Having Been Usage

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mmslf75: Legendary Member; Posts: 503; Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:53 pm; Thanked: 31 times; Followed by:2 members

Having Been Usage

by mmslf75 » Sat Dec 19, 2009 5:29 am

I read this somewhere in BTG itself..
How true is this ?
Do we use this in GMATLand ??

"having been" denotes a completed activity. it shows "y happened after x happened"

for eg: having been denied a promotion, the worker resigned (resignation after the denial)

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sat Dec 19, 2009 5:29 am

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 am; Thanked: 2256 times; Followed by:1535 members; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Mon Dec 28, 2009 12:00 pm

mmslf75 wrote:I read this somewhere in BTG itself..
How true is this ?
Do we use this in GMATLand ??

"having been" denotes a completed activity. it shows "y happened after x happened"

that's an accurate summary.

it's more than just time sequence, though. ilke other -ING modifiers, this one also requires some sort of relationship between the completion of the activity mentioned in the modifier and whatever action is mentioned in the main clause.

for instance:
having finished all his errands, carlos settled into bed for a nice nap.
--> this is logical; carlos can settle in for a nap because he's done with all his errands, so there's a relationship to justify the use of a modifier.

having finished all his errands, carlos called his wife to find out when she was arriving at the airport.
--> not logical, since this phone call has nothing to do with whether carlos has finished his errands.

--

for eg: having been denied a promotion, the worker resigned (resignation after the denial)

this makes sense, but it's somewhat unlikely that you'll use this sort of construction with the passive voice.
instead, you'd just use the passive participle by itself:
denied a promotion, the worker resigned.

with the ACTIVE voice, however, there are fewer ways to get around using this construction, so you'll see it more often in such scenarios. (note my example above, written in the active.)

in any case, "having" is like "being" in the sense that choices containing it are more often incorrect than correct. however, both of these words are certainly correct at times, so it's important to understand these uses.

Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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On peut poser des questions Ã Ron en franÃ§ais
Voit esittÃ¤Ã¤ kysymyksiÃ¤ Ron:lle myÃ¶s suomeksi

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mmslf75: Legendary Member; Posts: 503; Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:53 pm; Thanked: 31 times; Followed by:2 members

by mmslf75 » Fri Jan 01, 2010 11:22 am

Ron,

Look at this sentence type

OA here is C

Fail to understand why B is wrong
Source MGMAT CAT 4

Classical guitar was neither prestigious nor was often played in concert halls until it was revived by Andres Segovia in the mid-twentieth century, having been won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity.

A Classical guitar was neither prestigious nor was often played in concert halls until it was revived by Andres Segovia in the mid-twentieth century, having been won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity.
B Classical guitar was neither prestigious nor played often in concert halls until it was revived by Andres Segovia in the mid-twentieth century, having been won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity.
C Classical guitar was not prestigious and was not often played in concert halls until Andres Segovia revived it in the mid-twentieth century, after he was won over by the sound despite the instrument's relative obscurity.
D Classical guitar did not have prestige nor was it performed often in concert halls until its revival by Andres Segovia, who in the mid-twentieth century was won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity.
E Classical guitar was neither prestigious nor was often played in concert halls until Andres Segovia revived it in the mid-twentieth century, when he was won over by the sound of the relatively obscure instrument.

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nervesofsteel: Legendary Member; Posts: 594; Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:51 pm; Thanked: 12 times

by nervesofsteel » Fri Jan 01, 2010 5:07 pm

mmslf75 wrote:Ron,

Look at this sentence type

OA here is C

Fail to understand why B is wrong
Source MGMAT CAT 4

Classical guitar was neither prestigious nor was often played in concert halls until it was revived by Andres Segovia in the mid-twentieth century, having been won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity.

A Classical guitar was neither prestigious nor was often played in concert halls until it was revived by Andres Segovia in the mid-twentieth century, having been won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity.

B Classical guitar was neither prestigious nor played often in concert halls until it was revived by Andres Segovia in the mid-twentieth century, having been won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity. <- Having been modifies mid twentieth century... IMO.. Incorrect usage..

C Classical guitar was not prestigious and was not often played in concert halls until Andres Segovia revived it in the mid-twentieth century, after he was won over by the sound despite the instrument's relative obscurity.< whose sound are we talking about ..IMO it changes meaning....

D Classical guitar did not have prestige nor was it performed often in concert halls until its revival by Andres Segovia, who in the mid-twentieth century was won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity. <- IMO ..this choice is best among others...

E Classical guitar was neither prestigious nor was often played in concert halls until Andres Segovia revived it in the mid-twentieth century, when he was won over by the sound of the relatively obscure instrument.

IMO D.. though i am not very sure...
C is the best if sound can be replaced by instrument's sound

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hopesrhigh: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 3; Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:41 am

by hopesrhigh » Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:45 am

Option D is wrong because it uses 'nor' alone. 'nor' should be used in conjunction with 'neither' i.e. neither x nor y.

Correct Answer is 'C'

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 am; Thanked: 2256 times; Followed by:1535 members; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Fri Jan 08, 2010 2:15 am

mmslf75 wrote:Ron,

Look at this sentence type

OA here is C

Fail to understand why B is wrong
Source MGMAT CAT 4

Classical guitar was neither prestigious nor was often played in concert halls until it was revived by Andres Segovia in the mid-twentieth century, having been won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity.

A Classical guitar was neither prestigious nor was often played in concert halls until it was revived by Andres Segovia in the mid-twentieth century, having been won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity.
B Classical guitar was neither prestigious nor played often in concert halls until it was revived by Andres Segovia in the mid-twentieth century, having been won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity.
C Classical guitar was not prestigious and was not often played in concert halls until Andres Segovia revived it in the mid-twentieth century, after he was won over by the sound despite the instrument's relative obscurity.
D Classical guitar did not have prestige nor was it performed often in concert halls until its revival by Andres Segovia, who in the mid-twentieth century was won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity.
E Classical guitar was neither prestigious nor was often played in concert halls until Andres Segovia revived it in the mid-twentieth century, when he was won over by the sound of the relatively obscure instrument.

choice (b) misuses a COMMA -ING modifier (..., having ...)

when you have a COMMA -ING modifier, the -ING participle should apply to the subject of the clause that's modified.
examples:
james ran down the sidewalk, flailing his arms --> james flailed his arms.
i wrote two more papers, bringing my total for the year to twenty --> i brought my total to twenty.

since "it" (= classical guitar) is the subject of the COMMA -ING modifier in choice (b), that choice illogically implies that classical guitar itself was "won over by the instrument's sound".

(interestingly, i'm actually listening to a classical guitar piece - by andres segovia - as i write this. coincidences...)