Sentence Correction

Outlining his strategy for nursing the troubled conglomerate back to health, the chief executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearlv 512 billion in assets over the next 18 months.

A executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
B executive's plans, which are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday.
C executive's plans for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday.
D executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
E executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months

Okay i understand that in US without preposition on we can write the sentence as in option D
, my question is why explanations say that Outlining his strategy is a dangling modifier . i feel Outlining HIS can modify Executive's plan. I think plan can also outline his strategy .. and these plans could also be announced by some one else.As in "Results were announced on Wednesday" .The idea of plan outlining strategy perfectly makes sense to me. In c the only flaw i see is for cutting is not preferable when to cut is present but other wise it is correct.

I will also provide an example to make my point , veterans must have seen this questions :
Q)So dogged were Frances Perkins'investigations of the garment industry, and her lobbying for wage and hour reform was persistent, Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt recruited Perkins to work within the government, rather than as a social worker.
OA : so persistent her lobbying for wage and hour reform, that

A crystal clear explanation would be much appreciated from an expert.

First thing is that a, b and c are out because of the possessive 'chief executive's'. This is an easy one to spot and keeps you from even having to look any further, because the noun is changed to the plan.... This is why they say there is a dangling modifier. There is no one ever identified.

faltuhaiye11 wrote:Outlining his strategy for nursing the troubled conglomerate back to health, the chief executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearlv 512 billion in assets over the next 18 months.

A executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
B executive's plans, which are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday.
C executive's plans for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday.
D executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
E executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months

Okay i understand that in US without preposition on we can write the sentence as in option D
, my question is why explanations say that Outlining his strategy is a dangling modifier . i feel Outlining HIS can modify Executive's plan. I think plan can also outline his strategy .. and these plans could also be announced by some one else.As in "Results were announced on Wednesday" .The idea of plan outlining strategy perfectly makes sense to me. In c the only flaw i see is for cutting is not preferable when to cut is present but other wise it is correct.

I will also provide an example to make my point , veterans must have seen this questions :
Q)So dogged were Frances Perkins'investigations of the garment industry, and her lobbying for wage and hour reform was persistent, Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt recruited Perkins to work within the government, rather than as a social worker.
OA : so persistent her lobbying for wage and hour reform, that

A crystal clear explanation would be much appreciated from an expert.

Could someone explain why OffAnsw doesn't use preposition "on" before "Wednesday" ? Is it correct to say "executive announced plans Wednesday" instead of "executive announced plans on Wednesday"?
Thank you.

Pleaman wrote:

faltuhaiye11 wrote:Outlining his strategy for nursing the troubled conglomerate back to health, the chief executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearlv 512 billion in assets over the next 18 months.

A executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
B executive's plans, which are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday.
C executive's plans for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday.
D executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
E executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months

Okay i understand that in US without preposition on we can write the sentence as in option D
, my question is why explanations say that Outlining his strategy is a dangling modifier . i feel Outlining HIS can modify Executive's plan. I think plan can also outline his strategy .. and these plans could also be announced by some one else.As in "Results were announced on Wednesday" .The idea of plan outlining strategy perfectly makes sense to me. In c the only flaw i see is for cutting is not preferable when to cut is present but other wise it is correct.

I will also provide an example to make my point , veterans must have seen this questions :
Q)So dogged were Frances Perkins'investigations of the garment industry, and her lobbying for wage and hour reform was persistent, Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt recruited Perkins to work within the government, rather than as a social worker.
OA : so persistent her lobbying for wage and hour reform, that

A crystal clear explanation would be much appreciated from an expert.

Could someone explain why OffAnsw doesn't use preposition "on" before "Wednesday" ? Is it correct to say "executive announced plans Wednesday" instead of "executive announced plans on Wednesday"?
Thank you.

It is quite common in USA and their newspapers to write in such way.

Also you are down to D and E and both D and E are using the same option. Had there been some other option that was a contestant for a correct answer you would have raised this point, but there is no such option where "on" is used and is a contestant of correct option so you point is invalid here.

faltuhaiye11 wrote:Outlining his strategy for nursing the troubled conglomerate back to health, the chief executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearlv 512 billion in assets over the next 18 months.

A executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
B executive's plans, which are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday.
C executive's plans for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday.
D executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
E executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months

Okay i understand that in US without preposition on we can write the sentence as in option D
, my question is why explanations say that Outlining his strategy is a dangling modifier . i feel Outlining HIS can modify Executive's plan. I think plan can also outline his strategy .. and these plans could also be announced by some one else.As in "Results were announced on Wednesday" .The idea of plan outlining strategy perfectly makes sense to me. In c the only flaw i see is for cutting is not preferable when to cut is present but other wise it is correct.

I will also provide an example to make my point , veterans must have seen this questions :
Q)So dogged were Frances Perkins'investigations of the garment industry, and her lobbying for wage and hour reform was persistent, Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt recruited Perkins to work within the government, rather than as a social worker.
OA : so persistent her lobbying for wage and hour reform, that

A crystal clear explanation would be much appreciated.

1. There are two distinct issues in what you have raised here. The first is the dangling modifier; the second is the use of the Saxon Genitive (the form that adds an S apostrophe or an apostrophe S to a noun).

2. Let's take the Saxon Genitive first. When a noun assumes this form, it ceases to be a subject, precisely because it ceases to be a noun. It becomes in fact an ADJECTIVE. Thus, in the phrase Frances Perkins' investigations, the subject is INVESTIGATIONS, and FRANCES PERKINS' is an adjective modifying that subject.

3. Another term for the pronouns my, his, her, its, our, your, and their is POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE. They are therefore the pronoun equivalent of a noun that has taken the form of the Saxon Genitive, because that noun has also become an adjective.

4. Thus, in the clause So dogged were Frances Perkins' investigations ... and so persistent her lobbying for wage and hour reform, that ... you could replace HER with FRANCES PERKINS' and the meaning would be identical. In other words, the first adjective (Saxon Genitive) modifies INVESTIGATIONS, and the second (an adjective in the form of a pronoun) modifies LOBBYING, and both refer to the same person. This is part of what makes the official answer that you have quoted correct. (And there is no issue involving any dangling modifier here.)

5. Now to the dangling modifier. In the sentence you have quoted, we see Outlining his strategy for nursing the troubled conglomerate back to health, the chief executive's plans ... But clearly, this sentence is incorrect. Its subject is PLANS. Thus, it makes no difference whether, as you propose, HIS could refer back to the phrase THE CHIEF EXECUTIVES' - in fact, it does, and for the same reason that HER refers back to FRANCES PERKINS'. But this is not the point. The point is the subject, and since the subject is PLANS, the entire phrase Outlining his strategy for nursing the troubled conglomerate back to health dangles uselessly in front of the subject PLANS. After all, the strategy IS the plans: how therefore could the strategy announce the strategy, or the plans the plans? This is why, to use your words, the idea of plan outlining strategy does NOT make perfect sense - or indeed any sense at all. What is required is somebody, a LOGICAL HUMAN SUBJECT, to do the announcing, and this is provided in the correct answer, which has the logical sequence Outlining his strategy ... the chief executive announced plans.

If you like this post, please click on the THANK icon.

Try our online GMAT prep

Hello Everyone!

This is a great example of a GMAT question that focuses on active voice and wordiness! Let's take a closer look at the options, and highlight any major difference in orange:

Outlining his strategy for nursing the troubled conglomerate back to health, the chief executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months.

(A) executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
(B) executive's plans, which are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday
(C) executive's plans for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday
(D) executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
(E) executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months

After a quick glance over the options, we have 2 key items to focus on:

1. executive's plans were announced / executive announced = Passive vs. Active Voice
2. for cutting / which are to cut / for cutting / to cut / that are to cut = Clarity & Wordiness

Let's start with #1 on our list because it will remove 2-3 options right away. Any time you're asked to choose between active or passive voice on the GMAT exam, you should always choose ACTIVE voice. Here is a short example to remind you about the difference:

The children put away their toys. --> ACTIVE VOICE (places the focus on the person doing the action)
The toys were put away by the children. --> PASSIVE VOICE (places the focus on the action being done by the person)

Let's check each option and rule out any that use passive voice:

(A) executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
(B) executive's plans, which are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday
(C) executive's plans for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday
(D) executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
(E) executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months

We can rule out options A, B, and C because they all use passive voice. They all place the focus on the action being done, rather than the person doing the action. They also cause confusion because they say that the executive's plans were announced, but it's not clear if he/she announced their own plans, or if someone else announced the plans on his/her behalf!

Now that we only have 2 options left to choose from, let's tackle #2 on our list: clarity & wordiness. For each option, we must make sure that they are written using the clearest and most concise language possible that still conveys the intended meaning:

(D) executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
This is CORRECT! It uses active voice, and it also uses the most concise language to convey meaning. It's clear and to the point!

(E) executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
This is INCORRECT because it's overly wordy. It's not necessary to say "that are to cut" when simply saying "to cut" will suffice.


There you have it - option D is our correct choice!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.