Possessive Apostrophe

I just replied to a post in BTG and so thought of putting the concept of possessive apostrophe here.

The sentence in contention was:

A survey by the National Council of Churches showed that in 1986 there were 20,736 female ministers, almost 9 percent of the nation's clergy, twice as much as 1977.

A. twice as much as 1977
B. twice as many as 1977
C. double what it was in 1977
D. double the figure for 1977
E. a number double that of 1977's

and the question was why option E is wrong.

You can read my post : http://www.beatthegmat.com/national-council-of-churches-t34863.html#183448

The apostrophe (’) is one of the most used and misused English punctuation marks. No one is ever quite sure where to put it. You can use it when things are left out (contractions), but it’s the possessiveness that causes the most trouble.

The apostrophe is all about making a statement of ownership. You belong to me. This belongs to that. In grammar speak, the apostrophe shows the possessive of nouns.

There are four ways to use the apostrophe to show ownership or belonging.

1. Add apostrophe s to the end of a singular noun that does not end in s:

the manager’s room

2. Add apostrophe s to the end of a singular noun, even if it ends in s (this practice may vary in some places):

Doris’s scarf

3. Add apostrophe s to the end of a plural noun that doesn’t end in s

the children’s bag

4. If the plural noun ends in s, just add the apostrophe

my friends’ car

Notice that possessive pronouns like yours, his, hers, ours, its and theirs are not followed by the apostrophe.

Finally, if you want to play around with it, Wikipedia has a list of four phrases illustrating how the apostrophe can literally change the meaning of sentences.

my sister’s friend’s investments (I have one sister and she has one friend.)

my sisters’ friends’ investments (I have many sisters and they have many friends.)

my sisters’ friend’s investments (I have many sisters and they have one friend.)

my sister’s friends’ investments (I have one sister and she has many friends.)

Source: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-possessive-apostrophe/

Hellllo Frens..

Hi there..

As you must have noticed that I have already taken my exam and so I am not updating this blog anymore. But I am receiving quite a few requests on posting on this blog actively.

I would be more than glad to be of any help to anyone. I would request that if you could send me an email on a specific question or topic on dumb.doofus@gmail.com, then I shall definitely respond to it. If the concept is not already covered in this blog, then I'll post new material/concept for sure.

Sincerely wishing all the best for all of you.

Lucky.

When "being" is correct to use.. in GMATLand

There are at least two different situations in which being is often the right answer.

Here is the first example of when being is correct:

When the grammar requires it.

Yes, I'm trying to simplify things here, but the idea is this--many ideas can be expressed in more than one way. For example, I can say:

I'm afraid of being late.

I'm afraid that I'll be late.

Each has its own emphasis, but the point is that these two structures exist.

Whether we can express ideas in one or more structures is really related to the word used; in other words, it is idiomatic.

But some idioms allow only one structure. For example:

In addition to being one of the first restaurants to combine Mediterranean and American tastes, Chez Panisse in Berkeley is also one of the Bay Area's most established restaurants.

The idiomatic structure in addition to does not have a counterpart that uses a subject and a verb, so our only option here is to use being, which is grammatically a noun, but is derived from a verb.

The second example of when being is correct is shown in this example:

There are many reasons to get an MBA, with increased career prospects being the most important for many MBA applicants.

Technically this part here:

with increased career prospects being the most important for many MBA applicants

is an absolute phrase, but I think it's also helpful just to memorize the pattern:

with + NOUN + being + NOUN COMPLEMENT

Simply a word or phrase that could logically and grammatically complete this pattern:

NOUN + LINKING VERB + NOUN COMPLEMENT

For example, we could have:

She is a friend.

so "friend" is a noun complement. In this case, we can see that a noun can be a noun complement.

Credit: Erin from Testmagic forum

Source: http://www.sentencecorrection.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=323

Ex: Some surveys on the use of graphics in business presentation indicate that proposals incorporating graphics stand a twenty percent better chance of being approved than proposals without graphics.

A. a twenty percent better chance of being approved than proposals
B. a twenty percent better chance of approval in comparison with those
C. a likelihood they will be approved twenty percent greater than those
D. a twenty percent greater likelihood of approval as compared to proposals
E. twenty percent more likelihood of being approved than do those

Ans A

Participle Modifier (w/ and w/o comma)

If the comma is not there, the participial modifier must modify whatever noun directly precedes it. If the comma is there, then the participial modifier is taken to modify the preceding clause as a whole (or particularly the verb of that clause).

to wit:
tom received the court order [NO COMMA] restricting his movements outside the city --> the court order itself restricts tom's movements. we can infer that tom's movements are already restricted by the court order, regardless of whether he has received it.
tom received the court order, restricting his movements outside the city --> tom's movements were not restricted until he received the order.

by the way, the second of these sentences isn't that great: tom is the subject of that sentence, so the modifier implies that tom restricted his own movements by receiving the order. to convey the meaning more precisely, you'd say something like tom received the court order, thus activating orbringing into effect restrictions on...'

Ex: One of Ronald Reagan’s first acts as President was to rescind President Carter’s directivethat any chemical banned on medical grounds in the United States be prohibited from sale to other countries.

(A) that any chemical banned on medical grounds in the United States be prohibited from sale to other countries
(B) that any chemical be prohibited from sale to other countries that was banned on medical grounds in the United States
(C) prohibiting the sale to other countries of any chemical banned on medical grounds in the United States
(D) prohibiting that any chemical banned on medical grounds in the United States is sold to other countries
(E) that any chemical banned in the United States on medical grounds is prohibited from being sold to other countries

Ans C

Credit: Ron Purewal, MGMAT instructor

Though vs Although vs Even Though

Though, although and even though are used to show a contrast between two clauses:

Our new neighbours are quite nice (this is good) though their two dogs bark all day long. (this isn’t good)

We can use though or although with no difference in meaning. But, some differences are:

Though is more common than although in conversation or writing.

Though (but not although) can come at the end of a sentence:

My new bike is really fast. I don’t like the colour, though.

Though (but not although) can be used as an adverb:

I’m not good at maths but I can help you with your geography, though, if you want.

The meaning of though is similar to however, but though is much more common than however in conversation.

Even though can be used to make the contrast between two clauses stronger:

Dad got back from work really late, even though he had promised to take mum to the cinema.

Source: http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-grammar-definitions-conjunctions.htm#though

Because vs As vs Since

Because, as and since are used to answer the question: ‘Why?’. They join two clauses in the same sentence:

Joe resigned because he wanted to spend more time with his family.

AND because, as and since show the relationship between the ideas in two clauses:

A: Why did you resign from such a well-paid job, Joe?

B: Because I wanted to spend more time with my family.

Because is more common than as and since when the ‘reason’ is the most important thing. The because-clause usually comes after the main clause:

I went to Cyprus for a holiday last October because I knew it would be warm and sunny every day I was there.

As and since are used when the reason is already well-known and/or less important. The as or since-clause often comes at the beginning of the sentence and is separated from the main clause by a comma:

As my family had finished dinner when I got home, I went to this really good burger bar.

( I’m telling you about the burger bar. It’s not so important ‘why’ I went there).

Since it’s your birthday, I’ll make you breakfast in bed (I’m going to make you breakfast.

(I know, and you know, it’s your birthday)

Note! In conversation, so is often used instead of since and as. Theso-clause comes after the main clause.

My family had finished dinner when I got home, so I went to this really good burger bar.

Source: http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-grammar-definitions-conjunctions.htm#because

Ex: Prospecting for gold during the California gold rush was a relatively easy task, because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody with a pan or shovel.

A. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for
B. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
C. owing to erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that had thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
D. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, putting gold literally within reach for
E. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach of

Ans E

Misplaced, Dangling and Squinted Modifiers

Modifiers are just what they sound like—words or phrases that modify something else. Misplaced modifiers are modifiers that modify something you didn't intend them to modify. For example, the word onlyis a modifier that's easy to misplace.

These two sentences mean different things:

I ate only vegetables.

I only ate vegetables.

The first sentence (I ate only vegetables) means that I ate nothing but vegetables—no fruit, no meat, just vegetables.

The second sentence (I only ate vegetables) means that all I did with vegetables was eat them. I didn't plant, harvest, wash, or cook them. I only ate them.

It's easiest to get modifiers right when you keep them as close as possible to the thing they are modifying. When you're working with one-word modifiers, for example, they usually go right before the word they modify.

Here's another example of two sentences with very different meanings:

I almost failed every art class I took.

I failed almost every art class I took.

The first sentence (I almost failed every art class I took) means that although it was close, I passed all those classes.

The second sentence (I failed almost every art class I took) means that I passed only a few art classes.

Note again that the modifier, almost, acts on what directly follows it—almost failed versus almost every class. In either case, I'm probably not going to make a living as a painter, but these two sentences mean different things.

A similar rule applies when you have a short phrase at the beginning of a sentence: whatever the phrase refers to should immediately follow the comma. Here's an example:

Rolling down the hill, Squiggly was frightened that the rocks would land on the campsite.

In that sentence, it's Squiggly, not the rocks, rolling down the hill because the word Squiggly is what comes immediately after the modifying phrase, rolling down the hill.

To fix that sentence, I could write, “Rolling down the hill, the rocks threatened the campsite and frightened Squiggly.” Or I could write, “Squiggly was frightened that the rocks, which were rolling down the hill, would land on the campsite.”

Here's another funny sentence:

Covered in wildflowers, Aardvark pondered the hillside's beauty.

In that sentence, Aardvark—not the hillside—is covered with wildflowers because the word Aardvark is what comes directly after the modifying phrase, covered in wildflowers.

If I want Aardvark to ponder a wildflower-covered hillside, I need to write something like, “Covered in wildflowers, the hillside struck Aardvark with its beauty.”

Here, the words the hillside immediately follow the modifying phrase,covered in wildflowers.

Or better yet, I could write, “Aardvark pondered the beauty of the wildflowers that covered the hillside.”

Modifiers are so funny! In addition to misplacing them, you can dangle them and make them squint!

A dangling modifier describes something that isn't even in your sentence. Usually you are implying the subject and taking for granted that your reader will know what you mean—not a good strategy. Here's an example:

Hiking the trail, the birds chirped loudly.

The way the sentence is written, the birds are hiking the trail because they are the only subject present in the sentence. If that's not what you mean, you need to rewrite the sentence to something like, “Hiking the trail, Squiggly and Aardvark heard birds chirping loudly.”

And how do you make a modifier squint? By placing it between two things that it could reasonably modify, meaning the reader has no idea which one to choose.

For example:

Children who laugh rarely are shy.

As written, that sentence could mean two different things: children who rarely laugh are shy, or children who laugh are rarely shy.

In the original sentence (Children who laugh rarely are shy) the wordrarely is squinting between the words laugh and are shy. These are called squinting modifiers (or sometimes they are also called two-way modifiers).

Source: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/misplaced-modifiers.aspx