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by ranjit_ece » Wed Aug 10, 2011 4:44 pm
Which one these constructions is correct ?

a) He was told he could not leave
b) He was told that he could not leave
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by vineeshp » Wed Aug 10, 2011 6:29 pm
Second usage is correct.

It is commonplace in spoken language to eliminate THAT, but when it is essential, it must not be eliminated.
Vineesh,
Just telling you what I know and think. I am not the expert. :)
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by ranjit_ece » Wed Aug 10, 2011 8:04 pm
Thanks vineeshp
I also thought the same, but was thrown off by the answer to this question.I can understand from the POE point of view that the best option is B, but then even that violates ( or may be not ?) the grammatical rule

The suspect in the burglary was advised of his right to remain silent, told he could not leave, and was interrogated in a detention room.
(A) of his right to remain silent, told he could not leave, and was
(B) of his right to remain silent, told he could not leave, and
(C) of his right to remain silent and that he could not leave and
(D) that he had a right to remain silent, could not leave, and was
(E) that he had a right to remain silent, that he could not leave, and was
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by adi_800 » Wed Aug 10, 2011 11:28 pm
ranjit_ece wrote:Thanks vineeshp
I also thought the same, but was thrown off by the answer to this question.I can understand from the POE point of view that the best option is B, but then even that violates ( or may be not ?) the grammatical rule

The suspect in the burglary was advised of his right to remain silent, told he could not leave, and was interrogated in a detention room.
(A) of his right to remain silent, told he could not leave, and was
(B) of his right to remain silent, told he could not leave, and
(C) of his right to remain silent and that he could not leave and
(D) that he had a right to remain silent, could not leave, and was
(E) that he had a right to remain silent, that he could not leave, and was
Which option you are finding hard to eliminate..
we have ||sm being tested here... You have three actions and these three action must be stated in passive voices as you should be advised/told/interrogated..
So was in the first was advised is common to all and hence B comes out to be the answer...
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by ranjit_ece » Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:07 am
Adi,

the doubt is exactly what i asked in my first post

when the correct construcion as pointed out by vineeshp is second one .. then howcome the rule is not applicable in option B. I hope that clarifies what I am asking.
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by e-GMAT » Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:13 am
a) He was told he could not leave
b) He was told that he could not leave

Both sentences are correct.

Here "that" is used as a conjunction to connect two clauses. Note that it is not used as a relative pronoun here.

So in such cases when there is no ambiguity about the meaning of the sentence, we can safely omit that.

However, in certain other cases, omitting that may not be a good idea. For example:

1: He was told yesterday the inspection team left for the project. - Ambiguous
2: He was told yesterday that the inspection team left for the project. - Clear - yesterday describes when he was told.
3: He was told that yesterday the inspection team left for the project. - Clear - yesterday is part of second clause and now describes when the team left.
3B: He was told that the inspection team left for the project yesterday. - Better version of sentence 3.

So essentially you may "omit" when it plays the role of a conjunction as long as the MEANING is clear.
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by missionGMATverbal » Thu Aug 11, 2011 3:34 pm
Thanks for explaining this. Can you comment on Question 7 in OG12. Is the same thing happening there too.

As its sales of computer products have surpassed those of measuring instruments, the company has become increasingly willing to compete for the mass market sales they would in the past have conceded to rivals.

(A) they would in the past have conceded to rivals
(B) they would have conceded previously to their rivals
(C) that in the past would have been conceded previously to rivals
(D) it previously would have conceded to rivals in the past
(E) it would in the past have conceded to rivals

OA E
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by aspirant2011 » Thu Aug 11, 2011 7:10 pm
missionGMATverbal wrote:Thanks for explaining this. Can you comment on Question 7 in OG12. Is the same thing happening there too.

As its sales of computer products have surpassed those of measuring instruments, the company has become increasingly willing to compete for the mass market sales they would in the past have conceded to rivals.

(A) they would in the past have conceded to rivals
(B) they would have conceded previously to their rivals
(C) that in the past would have been conceded previously to rivals------ambiguous as who conceded the sales?????
(D) it previously would have conceded to rivals in the past------redundancy
(E) it would in the past have conceded to rivals

OA E
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