subject less clause

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aflaam: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 132; Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 2:52 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 4 times

by aflaam » Sun May 01, 2016 5:42 pm

Question pack SC. So be cautious if you are contemplating to purchase it : )

Restorers say that if allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.
A. If
B. if it is
C. if they are
D. when
E. when it is
OA is C

In A vs C, why A can't be correct, if it is taken as the case of subject less clause?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun May 01, 2016 5:42 pm

fabiocafarelli: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 105; Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 3:40 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 57 times

by fabiocafarelli » Mon May 02, 2016 1:49 am

1. In the given sentence you should notice that there are two clauses before the first comma: RESEARCHERS SAY is the first, and the rest is an incomplete clause of condition: if allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa. The clause is incomplete because it contains is no subject. This absence of a subject means that the subject automatically becomes the noun that appears after the first comma. Thus, THE COLORS becomes the subject, so creating the illogical idea that the colors could be allowed to remove and displace varnish.

2. In option C, on the other hand, the antecedent of THEY in the clause of condition is the subject of the initial clause: RESTORERS. This makes sense. RESTORERS are now the agents who will remove and replace the varnish on the painting. Thus, logically, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.

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aflaam: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 132; Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 2:52 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 4 times

by aflaam » Mon May 02, 2016 2:42 am

fabiocafarelli wrote:1. In the given sentence you should notice that there are two clauses before the first comma: RESEARCHERS SAY is the first, and the rest is an incomplete clause of condition: if allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa. The clause is incomplete because it contains is no subject. This absence of a subject means that the subject automatically becomes the noun that appears after the first comma. Thus, THE COLORS becomes the subject, so creating the illogical idea that the colors could be allowed to remove and displace varnish.

2. In option C, on the other hand, the antecedent of THEY in the clause of condition is the subject of the initial clause: RESTORERS. This makes sense. RESTORERS are now the agents who will remove and replace the varnish on the painting. Thus, logically, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.

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Thanks for your reply.
Why can't they in C now refers to the subject the colors?
Why can't it now be taken as the case of pronoun in the initial modifier refers to the subject?

Thank you [/b]

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Mon May 02, 2016 3:10 am

From the OG10:
Although accounting for only 5 percent of the world'Â€Â™s population, United States citizens consume 28 percent of its nonrenewable resources.
The structure here is as follows:
VERBLESS CLAUSE + MAIN CLAUSE.
In this structure, implied as the subject of the verbless clause is the subject of the following main clause.
Conveyed meaning:
Although [United States citizens are] accounting for only 5 percent of the world's population, United States citizens consume 28 percent of its nonrenewable resources.

Answer choice A in the SC above:
If allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.
The structure here is as follows:
VERBLESS IF-CLAUSE + MAIN CLAUSE.
Thus, implied as the subject of the verbless if-clause is the subject of the following main clause (the colors).
Conveyed meaning:
If [the colors are] allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate A.

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aflaam: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 132; Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 2:52 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 4 times

by aflaam » Tue May 03, 2016 2:15 am

GMATGuruNY wrote:From the OG10:
Although accounting for only 5 percent of the world'Â€Â™s population, United States citizens consume 28 percent of its nonrenewable resources.
The structure here is as follows:
VERBLESS CLAUSE + MAIN CLAUSE.
In this structure, implied as the subject of the verbless clause is the subject of the following main clause.
Conveyed meaning:
Although [United States citizens are] accounting for only 5 percent of the world's population, United States citizens consume 28 percent of its nonrenewable resources.

Answer choice A in the SC above:
If allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.
The structure here is as follows:
VERBLESS IF-CLAUSE + MAIN CLAUSE.
Thus, implied as the subject of the verbless if-clause is the subject of the following main clause (the colors).
Conveyed meaning:
If [the colors are] allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate A.

thank you so much for your reply.

For the best extraction of the flavor of saffron threads, it should be soaked in liquid after being pounded with a mortar and pestle.

A) Same
B) To best extract their flavor, saffron threads should be soaked in liquid after pounding
C) The best way to extract the flavor from saffron threads is soaking them in liquid after being pounded
D) The best way to extract the flavor from saffron threads is to soak them in liquid after pounding them
E) The flavor of saffron threads can best be extracted by soaking it in liquid after pounding it.

This is a gmat prep question
OA is D

Why not subject of a subject less clause (after pounding them with a mortar and pestle )is the subject of the main clause(The best way to extract the flavor from saffron threads )?

According to my understanding, subject less clause begins with subordinate conjunction and is followed by participle , as is the case in D.
what am i missing?

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Tue May 03, 2016 4:39 am

aflaam wrote: Why not subject of a subject less clause (after pounding them with a mortar and pestle )is the subject of the main clause(The best way to extract the flavor from saffron threads )?

According to my understanding, subject less clause begins with subordinate conjunction and is followed by participle , as is the case in D.
what am i missing?

after can serve as a PREPOSITION.
The play begins after midnight.
Here, midnight is the object of the preposition after.

OA: The best way to extract the flavor from saffron threads is to soak them in liquid after pounding them.
Here, pounding them is the object of the preposition after.

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fabiocafarelli: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 105; Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 3:40 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 57 times

by fabiocafarelli » Wed May 04, 2016 1:45 am

aflaam wrote:
fabiocafarelli wrote:1. In the given sentence you should notice that there are two clauses before the first comma: RESEARCHERS SAY is the first, and the rest is an incomplete clause of condition: if allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa. The clause is incomplete because it contains is no subject. This absence of a subject means that the subject automatically becomes the noun that appears after the first comma. Thus, THE COLORS becomes the subject, so creating the illogical idea that the colors could be allowed to remove and displace varnish.

2. In option C, on the other hand, the antecedent of THEY in the clause of condition is the subject of the initial clause: RESTORERS. This makes sense. RESTORERS are now the agents who will remove and replace the varnish on the painting. Thus, logically, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.

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Thanks for your reply.
Why can't they in C now refers to the subject the colors?
Why can't it now be taken as the case of pronoun in the initial modifier refers to the subject?

Thank you [/b]

One reason why THEY in option C cannot be taken as referring to the subject COLORS involves the norms governing the use of pronouns. A pronoun, in order to be correct, MUST have a LOGICAL ANTECEDENT, and MUST have ONLY ONE logical antecedent. In sentences in which a pronoun has more than one possible logical antecedent, the meaning produced is ambiguous or even illogical.
Thus, from the point of view of agreement in person and number, THEY could refer either to RESTORERS or to COLORS. Nevertheless, such a reading would be absurd. The only possible LOGICAL antecedent of THEY is RESTORERS. For this reason, THEY in option C cannot be taken as referring to COLORS.

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bonetlobo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 93; Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2015 3:47 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 4 times

by bonetlobo » Wed May 04, 2016 8:49 am

GMATGuruNY wrote:From the OG10:
Although accounting for only 5 percent of the world'Â€Â™s population, United States citizens consume 28 percent of its nonrenewable resources.
The structure here is as follows:
VERBLESS CLAUSE + MAIN CLAUSE.
In this structure, implied as the subject of the verbless clause is the subject of the following main clause.
Conveyed meaning:
Although [United States citizens are] accounting for only 5 percent of the world's population, United States citizens consume 28 percent of its nonrenewable resources.

Answer choice A in the SC above:
If allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.
The structure here is as follows:
VERBLESS IF-CLAUSE + MAIN CLAUSE.
Thus, implied as the subject of the verbless if-clause is the subject of the following main clause (the colors).
Conveyed meaning:
If [the colors are] allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate A.

Hello Mitch, had a quick question. Why can we not just take "Although accounting for..." and "If allowed to remove... " as "VERBing" and "VERBed" phrases? Why do we need to bring the concept of verbless clause here?

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Wed May 04, 2016 2:33 pm

bonetlobo wrote:Hello Mitch, had a quick question. Why can we not just take "Although accounting for..." and "If allowed to remove... " as "VERBing" and "VERBed" phrases? Why do we need to bring the concept of verbless clause here?

I bring up the concept of a verbless clause for the following reason:
Most sources define although and if as subordinate conjunctions: conjunctions that serve to connect a dependent clause to a main clause.
For this reason, many students expect these conjunctions to be followed by a subject and verb and are confused by the verbless constructions in the SCs above.
The concept of a verbless clause allows these students to see the subject and verb that are omitted but implied.

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richachampion: Legendary Member; Posts: 698; Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2015 12:12 amFollowed by: 26 members; Location: Noida, India; Thanked: 32 times; GMAT Score:740

by richachampion » Wed Jun 22, 2016 7:28 pm

GMATGuruNY wrote:From the OG10:
Although accounting for only 5 percent of the world'Â€Â™s population, United States citizens consume 28 percent of its nonrenewable resources.
The structure here is as follows:
VERBLESS CLAUSE + MAIN CLAUSE.
In this structure, implied as the subject of the verbless clause is the subject of the following main clause.
Conveyed meaning:
Although [United States citizens are] accounting for only 5 percent of the world's population, United States citizens consume 28 percent of its nonrenewable resources.

Answer choice A in the SC above:
If allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.
The structure here is as follows:
VERBLESS IF-CLAUSE + MAIN CLAUSE.
Thus, implied as the subject of the verbless if-clause is the subject of the following main clause (the colors).
Conveyed meaning:
If [the colors are] allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa, the colors Leonardo da Vinci painted nearly five hundred years ago will once again shine through.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate A.

From the Top of this thread, there is a reply to #2 that says -

1. In the given sentence you should notice that there are two clauses before the first comma: RESEARCHERS SAY is the first, and the rest is an incomplete clause of condition: if allowed to remove and replace the discolored layer of varnish on the Mona Lisa. The clause is incomplete because it contains is no subject. This absence of a subject means that the subject automatically becomes the noun that appears after the first comma. Thus, THE COLORS becomes the subject, so creating the illogical idea that the colors could be allowed to remove and displace varnish.

________________________________________________________

Is the above explanation wrong?

You are using the terminology of Verbless clause, but here we even do not have a subject so How could this be a clause?

I have few more questions is IF___Then___ construction tested here.

P.S. I have an additional question in general. I know the uses of IF___Then___ pertaining to tenses.
IF___Then___ can compare clauses or phrases or anything else also?

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