Recent Vs Recently

Expert replies

chaitanya.mehrotra: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 184; Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:57 pmFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 1 times; GMAT Score:700

by chaitanya.mehrotra » Sat Jun 11, 2011 6:44 am

Reporting that one of its many problems had been the recent extended sales slump in women's apparel, the seven-store retailer said it would start a three-month liquidation sale in all of its stores.
(A) its many problems had been the recent
(B) its many problems has been the recently
(C) its many problems is the recently
(D) their many problems is the recent
(E) their many problems had been the recent

I know the an answer is A , and also the explanation tense wise as given in the OG Verbal guide. However the confusion is regarding the use of recent .
even if recent modifies sales slump whats wrong in it ? [/spoiler]

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sat Jun 11, 2011 6:44 am

krishnasty: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 142; Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:03 am; Thanked: 19 times

by krishnasty » Sat Jun 11, 2011 7:15 am

Experts,
can someone please explain why A is wrong and the other options are incorrect? Coz i find B and C as equally competitive.

Thanks in advance...

Frankenstein: Legendary Member; Posts: 1448; Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 9:55 amFollowed by: 53 members; Location: India; Thanked: 375 times

by Frankenstein » Sat Jun 11, 2011 7:21 am

Hi,
recent - adjective (modifies noun/pronoun)
recently - adverb (modifies verb,adjective,adverb,clause,sentence)
'slump(noun)' is modified here. So, we use recent(adjective).

Cheers!

Things are not what they appear to be... nor are they otherwise

vikram4689: Legendary Member; Posts: 1325; Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:24 amFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 105 times

by vikram4689 » Sat Jun 11, 2011 8:13 am

one doubt, if we use recent then noun (sales slump) is modified BUT how can something be "extended" and "recent". Extended means something that started early and then extend

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Frankenstein: Legendary Member; Posts: 1448; Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 9:55 amFollowed by: 53 members; Location: India; Thanked: 375 times

by Frankenstein » Sat Jun 11, 2011 8:25 am

vikram4689 wrote:one doubt, if we use recent then noun (sales slump) is modified BUT how can something be "extended" and "recent". Extended means something that started early and then extend

Hi,
Let's say there was sales exhibition planned for 2 days. Because the response was high, it has been extended for 1 more day and it was over sometime back, say yesterday. So, if we talk about it now, can't we say recent extended exhibition?

Cheers!

Things are not what they appear to be... nor are they otherwise

shobhitk: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 37; Joined: Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:37 pm; Thanked: 2 times

by shobhitk » Sun Jun 22, 2014 4:35 am

Can any expert please reply to this thread and help understand the meaning error occurring due to to recent/recently?

Thanks in advance

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 » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:06 pm

shobhitk wrote:Can any expert please reply to this thread and help understand the meaning error occurring due to to recent/recently?

Thanks in advance

the recently extended sales slump
Here, recently (adverb) serves to modify extended (adjective).
HOW was the sales slump extended?
It was extended RECENTLY.
A reader might construe the following meaning:
That A SHORT TIME AGO, the retailer purposefully EXTENDED the sales slump.
Not the intended meaning.

the recent extended sales slump
Here, recent (adjective) serves to modify sales slump (noun).
What KIND of sales slump?
The RECENT sales slump.
This is the intended meaning: that the SALES SLUMP took place A SHORT TIME AGO.

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