sentence structure

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sentence structure

by zan_khan » Mon Feb 09, 2015 3:09 pm
whether (it is) the lush green fields or the water streams he (is) never remained unmoved by them.
In the above sentence is the (it is) form correct or incorrect? and what should be the correct form, and if the whole sentence structure is incorrect than what should be the correct structure.

thanks.

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by interviewbay22 » Tue Feb 10, 2015 2:38 am
I think it should be

Whether its the lush green fields or the water streams, he has never remained unmoved by them.
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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Fri Feb 13, 2015 4:31 pm
The example you gave is problematic, as the clause, "he is never remained unmoved by them," isn't grammatical. However, it is worth considering the rules regarding "whether."

There's nothing inherently wrong with the construction "whether it is." The main rule regarding 'whether' is this: we use 'whether' when we're introducing two possible scenarios. For example, "I cannot tell whether it is raining or snowing outside." And we use 'if' when we're talking about a conditional scenario. "I will not go outside if it is raining." This whether-vs-if split will sometimes show up on the GMAT.
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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Feb 14, 2015 4:38 am
I cannot tell whether it is raining or snowing outside.
This sentence is acceptable in spoken English, but it would be incorrect on the GMAT.
The reason:
it lacks a clear referent.
On the GMAT, it will ALWAYS have a crystal clear referent.

An OA with whether it is:
The rarer something becomes, whether it is a baseball card or a musical recording or a postage stamp, the more avidly it is sought by collectors.
Here, it clearly refers to something.
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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Sun Feb 15, 2015 2:27 am
This sentence is acceptable in spoken English, but it would be incorrect on the GMAT.
The reason:
it lacks a clear referent.
On the GMAT, it will ALWAYS have a crystal clear referent.
"It" doesn't require a referent if "it" is used as the subject of an impersonal verb. In fact, by definition, we're stuck without a referent in such cases. (For those interested in the rule, check out: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/it or https://www.englishgrammar.org/impersonal-pronoun/)

This is as true in formal writing as it would be if you saw it on the GMAT. And though this construction doesn't show up often, it isn't unprecedented.

See here:

It was only after Katharine Graham became publisher of The Washington Post in 1963 that it moved into the first rank of American newspapers, and it was under her command that the paper won high praise
for its unrelenting reporting of the Watergate scandal.

(A) It was only after Katharine Graham became publisher of The Washington Post in 1963 that it moved into the first rank of American newspapers, and it was under her command that the paper won high praise
(B) It was only after Katharine Graham's becoming publisher of The Washington Post in 1963 that it moved into the first rank of American newspapers, and under her command it had won high praise
(C) Katharine Graham became publisher of The Washington Post in 1963, and only after that did it move into the first rank of American newspapers, having won high praise under her command
(D) Moving into the first rank of American newspapers only after Katharine Graham became its publisher in 1963, The Washington Post, winning high praise under her command
(E) Moving into the first rank of American newspapers only after Katharine Graham's becoming its publisher in 1963, The Washington Post won high praise under her command


Usually, if the impersonal "it" shows up, it does so in the portion of the sentence that isn't underlined, so we don't have to worry about it.

A few more examples:

It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, or if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.

(A) if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found
(B) if other animals were studied with as much depth they would exhibit similar patterns
(C) would similar patterns be found in other animals if they were studied in as much depth
(D) whether similar patterns would be exhibited in other animals that were studied with as much depth
(E) whether other animals would exhibit similar patterns if they were studied in as much depth

It is possible that, like the Volkswagen, whose unchanging exterior over decades concealed many changes in its internal machinery, the evolution of many prehistoric microbes occurred with no significant modification to their sheaths.

(A) the evolution of many prehistoric microbes occurred with no significant modification to their sheaths
(B) the evolution of many prehistoric microbes was occurring without significant modification of their sheaths
(C) no significant modification was made to the sheaths of many prehistoric microbes as they were evolving
(D) the sheaths of many prehistoric microbes went without significant modification during their evolution
(E) many prehistoric microbes evolved without significant modification of their sheaths

Of course, if you were to abide by a strict policy of never choosing an answer choice that didn't have a clear referent for "it," the above scenarios are rare enough that you'd be fine on the GMAT, but the rules regarding "it" are a bit more subtle than we sometimes teach them.
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by GMATGuruNY » Sun Feb 15, 2015 3:47 am
DavidG@VeritasPrep wrote:"It" doesn't require a referent if "it" is used as the subject of an impersonal verb.
On the GMAT, it must always have a clear referent.
In some SCs, it will be an EXPLETIVE: a pronoun serving to delay the subject.
In these cases, the referent for it will typically be a that-clause, a whether-clause, or an infinitive phrase that appears later.
The SCs below employ it as an expletive.
See here:
It was only after Katharine Graham became publisher of The Washington Post in 1963 that it moved into the first rank of American newspapers, and it was under her command that the paper won high praise for its unrelenting reporting of the Watergate scandal.
In this SC, the it in red and the it in blue serve as expletives.

It was only after Katharine Graham became publisher of The Washington Post in 1963 that it moved into the first rank of American newspapers.
Here, the referent for it is the following that-clause.
Conveyed meaning:
That it moved into the first rank of American newspapers was only after Katharine Graham became publisher.

It was under her command that the paper won high praise.
Here, the referent for it is the following that-clause.
Conveyed meaning:
That the paper won high praise was under her command.
A few more examples:

It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species, or whether other animals would exhibit similar patterns if they were studied in as much depth.
Here, the referent for it is the following whether-construction.
Conveyed meaning:
Whether chimpanzees are unique among human species, or whether other animals would exhibit similar patterns, is unclear.
It is possible that, like the Volkswagen, whose unchanging exterior over decades concealed many changes in its internal machinery, many prehistoric microbes evolved without significant modification of their sheaths.
Here, the referent for it is the following that-clause.
Conveyed meaning:
That many prehistoric microbes evolved without significant modification is possible.
DavidG@VeritasPrep wrote:I cannot tell whether it is raining or snowing outside.
Here, it lacks a clear referent.
There is no precedent for this sort of usage on the GMAT.
On the GMAT, it must always have a clear referent.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Fri Jul 15, 2016 5:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by aflaam » Sun Jan 24, 2016 1:11 am
Hello Mitch,
The rarer something becomes, whether it is a baseball card or a musical recording , the more avidly it is sought by collectors.

Is this rephrasing correct?
Isn't it breaking whether X or Y parallellism?

Thanks

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by GMATGuruNY » Sun Jan 24, 2016 4:18 am
aflaam wrote:Hello Mitch,
The rarer something becomes, whether it is a baseball card or a musical recording , the more avidly it is sought by collectors.

Is this rephrasing correct?
Isn't it breaking whether X or Y parallellism?

Thanks
In several posts, I discuss this SC here):
https://www.beatthegmat.com/as-rare-as-t81926-15.html
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by iongmat » Sun Jan 24, 2016 9:45 am
Hi Mitch, this is very useful information from you. For further clarity, can you let us know what "it" is referring to here:

Researchers are finding out that plastics are taking more time to deteriorate than it originally seemed.

Edit: I found the above sentence on a GMAT forum, but I am not sure whether it's an authentic sentence. May be that's the issue.

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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Jan 26, 2016 7:48 am
iongmat wrote:Hi Mitch, this is very useful information from you. For further clarity, can you let us know what "it" is referring to here:

Researchers are finding out that plastics are taking more time to deteriorate than it originally seemed.

Edit: I found the above sentence on a GMAT forum, but I am not sure whether it's an authentic sentence. May be that's the issue.
In the sentence above, it lacks a clear referent.
Thus, the sentence above is not viable.
I believe that the source is Kaplan.
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by iongmat » Tue Jan 26, 2016 9:16 pm
Thanks for clarifying Mitch. That's what I suspected that this sentence is not from any official source.

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by Nina1987 » Tue Jun 28, 2016 1:43 am
HI Mitch,

Regarding option B:

Can we join two independent clauses with 'whether'?

Until this point, I always thought 'use of whether' is justified in this way as long as we are talking about two alternate possibilities. So I thought option B was talking about the following two alternatives
1) Chimps are unique b'cuz of a certain trait
2) there are other animals who would exhibit the same trait if they were studied in as much depth (and thus chimps cant be unique)

Since, Option B express altertive2 as 'if other animals were studied with as much depth they would exhibit similar patterns', single 'whether' should suffice. So I thought parallelism was fine in B.

Only thing that I found clearly wrong wtih it is unidiomatic 'with as much depth' instead of 'in as much depth'

your comment is much appreciated. thanks

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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Jun 28, 2016 4:48 am
Nina1987 wrote:Only thing that I found clearly wrong wtih it is unidiomatic 'with as much depth' instead of 'in as much depth'
Parallel forms should serve the SAME PURPOSE.
B: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique...or if other animals were studied.
Here, the portions in red are parallel forms in that both are composed of CONJUNCTION + SUBJECT + VERB.
As a result, the two portions seem to serve the same purpose, conveying the following meanings:
It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique.
It is unclear if other animals were studied.

The second sentence is grammatically suspect and distorts the intended meaning.
The sentence is not trying to determine whether other animals were studied.
Eliminate B.

The intended meaning is expressed by the OA:
It is unclear...whether other animals would express similar patterns.
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by Alchemist14 » Thu Jul 21, 2016 10:06 pm
GMATGuruNY wrote:
iongmat wrote:Hi Mitch, this is very useful information from you. For further clarity, can you let us know what "it" is referring to here:

Researchers are finding out that plastics are taking more time to deteriorate than it originally seemed.

Edit: I found the above sentence on a GMAT forum, but I am not sure whether it's an authentic sentence. May be that's the issue.
In the sentence above, it lacks a clear referent.
Thus, the sentence above is not viable.
I believe that the source is Kaplan.
Thank you for the great explanation.

In choice B, Can we use 'thus providing' and particularily 'comma+thus+ING'? I have seen other styles-I met with an accident and thus I am late-but I have never seen 'Comma+thus' in any correct answer.

Could you please elaborate more on this error in B.

Thanks in advance.