Should present metal prices

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vipulgoyal: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 468; Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 10:20 pm; Thanked: 29 times; Followed by:4 members

Should present metal prices

by vipulgoyal » Sun Mar 22, 2015 7:56 pm

Should present metal prices continue their sharp rise, the value of the copper in a penny will soon be greater than the face value of the coin.

(A) Should present metal prices continue their sharp rise,
(B) If present metal prices are continuing their sharp rise,
(C) If present metal prices continue to sharply rise,
(D) Continuation of sharply rising metal prices should mean that
(E) Metal prices' sharp rise continuing should mean that

A

Experts plz explain "split infinitive and its use in above SC

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Mar 22, 2015 7:56 pm

DavidG@VeritasPrep: Legendary Member; Posts: 2663; Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 am; Location: Boston, MA; Thanked: 1153 times; Followed by:128 members; GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Mon Mar 23, 2015 5:48 am

A conventional infinitive construction: to VERB. A split infinitive occurs when the writer places something in between the "to" and the "VERB." Some grammarians argue that split infinitives are ungrammatical, though there is no consensus.

In answer choice C, we have "to sharply rise," so "sharply" separates "to" and "rise," creating a split infinitive. Not a terribly important rule for the GMAT.

(Note: My favorite usage guide, Garner's Modern American Usage, thinks it's silly to argue that split infinitives are ungrammatical.)

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vipulgoyal: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 468; Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 10:20 pm; Thanked: 29 times; Followed by:4 members