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

Redeem

grammatical rule

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2012 11:12 am
Thanked: 8 times
Followed by:2 members

grammatical rule

by Anindya Madhudor » Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:30 pm
Can someone please explain the grammatical rule in solving the following question.

The guiding principles of the tax plan released by the Treasury department could have even a greater significance for the economy than the particulars of the plan.

a. even a greater significance for the economy than
b. a significance that is even greater for the economy than
c. even greater significance for the economy than have
d. even greater significance for the economy than do
e. a significance even greater for the economy than have

OA: D
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
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 Dec 20, 2012 4:25 am
A, B - incorrect grammatically, both answers compare a clause with a noun phrase
C, E - incorrect, the form "do" should be used instead of "have"
D - correct
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
User avatar
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2012 7:01 am
Location: Bangalore
Thanked: 1 times
Followed by:1 members

by Chitturi » Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:24 am
hi Kasia,

Plz, can u explain more about 'do' and 'have'.

I think both of them are correct.

Regards

Ratnakar Chitturi.
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 Dec 20, 2012 10:10 am
"Have" is used as a conjugated verb and "do" is the so-called helping verb. Helping verbs have a purely grammatical function - they show what tense a given sentence is in but they don't influence the meaning e.g.
Do you have a dog?
I have never been to New York.

In the question discussed above we should use "do" instead of "have" because the second part of the sentence is elided which calls for the use of the helping verb instead of the full conjugated form.
Compare:

answer D (elided version)
The guiding principles of the tax plan released by the Treasury department could have even greater significance for the economy than do the particulars of the plan.

What would answer D look like if not elided:
The guiding principles of the tax plan released by the Treasury department could have even greater significance for the economy than could have the particulars of the plan.

We use ellipsis to make the sentence more concise and to avoid repeating the same verb.
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
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1