Sentence Correction

Hi,

For many people, household labor remains demanding even if able to afford household appliances their grandparents would find a miracle.



This sentence states that for many people household labor is demanding. This is despite the fact that these people can afford the household appliances. If these appliances existed at the time of their grandparents, the grandparents would have found these appliances miraculous.



Clause 1: For many people, household labor remains demanding
Clause 2: even if able to afford household appliances
Clause 3: their grandparents would find a miracle.

1. Clause 2 of this sentence lacks a subject. From the meaning of the sentence, the subject of this clause should be "people" or pronoun referring to these people. Missing Subject Error.

2. Clause 3 is connected to clause using "that" that has been omitted. Thus, in a way "their grandparents would find a miracle" is describing "household appliances". Thus, miracle should be miraculous - the adjective form.Their grandparents would find "household appliances" miraculous. Modifier Error.

POE

(A) even if able to afford household appliances their grandparents would find a miracle: Incorrect for reasons discussed above.

(B) despite being able to afford household appliances their grandparents would find a miracle: Incorrect. This choice has modifier error as noted in choice A.

(C) even if they can afford household appliances their grandparents would have found miraculous: Correct.

(D) although they could afford household appliances their grandparents would find miraculous: Incorrect. Verb Tense Error: The sentence is set up in present context of time. Thus, use of "could afford" - past tense is incorrect. Similarly, the verb tense "would find" is incorrect. This verb tense should be "would have verb". This is because the sentence states a hypothetical condition. These appliances did not exist in the times of grandparents. But per the sentence if these appliances had existed at that time, then the grandparents would have found them miraculous. By using "would" verb tense, the sentence now implies that if grandparents saw these appliances being used today, they will find them miraculous.

(E) even if they are able to afford household appliances which would have been a miracle to their grandparents: Incorrect. Use of passive voice makes this choice unnecessary wordy.



1. Every verb in the sentence must have a subject.
2. Appropriate modifier should be used to describe an entity. In this sentence adjective form of "miracle" is required to describe the household appliances.
3. Appropriate verb tense should be used to express the intended meaning of the sentence.

The concepts tested in this sentence have been covered in e-gmat concepts:

1. Level 1: Sentence Structure Par I & II (These concepts feature in Level 1 Preview Concepts section which available for free. Just register and learn.)

@singhag: In this sentence, "their grandparents would have found miraculous" is not following the "if..., then..." construction. This portion is actually playing the role of the modifier to actually modify "household appliances". This portion is actually giving additional information about these household appliances that would have been considered miraculous by the grandparents if they had seen those.

Hope this helps.
Shraddha