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Subject-Verb Agreement Question

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by itudor13 » Sun Nov 17, 2013 9:08 am
Hello,

I have just started to study for my GMAT. I took a practice test and found out quickly that I need improve my sentence correction skills.

I am working through a Grammar Workbook and I ran into an issue understanding the concept.

Jimmy likes to play basketball as he were Michael Jordan, flying through the air and dunking the ball.

a) as he were Michael Jordan
b) as though he were Michael Jordan
c) like he were Michael Jordan
d) as though he was like Michael Jordan
e) as if he were like Michael Jordan

Correct Answer - B

I don't understand why Jimmy, who is the subject, would take on the verb were instead of was.

Best,

Ian
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by theCodeToGMAT » Sun Nov 17, 2013 9:26 am
Hello itudor13,

I think you missed the topic of "Subjunctive" while studying :)

Whenever we talk about something hypothetical, then we use plural form.

For example: If I were rich...

Here, we used "were" with singular subject "I"

Coming back to question:

{A} - INCORRECT; we need a conditional usage such as "if" or "though" etc
{B} - CORRECT
{C} - INCORRECT; "like" is used for nouns
{D} - INCORRECT; "was" is wrong usage.. "were" is correct is the situation is of subjunctive
{E} - INCORRECT; "was" is wrong usage.. "were" is correct is the situation is of subjunctive
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by theCodeToGMAT » Sun Nov 17, 2013 9:32 am
Few useful links:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/12/ ... ctive-mood
https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary ... e_mood.htm
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by [email protected] » Sun Nov 17, 2013 11:19 pm
Hi itudor13,

This SC involves a "hypothetical" situation, which is a special "style" rule. In these types of situations, the sentence will usually use the word "were" (and sometimes the word "would").

For example, "If I were to win the lottery, then I would buy a boat."

In the given sentence, since Jimmy is clearly NOT Michael Jordan, we're dealing with a hypothetical situation, so the verb "were" is required.

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Rich
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by itudor13 » Tue Nov 19, 2013 4:36 am
Thank you both for you responses. This was very helpful.
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