BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

SC - Singular Vs Plural

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1665
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:04 pm
Thanked: 165 times
Followed by:70 members

SC - Singular Vs Plural

by karthikpandian19 » Mon May 28, 2012 11:38 pm
The idea behind the Personal Long Letter campaign is that a single impassioned constituent may sway a lawmaker's opinion, whereas a half-dozen banded together only causes him alarm.

a half-dozen banded together only causes him alarm
only alarm is caused by a half-dozen banded together
only alarm has been caused by a half-dozen banded together
a half-dozen banded together only cause him alarm
a half-dozen have caused him only alarm when banded together
Regards,
Karthik
The source of the questions that i post from JUNE 2013 is from KNEWTON

---If you find my post useful, click "Thank" :) :)---
---Never stop until cracking GMAT---
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1239
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:25 am
Thanked: 233 times
Followed by:26 members
GMAT Score:680

by sam2304 » Tue May 29, 2012 8:36 am
IMO D

A - half dozen ... causes ... - SV error
B - sway and caused are not parallel - the second part is passive while the first is active
C - same as above more over there is no need to use present perfect continuous tense
E - totally awkward with half dozen and banded together separated and have caused - present perfect tense is not necessary.
Getting defeated is just a temporary notion, giving it up is what makes it permanent.
https://gmatandbeyond.blogspot.in/
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2012 4:36 am
Thanked: 29 times
Followed by:1 members

by Ashujain » Tue May 29, 2012 10:07 am
sam2304 wrote:IMO D

A - half dozen ... causes ... - SV error
B - sway and caused are not parallel - the second part is passive while the first is active
C - same as above more over there is no need to use present perfect continuous tense
E - totally awkward with half dozen and banded together separated and have caused - present perfect tense is not necessary.
I think 'half-dozen banded together' is a singular noun so the verb should be 'causes' and not 'cause'.

IMO: A
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1239
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:25 am
Thanked: 233 times
Followed by:26 members
GMAT Score:680

by sam2304 » Tue May 29, 2012 11:22 am
Ashujain wrote:
I think 'half-dozen banded together' is a singular noun so the verb should be 'causes' and not 'cause'.

IMO: A
Half dozen (constituents) banded together is the implied meaning if you look at the whole sentence, because the first clause is speaking about single impassioned constituent. And half dozen constituents is plural.
Getting defeated is just a temporary notion, giving it up is what makes it permanent.
https://gmatandbeyond.blogspot.in/
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1665
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:04 pm
Thanked: 165 times
Followed by:70 members

by karthikpandian19 » Tue May 29, 2012 1:33 pm
Sam,

The OA points to A, with the OE stating that "half dozen" to be considered as Singular.

Even i am looking out for some experts to clarify the ambiguity here.


Can any GMAT experts explain the singular ambiguity here????
sam2304 wrote:IMO D

A - half dozen ... causes ... - SV error
B - sway and caused are not parallel - the second part is passive while the first is active
C - same as above more over there is no need to use present perfect continuous tense
E - totally awkward with half dozen and banded together separated and have caused - present perfect tense is not necessary.
Regards,
Karthik
The source of the questions that i post from JUNE 2013 is from KNEWTON

---If you find my post useful, click "Thank" :) :)---
---Never stop until cracking GMAT---
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 148
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:08 pm
Thanked: 8 times

by jimmyjimmy » Wed May 30, 2012 8:35 am
rule - a word that indicates sm sort of group takes singular form

5 dozen or half dozen is rotten

audience is moving (fine)
half of the audience is moving (fine)
full audience is moving (fine)
2 guys from the audience are moving (fine).

correct me if worng....
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1665
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:04 pm
Thanked: 165 times
Followed by:70 members

by karthikpandian19 » Wed May 30, 2012 5:16 pm
When using "a dozen" or "one dozen", it is followed by "is". The "dozen" is the subject.

Q: How much are the roses?
A: A dozen is $50.

Q: How much do you charge?
A: A dozen roses is $50.

Similarly, "dozens" is plural, and is never preceded by a number. It means indefinite small numbers, ie. Dozens of angry residents complain that their expectations have not been met. Other expressions like "half a dozen" or "a half dozen" exist too and follow the same rule as "dozen".

Other examples of one singular unit of many sub-units:

A school of fishes swims past.
An army of soldiers marches across the field.
Regards,
Karthik
The source of the questions that i post from JUNE 2013 is from KNEWTON

---If you find my post useful, click "Thank" :) :)---
---Never stop until cracking GMAT---
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1239
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:25 am
Thanked: 233 times
Followed by:26 members
GMAT Score:680

by sam2304 » Wed May 30, 2012 10:37 pm
I found an explanation by an expert in another forum

https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-idea-behi ... 98990.html
Getting defeated is just a temporary notion, giving it up is what makes it permanent.
https://gmatandbeyond.blogspot.in/
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 148
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:08 pm
Thanked: 8 times

by jimmyjimmy » Thu May 31, 2012 5:56 am
sam2304 wrote:I found an explanation by an expert in another forum

https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-idea-behi ... 98990.html
chkd the above link says D as OA....
but somewhere i read never doubt official answers, if u r doing so then u utilising 0% of your time..
guess i l go with official OA- A.....
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2011 12:18 pm
Thanked: 3 times

by nitingoel » Thu May 31, 2012 6:07 am
I would go with[spoiler] (A)[/spoiler] too.

B - passive voice
C - pasisve voice
D - "a (half) dozen" should be followed by a singular usage
E - "a (half) dozen" should be followed by a singular usage

GMAT instructors, your views please.

Regards
Nitin
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 646
Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 7:08 am
Thanked: 322 times
Followed by:143 members

by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Thu May 31, 2012 11:22 am
When we talk about amounts and quantities we usually use singular determiners, verbs and pronouns ( even if the noun is PLURAL).

e.g. Where IS that five dollars I lent you?

Twenty miles IS a long way to walk.

A half-dozen eggs IS enough to make a pie.
Kasia
Senior Instructor
Master GMAT - the #1 rated GMAT course

"¢ If you found my post helpful, please click the "thank" button and/or follow me.

"¢ Take a 7 day free trial and find out why Economist GMAT is the highest rated GMAT course - https://gmat.economist.com/

"¢ Read GMAT Economist reviews - https://reviews.beatthegmat.com/economis ... mat-course
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Apr 04, 2009 1:19 pm

by quriousaddict » Thu May 31, 2012 1:52 pm
[quote="karthikpandian19"]The idea behind the Personal Long Letter campaign is that a single impassioned constituent may sway a lawmaker's opinion, whereas [u]a half-dozen banded together only causes him alarm[/u].

a half-dozen banded together only causes him alarm
only alarm is caused by a half-dozen banded together
only alarm has been caused by a half-dozen banded together
a half-dozen banded together only cause him alarm
a half-dozen have caused him only alarm when banded together[/quote]

IMO B
A & D & E- pronoun issue - what is the "him" referring to?
C - "has been caused by" is not parallel with "may sway"
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1239
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:25 am
Thanked: 233 times
Followed by:26 members
GMAT Score:680

by sam2304 » Thu May 31, 2012 8:17 pm
jimmyjimmy wrote: chkd the above link says D as OA....
but somewhere i read never doubt official answers, if u r doing so then u utilising 0% of your time..
guess i l go with official OA- A.....
It never says D as the OA. The OA is indeed A, but the expert has clarified why D is better than A.
Getting defeated is just a temporary notion, giving it up is what makes it permanent.
https://gmatandbeyond.blogspot.in/
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 316
Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:18 am
Thanked: 16 times
Followed by:6 members

by dhonu121 » Thu May 31, 2012 10:50 pm
Isn't there a pronoun reference problem as well.
We have lawmaker's earlier and then we have him.
Can him refer to lawmaker's ?

If we were to use a pronoun to refer to lawmaker's, shouldn't we be using his ?
If you've liked my post, let me know by pressing the thanks button.
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 148
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:08 pm
Thanked: 8 times

by jimmyjimmy » Fri Jun 01, 2012 9:32 am
sam2304 wrote:
jimmyjimmy wrote: chkd the above link says D as OA....
but somewhere i read never doubt official answers, if u r doing so then u utilising 0% of your time..
guess i l go with official OA- A.....
It never says D as the OA. The OA is indeed A, but the expert has clarified why D is better than A.
sorry boss..,.,.
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1