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A good OG12_SC_explain plz.

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by gmat_perfect » Wed Jun 16, 2010 9:26 pm
Emily Dickinson's letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumbering her letters to anyone else.

(A) Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumbering

(B) Dickinson were written over a period that begins a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ended shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber

(C) Dickinson, written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and that ends shortly before Emily's death in 1886 and outnumbering

(D) Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother, ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, and outnumbering

(E) Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber
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by The Jock » Wed Jun 16, 2010 11:24 pm
The answer is E.
It is already discussed and you would like to have a look at
https://www.beatthegmat.com/emily-dickinson-t41159.html
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by mohit11 » Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:04 am
gmat_perfect wrote:Emily Dickinson's letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumbering her letters to anyone else.

(A) Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumbering

(B) Dickinson were written over a period that begins a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ended shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber

(C) Dickinson, written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and that ends shortly before Emily's death in 1886 and outnumbering

(D) Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother, ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, and outnumbering

(E) Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber
We would need to use outnumber instead of outnumbering, since she is no longer writing letters. "were" in the non underlined part indicates that we should use past tense. Down to B and E. Usage of "begins" in B is incorrect. Answer D
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by The Jock » Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:40 am
We would need to use outnumber instead of outnumbering, since she is no longer writing letters. "were" in the non underlined part indicates that we should use past tense. Down to B and E. Usage of "begins" in B is incorrect. Answer D
It's E Mohit.
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by mohit11 » Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:48 am
The Jock wrote:
We would need to use outnumber instead of outnumbering, since she is no longer writing letters. "were" in the non underlined part indicates that we should use past tense. Down to B and E. Usage of "begins" in B is incorrect. Answer D
It's E Mohit.
Oops.. typo.. E it is
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by tanviet » Thu Jun 17, 2010 1:07 am
A is wrong because

in

"the letters are writen, ...outnumbering"

"are writen" can not create "outnumbering" logically

difficult logic is tested on SC. very hare questions
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by sumanr84 » Thu Jun 17, 2010 1:49 am
I can guess what could be the problem in choosing the correct answer E.

Many people eliminate D and E , in first place, because of usage of "which". They assume that "which" can only refer to something before comma.

Remember that "which" can refer to "X + preposition + Y", if it is grammatically impossible for Y (the closest noun) to serve as the antecedent.

In this case, "Dickinson" is not eligible, for TWO different reasons:
(a) Nixon is a person (you can't use the pronoun "which" for humans), and
(b) "were" is a plural verb (Dickinson is singular).

...letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson, which were.. -> which were referring to letters

https://www.beatthegmat.com/correct-use- ... tml#197164

Hope it helps !!
I am on a break !!
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by ansumania » Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:07 pm
will someone pl. explain in detail what is wrong with A?

I guess 'ing' form can still be used for past tense. Pl. help.
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by fitzgerald23 » Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:22 pm
What is wrong with A is the same thing wrong with C and D that let you quickly narrow the question down to two choices. When reading the original sentence you can see that the main sentence is

Emily Dickinsons letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson...outnumbering her letters to anyone else.

That clearly makes no sense. It has to be "outnumber".

B has several flaws that can make eliminate it. "begins...and ended" is not correct. That should read "begins and ends". In this case outnumber is wrong as well. "letters were written...,outnumber" For that to be close to correct the sentence would require "and" "letters were written... and outnumber"
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by paes » Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:26 pm
ansumania wrote:will someone pl. explain in detail what is wrong with A?

I guess 'ing' form can still be used for past tense. Pl. help.
Ok, some difficult concept here , (somebody already mentioned.)

when a sentence is written in passive form, you cann't use a comma+ing modifier.

in A:

the letters were written ...., outnumbering ..... [ wrong ]

by meaning also, the letters cann't do any work themselves so we cann't use outnmbering.

We can write the sentence as :

He wrote many letters, outnumbering ....
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