his poetry.
(E) Being a gifted as, or more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished.


any explanation ??????
will tell the answer also once i get the reply ......

A - consider the latter part of sentence, "he is extremely modest" deals with "he" as subject and "his poetry" deals with "poetry" as subject which is a conflict...

B - "as ___ as" is a phrase and cannot be separated...

D - "if not more" is a comparision so if u ignore that part for the moment, the sentence reads as "despite his being gifted, he is extremely modest" which again conflicts with subject change

E - obviously wrong!!!! the sentence means to convey that "although he is gifted, he is modest ...." this option ignores the "although" part...

correct answer is C...
Although he is as gifted as, if not more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished.
(A) Although he is as gifted as, if not more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished.
(B) Although he is as gifted, if not more gifted, than many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and with his poetry remaining unpublished.
(C) Although he is as gifted as, if not more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and will not publish his poetry.
(D) Despite his being gifted, if not more gifted than his colleagues, he is extremely modest and will not publish his poetry.
(E) Being a gifted as, or more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished.


any explanation ??????
will tell the answer also once i get the reply ......


Option(C) seems to be the correct choice .....

The use of the phrase as gifted as , not more gifted than is the correct usuage ...which means we can rule out option(B) which doesn't use the structure properly .

Option (A) lacks essence as the second part of the sentence " poetry is unpublished" seems to be an independent event with no connection with the earlier part .

Option (D) and Option (E) uses "being " which as far as GMAT is concerned should be avoided .

Option (C) is the correct answer ..

hi all,

the answer i think is C,

B&E; - does not use ...as gifted as ...which becomes inseparable...

A- the second part of the sentence ' he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished,, i mean the conjuction of ideas extremly modest and his poetry unpublished does not sync well..

D- is the answer option i couldn negate with a reason... but whereby i selected C...

any gud explanation on how to negate D...

regards

Jakhar


Although he is as gifted as, if not more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished.
(A) Although he is as gifted as, if not more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished.
(B) Although he is as gifted, if not more gifted, than many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and with his poetry remaining unpublished.
(C) Although he is as gifted as, if not more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and will not publish his poetry.
(D) Despite his being gifted, if not more gifted than his colleagues, he is extremely modest and will not publish his poetry.
(E) Being a gifted as, or more gifted than, many of his colleagues, he is extremely modest and his poetry is unpublished.


any explanation ??????
will tell the answer also once i get the reply ......