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Verb forms and Tenses - Explanation of a question

Expert replies
by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Fri Jun 29, 2012 2:25 am
Despite its brief existence between March 18 and May 28, 1871, the Paris Commune seems as embodying the vision of a socialist democracy that protects the rights of citizens and workers, but the leaders' failure to consolidate an effective defense against the vengeful onslaught from Versailles suggests that anarchist tendencies contributed to its downfall.

A. seems as embodying the vision of a socialist democracy that protects the rights of citizens and workers
B. seemed to embody the vision of a socialist democracy that protects the rights of workers and citizens
C. seems to have embodied the vision of a socialist democracy that protects the rights of citizens and workers
D. seemed as embodying the vision of a socialist democracy that protects workers' and citizens' rights
E. seemed to have embodied the vision of a socialist democracy that protects the rights of citizens and workers

Answer choice A is grammatically incorrect, illogical and stylistically flawed. Although this sentence is anchored in the present tense, it makes illogical use of the present tense (seems) to describe the author's current perception of a past historical event (the rise and fall of the Paris Commune in 1871). The phrase the Paris Commune seems as embodying illogically indicates that the Paris Commune still exists.

In addition, the use of seems as is non-idiomatic and incorrect.

Answer choice B corrects the stylistic flaw mistake in the original question by changing seems as to seemed to: seem to is more idiomatic than seem as.

The corrected sentence also appears to correct the original grammatical and logical mistake. The use of the past tense seemed appears to correctly reflect the fact that the Paris Commune no longer exists. However, the use of the Past tense also creates a new logical mistake.

Answer choice C is the BEST since it corrects the logical mistake and the stylistic flaw in the original question, by changing the phrase seems as embodying to seems to have embodied.

The corrected sentence accomplishes three things:

1. Seem to is more idiomatic than seem as.

2. The use of the present tense in the verb seems (and in the corresponding verb suggests) correctly anchors the sentence in the present, indicating that the sentence's author is speaking in the present and expressing a view about a past event (The rise and fall of the Paris Commune).

3. The use of the to V form in the Perfect tense (to have embodied) correctly reflects the fact that the Paris Commune no longer exists.

Answer D is incorrect because it suggests that during its existence the Paris Commune SEEMED AS embodying (...). The form "seemed" does not agree with the form "suggests", which appears later in the sentence. Also "seemed AS" is incorrect, as it was pointed out above.

Answer E is also incorrect, because there is the incorrect past form "SEEMED."
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by shaan17 » Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:12 am
Hi Kasia,

While it is very clear that 'seems' indicates it is in the present thus ruling out A, the explanation is not very clear when it comes to the elimination of B and E. Can you explain this further with some example.

"The use of the to V form in the Perfect tense (to have embodied) correctly reflects the fact that the Paris Commune no longer exists.". When we have a time indicator shouldn't we be using the past perfect tense ?

Thanks
Shaan
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by mohan514 » Tue Aug 28, 2012 7:08 pm
Kasia@MasterGMAT wrote:Despite its brief existence between March 18 and May 28, 1871, the Paris Commune seems as embodying the vision of a socialist democracy that protects the rights of citizens and workers, but the leaders' failure to consolidate an effective defense against the vengeful onslaught from Versailles suggests that anarchist tendencies contributed to its downfall.

A. seems as embodying the vision of a socialist democracy that protects the rights of citizens and workers
B. seemed to embody the vision of a socialist democracy that protects the rights of workers and citizens
C. seems to have embodied the vision of a socialist democracy that protects the rights of citizens and workers
D. seemed as embodying the vision of a socialist democracy that protects workers' and citizens' rights
E. seemed to have embodied the vision of a socialist democracy that protects the rights of citizens and workers

Answer choice A is grammatically incorrect, illogical and stylistically flawed. Although this sentence is anchored in the present tense, it makes illogical use of the present tense (seems) to describe the author's current perception of a past historical event (the rise and fall of the Paris Commune in 1871). The phrase the Paris Commune seems as embodying illogically indicates that the Paris Commune still exists.

In addition, the use of seems as is non-idiomatic and incorrect.

Answer choice B corrects the stylistic flaw mistake in the original question by changing seems as to seemed to: seem to is more idiomatic than seem as.

The corrected sentence also appears to correct the original grammatical and logical mistake. The use of the past tense seemed appears to correctly reflect the fact that the Paris Commune no longer exists. However, the use of the Past tense also creates a new logical mistake.

Answer choice C is the BEST since it corrects the logical mistake and the stylistic flaw in the original question, by changing the phrase seems as embodying to seems to have embodied.

The corrected sentence accomplishes three things:

1. Seem to is more idiomatic than seem as.

2. The use of the present tense in the verb seems (and in the corresponding verb suggests) correctly anchors the sentence in the present, indicating that the sentence's author is speaking in the present and expressing a view about a past event (The rise and fall of the Paris Commune).

3. The use of the to V form in the Perfect tense (to have embodied) correctly reflects the fact that the Paris Commune no longer exists.

Answer D is incorrect because it suggests that during its existence the Paris Commune SEEMED AS embodying (...). The form "seemed" does not agree with the form "suggests", which appears later in the sentence. Also "seemed AS" is incorrect, as it was pointed out above.

Answer E is also incorrect, because there is the incorrect past form "SEEMED."
ma'am can you please clarify the logical mistake that is eliminated by option c

whats wrong with e
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by nisagl750 » Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:47 am
Why can't we use past tense when we know that we are talking about something that happened in the past?

Why E is eliminated?
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by soaring.alone » Sun Dec 16, 2012 2:00 pm
Can you please explain why is C preferred over E ?
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by The Iceman » Mon Dec 17, 2012 8:14 am
"seems to have embodied" implies that now we think that the Commune embodied the vision of a socialist democracy

"seemed to have embodied" implies that in the past we thought that the Commune had embodied the vision of a socialist democracy

Given the use of "suggests" in the later part of this sentence, we need the present form.

seems to have embodied ..., but... suggests that ...

Hope this logic makes sense!
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