Sentence Correction

While some academicians believe that business ethics should be integrated into every business course, others say that students will take ethics seriously only if it would be taught as a separately required course.

A) only if it would be taught as a separately required course
B) only if it is taught as a separate, required course
C) if it is taught only as a course required separately
D) if it was taught only as a separate and required course
E) if it would only be taught as a required course, separately

OA: [spoiler]B.
B says "separate, required course".. What does it mean ?
separate ==adjective
required ==verb or adverb ?
course noun..
In "separate,required course" How does separate directly modify course ?

I got stuck between A & B and had to reluctantly choose A and I was wrong.
B looked strange to me ....
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Hi,
separate and required are both adjectives. Both modify 'course'.
The usage is similar to - "You have long,black hair"
long, black both modify hair. This is a valid construction. The usage of 'separately' to modify 'required' doesn't make sense because logically course should be separate.

Also remember the if rule i.e

if he wins, he will distribute sweets
if he won, he would distribute sweets
if he had won, he would have distributed sweets

Frankenstein wrote:Hi,
separate and required are both adjectives. Both modify 'course'.
The usage is similar to - "You have long,black hair"
long, black both modify hair. This is a valid construction. The usage of 'separately' to modify 'required' doesn't make sense because logically course should be separate.

Agree with you both long and black are adjectives modifying hair. I have also seen similar cases in which comma is used between 2 adjectives as here 'You have long,black hair'

But, Will it be not appropriate to say You have long and black hair ?

patanjali.purpose wrote: Agree with you both long and black are adjectives modifying hair. I have also seen similar cases in which comma is used between 2 adjectives as here 'You have long,black hair'

But, Will it be not appropriate to say You have long and black hair ?

Hi,
Either way, It should be fine.

The correct construction is If X happens, Y will happen. In this construction, X is the cause and Y is the effect (result). Also, Y is the main clause. In these kind of structures, would must not appear in the cause part (X). Also, X part should always be present in the present indicative tense. When you have words shifting places, consider whether the options are changing the author's intent.
A: We have would in the cause part and this is incorrect.
B: Correct. Only at the correct place. The cause part (X) in the contains present tense that is required.
C: Only changing the place in this sentence changes the maeaning of the sentence. Here only modifies course and the meaning of the sentence becomes, the students will take the course seriously only if it is taught as a course and will not take it seriously if it is taught as a subject. This is surely not what author intended.
D: was in the if part (Cause part) is not a correct construction. Construction calls for a Present Indicative.
E: conditional would must never appear in the if construction.

Coordinating Adjectives: If two adjectives modify a noun in the same way, place a comma between the two adjectives. These are called coordinate adjectives.
There is a two-part test for coordinate adjectives:
(1) Can you replace the comma with the word and?
(2) Can you reverse the order of the adjectives and keep the same meaning?

If you can do both, then you have coordinate adjectives.

Correct: Did you read about Macomber's short, happy life?
Test for Correctness: (1) Did you read about Macomber's short and happy life?
(2) Did you read about Macomber's happy, short life?
All three sentences say the same thing, so the adjectives are coordinate adjectives and separated by commas in the original.
Cumulative Adjectives

If the paired adjectives fail the two-part test, then no comma is used. This shows that they must remain in a certain order to make sense. These are called cumulative adjectives or Non Coordinate Adjectives.
Incorrect: The former, overweight woman told us how she lost fifty-five pounds.
Test for Correctness: The former and overweight woman...
(Makes no sense)

The overweight, former woman...
(A former woman? At best the meaning is changed.)
Clearly, no comma is needed for these cumulative adjectives.

Correct: The former overweight woman told us how she lost fifty-five pounds.
A device to help remember this punctuation rule is to keep in mind a common expression like Christmas tree or fire truck. We say, "green Christmas tree," but not "Christmas green tree." We say, "red fire truck," but not "fire red truck." Such cumulative expressions take no comma.

Wow!!!
You guys are amazing. Thanks for all 4 replies.
They are worth it. I really liked adi_800's 2 part test
for adjectives.

-Top

TOPGMAT wrote:While some academicians believe that business ethics should be integrated into every business course, others say that students will take ethics seriously only if it would be taught as a separately required course.

A) only if it would be taught as a separately required course
B) only if it is taught as a separate, required course
C) if it is taught only as a course required separately
D) if it was taught only as a separate and required course
E) if it would only be taught as a required course, separately

OA: [spoiler]B.
B says "separate, required course".. What does it mean ?
separate ==adjective
required ==verb or adverb ?
course noun..
In "separate,required course" How does separate directly modify course ?

I got stuck between A & B and had to reluctantly choose A and I was wrong.
B looked strange to me ....
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Hi, can anyone explain what ambiguity "only" causes in C,D,E?

remember the tense sequence rule (Past+Conditional) and (Present+Future)

In C, Only modifies the word course.