Sentence Correction

1) Is there any preference in GMAT SC like

TO read is better than Reading.




2) What is the difference between below 2 sentences :

a) A technique ALLEVIATING pain is growing popular.

In this alleviate is used in present participle form



b) A technique TO ALLEVIATE pain is growing popular.


In this alleviate is used in Infinitive form.


Although both participle and infinitive are modifying noun here.


3)Can an infinitive act as the main verb of the sentence?

what about this sentence....what is the verb?

A plan TO CONQUER the world is in his files.

Instructors can you please help?

3)Can an infinitive act as the main verb of the sentence?

what about this sentence....what is the verb?

A plan TO CONQUER the world is in his files.

The infinitive "to conquer" isn't the main verb of the sentence here. Rather, it modifies 'a plan." (And raises serious questions about what else is in this person's files

You can see this because "A plan to conquer the world," is not a complete clause. The verb in this sentence is "is." A plan TO CONQUER the world IS in his files.

Though infinitives are incredibly versatile, TO + VERB cannot, by itself, be the main verb of a sentence. For example "I want to build a bookshelf," is a perfectly acceptable sentence, but "I to build a bookshelf," clearly is not.

1) Is there any preference in GMAT SC like

TO read is better than Reading.

Both a gerund and an infinitive can function as the subject of a sentence. "Reading is fun," and "To read is fun," are acceptable constructions. We can't make a sweeping generalization that the GMAT will always prefer one to the other.

Thanks Dave!


Can you please my doubt 2 as well


2) What is the difference between below 2 sentences :

a) A technique ALLEVIATING pain is growing popular.

In this alleviate is used in present participle form



b) A technique TO ALLEVIATE pain is growing popular.


In this alleviate is used in Infinitive form.


Although both participle and infinitive are modifying noun here.

vishalwin wrote:Thanks Dave!


Can you please my doubt 2 as well


2) What is the difference between below 2 sentences :

a) A technique ALLEVIATING pain is growing popular.

In this alleviate is used in present participle form



b) A technique TO ALLEVIATE pain is growing popular.


In this alleviate is used in Infinitive form.


Although both participle and infinitive are modifying noun here.

It's certainly acceptable to use either a participle or an infinitive to modify a noun. I might amend the first sentence so that it reads, "A technique FOR ALLEVIATING pain is growing popular." (The distinction is more about meaning than grammar. Without "for" it sounds as though the technique is currently alleviating pain, as opposed to conveying the sense that the objective of the technique is to alleviate pain.)

DavidG@VeritasPrep wrote:

vishalwin wrote:Thanks Dave!


Can you please my doubt 2 as well


2) What is the difference between below 2 sentences :

a) A technique ALLEVIATING pain is growing popular.

In this alleviate is used in present participle form



b) A technique TO ALLEVIATE pain is growing popular.


In this alleviate is used in Infinitive form.


Although both participle and infinitive are modifying noun here.

It's certainly acceptable to use either a participle or an infinitive to modify a noun. I might amend the first sentence so that it reads, "A technique FOR ALLEVIATING pain is growing popular." (The distinction is more about meaning than grammar. Without "for" it sounds as though the technique is currently alleviating pain, as opposed to conveying the sense that the objective of the technique is to alleviate pain.)

Dave for sentence 2 and hence the difference between these 2 sentences the book says following:

This sentence b means that you (or someone else) can alleviate pain by means of this technique. In other
words, technique is not meant to be the subject of the action alleviate. Often, when you modify a noun
with an infinitive, that noun is not the implied subject of the infinitive'

Can you please explain this a bit.

DavidG@VeritasPrep wrote:

3)Can an infinitive act as the main verb of the sentence?

what about this sentence....what is the verb?

A plan TO CONQUER the world is in his files.

The infinitive "to conquer" isn't the main verb of the sentence here. Rather, it modifies 'a plan." (And raises serious questions about what else is in this person's files

You can see this because "A plan to conquer the world," is not a complete clause. The verb in this sentence is "is." A plan TO CONQUER the world IS in his files.

Though infinitives are incredibly versatile, TO + VERB cannot, by itself, be the main verb of a sentence. For example "I want to build a bookshelf," is a perfectly acceptable sentence, but "I to build a bookshelf," clearly is not.

In the below sentence QUICKLY modifies the MOVE although it is a part of infinitive TO MOVE:


The company needs to move quickly if it is to launch its new product.


Can you please help me.

A new doubt came up today:


4)The weight was lifted TO FREE my leg.


what's the purpose of infinitive here?

Is it working as an adverb in this sentence?

This sentence b means that you (or someone else) can alleviate pain by means of this technique. In other
words, technique is not meant to be the subject of the action alleviate. Often, when you modify a noun
with an infinitive, that noun is not the implied subject of the infinitive'

Can you please explain this a bit.

They just mean that the construction "a technique to do x," doesn't necessarily mean that the technique is doing x itself, but rather, that a person is using the technique to do x. So the implied subject could be the person using the technique.

In the below sentence QUICKLY modifies the MOVE although it is a part of infinitive TO MOVE:


The company needs to move quickly if it is to launch its new product.


Can you please help me.

I'm not quite sure what your question is. "Quickly" can certainly modify "to move." And one could think of the phrase "to move quickly" as an adverbial modifier describing what the company "needs." [At least that's how I think of it. One usage guide I consulted would treat the construction "to move quickly" as the object of the verb "need." Either way, it's a valid construction.]

4)The weight was lifted TO FREE my leg.


what's the purpose of infinitive here?

Is it working as an adverb in this sentence?

That looks like a valid interpretation to me.

DavidG@VeritasPrep wrote:

In the below sentence QUICKLY modifies the MOVE although it is a part of infinitive TO MOVE:


The company needs to move quickly if it is to launch its new product.


Can you please help me.

I'm not quite sure what your question is. "Quickly" can certainly modify "to move." And one could think of the phrase "to move quickly" as an adverbial modifier describing what the company "needs." [At least that's how I think of it. One usage guide I consulted would treat the construction "to move quickly" as the object of the verb "need." Either way, it's a valid construction.]

my question was "Adverb can modify VERBS" but in "TO MOVE" Quickly modifies "MOVE" and that's apart of infinitive.

How can a adverb modify a infinitive?

Hope this time you get my question.

my question was "Adverb can modify VERBS" but in "TO MOVE" Quickly modifies "MOVE" and that's apart of infinitive.

How can a adverb modify a infinitive?

Hope this time you get my question.

I see. Adverbs are also incredibly flexible. They can, by definition, modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Infinitives can function as verbs or adverbs. So there's no reason why an adverb can't modify an infinitive. The beauty about grammar - particularly the grammar that's tested on the GMAT -is that it's often consistent with basic logic. Is the sentence "I need to move quickly," clear? It is. "Quickly" is describing how I need "to move." So when you're doing SC on the GMAT, it's often better to start by asking yourself if the meaning/logic of the sentence is clear, as opposed to mentally sorting through an endless array of obscure grammar rules.

DavidG@VeritasPrep wrote:

my question was "Adverb can modify VERBS" but in "TO MOVE" Quickly modifies "MOVE" and that's apart of infinitive.

How can a adverb modify a infinitive?

Hope this time you get my question.

I see. Adverbs are also incredibly flexible. They can, by definition, modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Infinitives can function as verbs or adverbs. So there's no reason why an adverb can't modify an infinitive. The beauty about grammar - particularly the grammar that's tested on the GMAT -is that it's often consistent with basic logic. Is the sentence "I need to move quickly," clear? It is. "Quickly" is describing how I need "to move." So when you're doing SC on the GMAT, it's often better to start by asking yourself if the meaning/logic of the sentence is clear, as opposed to mentally sorting through an endless array of obscure grammar rules.

Thanks Dave for the valuable suggestion!

Actually this doubt arose because I thought "INFINITIVE CAN'T ACT AS MAIN VERN IN A SENTENCE".