1) The spokeswoman for the national laboratory announced that, while the lab had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue to yield high profits at least until 2025.

(A) had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue

(B) had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it became profitable in 2006, and would continue

(C) had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it became profitable in 2006, continuing

(D) operated at a loss in the 1990s, it became profitable in 2006, and would continue

(E) operated at a loss in the 1990s, becoming profitable in 2006, and continuing

2) When the reporter asked about the status of the budget, the governor said that, at that very moment, his team is fashioning a compromise and will deliver it to the senate offices by later that afternoon.

(A) is fashioning a compromise and will deliver

(B) fashions a compromise and will deliver

(C) was fashioning a compromise and would deliver

(D) had been fashioning a compromise and would deliver

(E) has fashioned a compromise and will deliver

3) The people of the ancient Near East believed that the Earth’s dry land first appeared when the Creator separated the “water above” from the “water below”, and that there is another ocean in the sky, above the firmament.

(A) appeared when the Creator separated the “water above” from the “water below”, and that there is

(B) appeared when the Creator had separated the “water above” from the “water below”, and that there is

(C) appeared when the Creator separated the “water above” from the “water below”, and that there is

(D) had appeared when the Creator had separated the “water above” from the “water below”, and that there was

(E) appeared when the Creator had separated the “water above” from the “water below”, and that there was

Solutions will follow this article.

A review of tenses

Verbs have simple tenses (ordinary past, present, and future) as well as perfect tenses, progressive tenses, and even progressive perfect tenses.  Here’s a brief list of examples for the verb “to go” (an irregular verb), with both singular and plural forms.

Simple past: he went, they went

Simple present: she goes, they go

Simple future: he will go, they will go

Past perfect: she had gone, they had gone

Present perfect: he has gone, they have gone

Future perfect: she will have gone, they will have gone

Past progressive: he was going, they were going

Present progressive: she is going, they are going

Future progressive: he will be going, they will be going

Past perfect progressive: she had been going, they had been going

Present perfect progressive: he has been going, they have been going

Future perfect progressive: she will have been going, they will have been going

Obviously, those last three tenses are somewhat rare, but in the right context, they could show up on the GMAT.

Sequence of tenses

Suppose we have a sentence, a statement of fact, which has past & present & future in it.  For example,

P did X, does Y, and will do Z. 

Now, suppose that, whatever these facts are, they are important enough for someone else to announce them, or tell them, or think them, or believe them.  In fact, we might use any of the idioms of thinking and knowing or any of the [verb] + “that”-clause idioms here.

Someone else announced that P ____ X, _____Y, and _____ Z. 

This is called indirect speech.  The big question is: what tenses do we use when we change from a description of the events themselves to a spoken or thought “that”-clause in the past about the events?  In other words, what’s the right tense within indirect speech?  This subject is the sequence of tenses, and the rules are relatively simple.   What we sorta do is back everything up to a previous-time tense

a. the present tense real event becomes past: (does Y) becomes (did Y)

b. the past tense real event becomes past perfect: (did X) becomes (had done X)

c. the future tense real event — this is a tricky one.  You may thing future goes back to present or to future perfect, but neither of those are correct.  We actually use the subjunctive for a hypothetical future: (will do Z) becomes (would do Z).

d. anything progressive would stay progressive, following the above rules; for example, (was doing omega) becomes (had been doing omega)

Thus, our indirect speech sentence above would be

Someone else announced that P had done X, did Y, and would do Z. 

Summary

If you had any insights or realizations reading this, you may want to give the practice questions above a second look before reading the solutions.  If you have any further questions, please let us know in the comments section at the bottom.

1) The first verb, to operate, refers to a past event (in the 1990s), so that should be past perfect in indirect speech.  This is correct in (A) – (C).  The second verb, to become profitable, is also in the past (2006), so this also should be past perfect in indirect speech: only (A) has this correct. The final event, to continue to yield, refers to the future, so this should be the hypothetical future, “would continue to yield“, which (A) & (B) & (D) have correct.  All three verbs should remain in parallel: it is not correct to change some to participles, as (C) & (E) do.

The only possible answer is (A).

2) The first verb, to fashion, was a present-time action for the governor, and because the governor emphasized “at [this] moment”, we know it must be in the progressive.  The governor would have said “is fashioning” when we spoke, so in indirect speech, this becomes “was fashioning”. Only (C) has this correct.

The second verb, to deliver, was a future-time action for the governor, and he would have said, “will deliver”.  In indirect speech, this becomes “would deliver”.  Both (C) & (D) have this correct.

The only possible answer is (C).

3) Here, we have an interesting variant on indirect speech, a “that”-clause about belief.  Both of the first two verbs, to appear and to separate, refer to actions that occurred at the Creation of the World, presumably a past event for anyone speaking about it.   In indirect speech, these both should be in the past perfect, “had appeared” and “had separated“.  Only (D) has both of these.

The last verb, a form of the verb to be, describes a current condition of the world (at least in this ancient worldview), so this would have been a present tense verb to anyone speaking about it, and in indirect speech, present becomes past, so this should be “there was”, which is correct in both (D) & (E).

The only possible answer is (D).

1) Next October, the commission’s delegation will visit the Prince of Westphalia, contributing the largest amounts to the commission over each of the last seven years.

1. contributing
2. having contributed
3. who contributed
4. who has contributed
5. who had contributed

2) The Federal investigators at Stapleton Industries have failed to find any evidence that has suggested that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks, nor its officers guilty of improper relations with industry regulators.

1. that has suggested that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks, nor its officers guilty
2. that suggests that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks, or its officers guilty
3. suggesting that the unusually large contributions to its accounts had been derived from government kickbacks, with its officers guilty
4. to suggest that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks or that its officers are guilty
5. to suggest that the unusually large contributions to its accounts had been derived from government kickbacks, nor were its officers guilty

3) Since the beginning of the year, the community medical clinic verified rigorously the potency of each flu vaccine sample, lest any of its patients are vulnerable to the flu.

1. verified rigorously the potency of each flu vaccine sample, lest any of its patients are
2. rigorously verified the potency of each flu vaccine sample, lest any of its patients would be
3. is rigorously verifying the potency of each flu vaccine sample, lest any of its patients not be
4. rigorously has verified the potency of each flu vaccine sample, lest any of its patients are
5. has verified rigorously the potency of each flu vaccine sample, lest any of its patients be

4) Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, which is known as the “Leningrad” Symphony, was composed at the outset of World War Two, made the composer a hero to the Soviet people who embraced the work as a symbol of heroic resistance to Nazism.

1. which is known as the “Leningrad” Symphony, was composed at the outset of World War Two, made
2. known as the “Leningrad” Symphony, composed at the outset of World War Two, and made
3. which is known as the “Leningrad” Symphony, was composed at the outset of World War Two and made
4. known as the “Leningrad” Symphony and was composed at the outset of World War Two, and made
5. known as the “Leningrad” Symphony, which was composed at the outset of World War Two, and made

5) Modern planetary science has a detailed understanding of the conditions necessary for a planet to develop life, but scientists are still unable to determine whether a given specific planet meeting all these conditions does develop life.

1. does develop
2. is developing
3. might have developed
4. has developed
5. could be developing

Verbs

Verbs are the mainspring of a sentence.  Every sentence needs a full bonafide verb at its core.   Full verbs have several qualities, and verbs also take forms that retain some of the verb-like qualities.  The four major qualities of any verb are mood, voice, tense, and number.

Verb moods

There are three verb moods in English.  The first, the indicative, accounts for more than 95% of all verbs used on the GMAT.   The indicative is used for stating ordinary facts.  Every sentence in this paragraph and in the previous paragraph are in the indicative.

The second, the imperative, is used for commands and exhortations.  “Stop!” “Enjoy yourself.” “Buy our product.”  The imperative appears frequent in road signs and in advertising, but it almost never appears on the GMAT Sentence Correction.

The final, the subjunctive, is used for hypothetical situation and doubtful possibilities.  The subjunctive is wildly misused or ignored in colloquial speech, so the GMAT likes to test it from time to time.

Everything else that follows is about verbs in the indicative.

Verb tenses

Verb tenses indicate the time of the action.   Most folks understand the simple tenses (past, present, future), but folks sometimes find more challenging the rules concerning the perfect tenses and the progressive tenses.

Verb voice

The two verb voices are active and passive.   As the former blog explains, active language is a priority on the GMAT, so often the active voice is preferable to the passive voice, but the latter blog indicates some instances in which the passive voice would be acceptable on the GMAT.

Verb number

Verb number is the distinction of whether a verb is “singular” or “plural”, and understanding this is crucial for subject-verb agreement.   This distinction only exists in the “third person” — in the “first person” (“I” vs. “we”) and in the “second person” (“you” (sing.) vs. “you” (pl.)), all verbs other than forms of “to be” are identical, but in the third person (“he/she/it” vs. “they”), the form may be different.  The distinction only exists in the simple present tense or in tenses in which the auxiliary verb has different singular/plural forms.

Verb forms

All of the foregoing talks about quality of full verbs.  Every sentence needs at least one full verb.  Verbs also have other forms that can’t take the place of the main verb of a sentence, but which can have many of the other properties of verbs — they can have direct objects as well as adverbs & adverbial phrases.   The three most important verb forms are:

a. infinitives

b. participles

c. gerunds

When any of these is followed by direct object or an adverbial phrase, the whole thing becomes a phrase: an infinitive phrase, a participial phrase, or a gerund phrase.  None of these, no matter how long and complex, can take the place of a bonafide full verb.

Summary

Many of those links might answer some questions you have on this topic.  If you have had any realizations while reading this, give another look at the practice questions above before you read the solutions.   If you would like to add anything or ask a question, please let us know in the comments section.

Practice question solutions

1) The action in question, making contributions, has happened in the past (over the past seven years) and continues to the present moment.  This is best described by the present perfect tense.  Only (D) uses the present perfect tense correctly.

The present participle in (A) is wrong.  The simple past tense in (C) and the past perfect tense in (E), as well as the participle in (B), all imply a past action that is over and completed, which is not the case here.

2) Split #1: “are derived” vs. “had been derived”.  The present tense “are derived” is correct.  The past perfect “had been derived” would only be used to contrast with another past tense verb, which isn’t the case here.   (C) & (E) are wrong.

Split #2: parallelism.  The first “that” clause properly has a full verb, so the second part must also be a “that” clause with a full verb.  (A) & (B) & (C) all have an absolute phrase, [noun] + [adjective], in the second half.

Split #3: double negative.  The verb “fail” in the main clause has a negative meaning.  The “nor” in (E) is therefore a double negative that changes the meaning of the sentence.

For all these reasons, (D) is the only possible answer.

3) Split #1a: [adverb] + [verb].  Throughout the answer choices, the adverb “rigorously” appears both before and after the verb.  Which is correct?  Either is.  This is a false split.  They look different, but both orders are perfectly fine.

Split #1b: In (C), the adverb splits the auxiliary verb from the main verb: some writers consider this inappropriate, and it certainly is not common on the GMAT, but (C) is not automatically wrong for this reason.

Split #2: tense.  This action, the verifying, has been taking place since the beginning of the year.  We need to emphasize that it has been done and that it continues through the present time.  For this, we need the present perfect, “has verified”. Only (D) and (E) have this correct.

Split #3: the “lest” clause.  A “lest” clause demands the subjunctive.   Choices (A) & (C) use the ordinary indicative after “lest”, so they are wrong.   The word “lest” implies a negative, so (C) has a double negative that changes the meaning of the sentence.   Choice (B) has a curious hypothetical phrasing, “would be vulnerable to the flu”: this is not appropriate to this context.   Only choice (E) has the correct “lest” clause.

For all these reasons, (E) is the only possible answer.

4) Choice (A) divides two parallel verbs simply with a comma, and no conjunction “was composed …, made”.  This is incorrect.

Choice (B) puts two participles (“known … composed”) in parallel with a full verb (“made”).  This is incorrect.

Choice (C) follows the modifier with two main verbs in parallel.  No mistakes here.

Choice (D) has a participle (“known”) in parallel with main verbs.  This is incorrect.

Choice (E) has a participial phrase joined by “and” to a main verb.  This is incorrect.

(C) is the only possible answer.

5) Split #1: both progressive verbs are entirely inappropriate.  We don’t need to know whether life on some other planet is in the process of developing at this exact instant.  That’s not the concern of the sentence.  Both (B) & (E) are wrong.

Split #2: according to the scientists, the conditions themselves already guarantee that live “could develop”.  If a planet meets these conditions, there’s nothing hypothetical in question — we know life “could develop.”  We want to know whether life actually has developed.   Both hypothetical answers, (C) & (E), are wrong.

Split #3: The development of life is not necessarily in the present moment, so the present tense in (A) is incorrect.  This development could have happened in the past, up to and including the present: for this, we need the present perfect tense. Only (D) has this.

(D) is the only possible answer.

1) The Sherpa people, indigenous to the mountainous regions of eastern Nepal, are known to have their ability of performing with ease the demanding tasks of mountaineering at some of the highest known altitudes.

1. to have their ability of performing with ease
2. to have the ability with their performing with ease
3. for their ability to perform with ease
4. for their ability of performing with ease
5. in the ability to easily perform

2) The FDA enacted these recent restrictions both to prohibit individual physicians from forming financial partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and to forbid the companies to advertise directly to the physicians.

1. both to prohibit individual physicians from forming financial partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and to forbid the companies to advertise
2. both to prohibit individual physicians to form financial partnerships with pharmaceutical companies while forbidding the companies to advertise
3. to both prohibit individual physicians from forming financial partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and also to forbid the companies from advertising
4. both to prohibit individual physicians from forming financial partnerships with pharmaceutical companies as well as to forbid the companies from advertising
5. to prohibit both individual physicians to form financial partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and to forbid the companies from advertising

Infinitive

The infinitive forms of verbs are the “dictionary form” of the verb, the form you would find if you looked the verb up in a standard dictionary.  We construct the infinitive as follows: “to” + [the infinitive form].  For almost every verb in English, the infinite form is identical to the present tense of the verb, what we would use after the pronoun “I” in the present tense —- I walk, I eat, I listen —– these become the infinitives: to walk, to eat, to listen.  The only verb for which the infinitive form is wildly different from any of the present tense forms is the most irregular verb in the entire language: the verb “to be”, with present test forms am/is/are.

The infinitive itself acts as a noun in a sentence.  Nevertheless, since the infinitive is the form of a verb, it can take adverbs & direct objects.  When we attach all these other forms to the infinitive, we create an infinitive phrase.

Verbs + infinitives

Certain English verbs idiomatically demand the infinitive: that is to say, the only grammatically correct construction that can follow them is an infinitive or an infinitive phrase.   Here are a few important examples of these verbs:

* allow A to do X

* choose to do X

* decide to do X

* forbid A to do X

* persuade A to do X

* try to do X

Notice, those six verbs are all about volition and intention.  These verbs are common in English, and common on the GMAT Sentence Correction.   The GMAT wants you to know these idioms: each one of these six verbs must have an infinitive, and it is an idiom mistake to follow them with anything else —- “I persuaded her into …”, “I forbid him from doing ….” —- all automatically incorrect.

Another verb that requires special mention is the verb “to want.”  In most constructions you are likely to see on the GMAT, this verb also idiomatically takes an infinitive.   Following the verb “want” with a “that”-clause is always wrong on the GMAT.  One alternate acceptable construction is what is called an “object complement”: the structure of this form is “want” + [direct object] + [adjective].  For example:

*The sheriff wanted the bandit dead.

*The CFO wants the overseas division solvent before the end of the year.

This is a common form in casual speech, and there’s an off chance it could appear on a GMAT Sentence Correct in the future.  In other words, don’t automatically discount the verb “want” if it is not followed by an infinitive: it could be an “object complement.”

Other words + infinitives

There are a few other constructions that require the infinitive

• The words able & ability: The word “able” is an adjective, and the corresponding noun form is “ability.”  Both of these must be followed by an infinitive or infinitive phrase.  This is an idiom the GMAT Sentence Correct loves to test.  Common mistake patterns involve the word “ability” followed by some other preposition and then a gerund: “the ability for doing X”, “the ability of doing X” — all incorrect!
• The adjective reluctant: This adjective idiomatically takes the infinitive: e.g. “I was reluctant to do X.”  As with “ability”, any other preposition + a gerund is wrong!
• The idiom “in order to do X“: this is an idiomatically correct way to describe the purpose or intention or goal of one’s action.  For example: “The independent investor published a series of scathing articles about their management procedures in order to short-sell that company.”  The structure describes a first action undertaken (here, publishing the articles) in order to bring out a second less obvious result or consequence (short-selling the company).  You are expect to understand this idiom on the GMAT, and you are expect to recognize this as correct and other variants (e.g. “in order that he could …”) incorrect.

Practice

Having read this, take another look at the idioms in those practice sentences before looking at the explanations below.  Here’s another practice Sentence Correction sentence on idioms.

3) http://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1173

Practice Question Explanations

1) The primarily idiom in this question concerns the word “ability”, which must take the infinitive.  Only (C) and (E) have an infinitive, although (E) has a mistake known as the split infinitive: it inserts an adverb between the “to” and the verb of an infinitive. The split infinitive was once considered completely wrong.  It is gaining acceptance in casual speech and pop culture (“To boldly go where no man has gone before“), but this will not be part of a correct answer on the GMAT Sentence Correction.

Also, notice the secondary idiom, “to be known for something.”  That is the correct way to express this —- the Sherpa are known for their mountaineering skill.  The other constructions (“known to have the ability”, “known in their ability”) are idiomatically incorrect ways to express this idea.

The best answer is (C).

2)  This is a tricky one.  We have the “both X and Y” parallel construction (BTW, notice that the variants “both X as well as Y” and “both X and also Y” are both incorrect on the GMAT.)  The two infinitive verbs, “to prohibit” and “to forbid” must match in parallel form, and they do.  What follows those two verbs does not have to be parallel; furthermore, each of those verbs has its own idiomatical requirements.   As we discussed above, the proper idiom for “forbid” is “to forbid A to do X” — the verb “forbid” must take the infinitive.  By contrast, the proper idiom for “prohibit” is “to prohibit A from doing X” — the verb “prohibit” must take the preposition “from” followed by a gerund.  The two verbs, “forbid” and “prohibit” have similar meanings, so it’s ironic that they have starkly different idiomatic requirements.  The only answer that fulfills the idiomatic requirements of both verbs is (A).

Parallelism is one of the GMAT’s favorite grammatical structures.  Probably almost half of all SC questions involve parallelism of some kind.  Of course, one can put nouns or adjectives into parallel, but what’s the fun of that?  Parallelism only gets interesting when you put entire verbs or verb phrases (e.g. infinitive phrases, participial phrases) into parallel.
Of course two items in parallel must be the same grammatical form: both regular verb forms, or both participles, or both infinitive.  But the question arises — if they are regular verbs, or if they are participles, must the two items in parallel match in tense?

Parallel verbs and tense

Can regular verbs in parallel have different tenses?  The OG provides a resounding “YES” to this question.  Not one, but two different SC questions in the OG13, SC#10 and SC #91 have correct answers in which the parallel verbs have different tenses.  Here are other examples of such a sentences:

1) China had been united under the Qin (221 – 206 BCE) and Han (206 BD – AD 220) before Buddhism was introduced, and it was united again in the Tang (618 – 907) Dynasty, a time now regarded as the “golden age” of Chinese Buddhism.

2) Ancient Celtic legend holds that the mythical figure of Arthur was at one time king of all of England and, in some future time of need, will arise as king again.

3) The baseball team gave up seven unearned runs in the second inning of today’s game, and still are losing in the seventh inning.

In the first sentence, we have a past perfect verb parallel with a simple past verb.  In the second sentence, we have a simple past verb parallel with a simple future verb.  In the third sentence, we have a simple past verb parallel with a present progressive verb.  The first two concern the history of religious ideas, and the third strongly resembles a team for which the author of this article roots — you know, I just would rather not talk about it!  :-P

Parallel participles and tense

Can the participles of two participial phrases in parallel be different tenses?  Here, we are not on such solid ground.  The OG13 affords no examples for or against, nor am I familiar with any official test material that explores this construction.  The most I can say is: all authorities on grammar would call this construction perfectly acceptable, so there is no reason it couldn’t appear at some point in the future on GMAT SC.  Here are a couple completely correct examples.

5) Ralph Nader, having run for US President six time and declining to run again in 2012, explained his reasons during a symposium at the university.

6) The Atlantic Ocean, formed when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expanding today, will be Earth’s largest ocean at some point in the distant future.

Sentence #5 uses a very unusual participle tense, “having run” in parallel with a present participle; you need not worry about exotic particle tenses such as “having run” on the GMAT.  Sentence #6 uses a past participle in parallel with a present participle.  Again, those are grammatically 100% correct, and there’s no reason they couldn’t appear on GMAT SC, although we have not seen any examples of this construction on the GMAT.

Verbs are action words, and verb tenses indicate something about when that action took place.  The most basic tenses are Past, Present, and Future — those are useful for one-time open-and-shut actions.

1) King John signed the Magna Carta in Runnymede Meadow on June 15, 1215.

2) Today, I eat a kiwi as I write this blog.

3) The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, known popularly as the “Mayan Calendar”, will end its current cycle on December 20, 2012.

There’s only one Magna Carta and there’s only one Mayan Calendar, and so these events are unique and thus warrant the Simple Past and Simple Future respectively.  The second sentence is interesting: all the sentence tells us is about the isolated present moment event.  Is this Mike’s very first time eating a kiwi? Or is this part of a longstanding pattern? an everyday occurrence? The Simple Present is curiously devoid of any information outside of the one-time event.

By contrast, many of the interesting and emotionally significant events in our lives are not isolated one-shot deals, but more nuanced in terms of interconnection and duration.  Not surprisingly, the grammar of verb tense reflects that.

In a previous post, I discussed the progressive tenses, those tenses that describe action in progress.  In this post, I will discuss the perfect tenses.  Here, we obviously do not mean “perfect” in the philosophical or religious or mathematical sense, but rather in the more etymologically pure sense of “completed” or “done thoroughly” (from the Latin per = “through, thorough” + fect/factum = “done, accomplished”).  Events described in the perfect tenses, in one sense or another, already have been done.

The present perfect

What would it mean to be “thoroughly done” and yet “present “?  That would be an ongoing event which has happened in the past and continues through without interruption to the present moment.  That’s precisely what the Present Perfect describes.

4) The Hon. John Dingell, the current longest serving member of Congress, has been a U.S. Representative since 1955.

5) I have eaten a kiwi many mornings as I work.

6) The New York Mets have been defeated more than 20 times since the 2012 All Star Break.

Notice that sentence #4 tell us about an event, Congressman Dingell’s tenure, that has been happening for longer than most readers of this blog have been alive, and yet still continues at the present writing.  Notice that sentence #5 is considerably more informative that the Simple Present of sentence #2 above: by contrast, sentence #5 establishes an ongoing pattern which has occurred in the past and continues until the present moment.  As for sentence #6 — you know, leave me alone!  I would just rather not talk about it!! 

Notice the form of the Present Perfect = “have”/”has” + [the past participle].  The passive voice in the Present Perfect = “have”/”has” + “been” + [the past participle].   See this post for more information on past participles.  The past participle is the principle verb form used in all the perfect tenses.

The past perfect

What would it mean to be “thoroughly done” and also “past”?  That would be something that is already over and finished by the time another past even happens: in other words, it’s the past of the past!  That’s precisely what the Past Perfect describes.

6) By the time Charles Darwin published The Descent of Man in 1871, Gregor Mendel already had discovered, during his famous pea plant experiments, the genetic principles that ultimately would explain and justify Darwin’s conclusions.

7) Three years before Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon to challenge fellow Triumvir Pompey for uncontested control of Rome, the weakest link in the First Triumvirate, Marcus Licinius Crassus, had been killed in battle with the Parthians.

Notice in both cases, the past perfect verbs describe events that happen before another past event.  Darwin published The Descent of Man in the past, but Mendel’s genetic research happened before that.  Caesar crossed the Rubicon in the past, but Crassus’ death happened before that.  The GMAT Sentence Correction absolutely loves the past perfect: expect to see this tense frequently in the SC section.

Notice the form of the Past Perfect: the active voice = “had” + [the past participle], and the passive voice “had” + “been” + [the past participle].

The future perfect

What would it mean to be “thoroughly done” and also “future”?  That would something that, from the vantage of a future event, has already happened or been done: in other words, it’s the past of the future!  That’s precisely what the Future Perfect describes.

8) By the time of the Pyeongchang Summer Olympics in 2018, the United States will have gone through two more Presidential Elections.

9) At the time of the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field, the host New York Mets will not yet have won 4000 games as a franchise.

The Pyeongchang Summer Olympics is future event, and the 2012 and 2016 Presidential elections will be in the past from that perspective.  As for #9 — Hey! Why are you picking on me this way? 

The form of the Future Perfect: “will have” + [the past participle]; the exceeding rare passive voice has the form: “will have been” + [the past participle].

Here’s a practice question:

10) http://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1094

The Present Progressive

Consider the difference between these two sentences.

1) I walk to work.  [simple present tense]

2) I am walking to work.  [present progressive tense]

This is one of the hardest distinctions for folks learning English as a second language to master, because is absent as a verb form in many other languages.  The first describes a general condition that is true at the present time.  The implication of sentence #1 is that I walk to work every day, that this is repeated and ongoing condition in my life.  Sentence #2 carries the implication that, at the very moment I speak it, I am performing the act of walking to work: for example, if a friend called on my cell phone while I was in the process of walking to work, I would say sentence #2.  The emphasis of the present progressive is on the fact that articulating the action and performing the action are simultaneous.

Notice that the form of the present progressive is the present form of the verb “to be” plus the present participle —- the –ing participle.

The Past Progressive

Often, when describing a past action, it’s enough to say that the action happened.

3) Yesterday evening, I walked my dog.

That’s the simple past tense.  That simply makes clear that the action happened in the past.  Sometimes, we want to make an additional distinction clearer: we want to make clear exactly when the action was happening, or make clear that two things happened at the same time.  For example:

4) At 7:30 pm last night, I was walking my dog.

5) Yesterday evening, as I was walking my dog, my broker called.

The underlined verbs are in the past progressive.  In both cases, we are emphasizing that the performance of the action was simultaneous with something else — with the clock time of 7:30 pm or with the phone-call from the broker.

Notice the form of the past progressive is the past tense of the verb “to be” plus the present participle.

The Future Progressive

This is a relatively unusual case, which is somewhat unlikely to appear on the GMAT Sentence Correction.  The distinction is analogous to that in the past tenses.  Sometimes, it’s enough to say that an action will take place.

6) Tomorrow, I will visit my grandmother.

This is the simple future tense.  This indicates only that, sometime in the 24 hour period of tomorrow, I will perform the action of visiting my grandmother.  Under certain circumstances, we to make further specifications: we want to indicate either exactly when the action will take place or that two future actions will happen at the same time.

7) Tomorrow at 2:30 pm, I will be visiting my grandmother.

8) Tomorrow afternoon, when my roommate will be practicing for his opera performance, I will be visiting my grandmother.

The underlined verbs are in the future progressive.  In both cases, we are emphasizing that the performance of the action will be simultaneous with something else: in the first, the action will be simultaneous with a clock time of 2:30 pm; in the second, the two actions, visiting grandma and practicing opera, are simultaneous.  In fact, the subordinate conjunction “when” already emphasizes simultaneity, so some folks would argue that having both verbs in the future progressive with the word “when” is redundant, and should be emended to one of the following:

8a) Tomorrow afternoon, when my roommate practices for his opera performance, I will be visiting my grandmother.

8b) Tomorrow afternoon, when my roommate practices for his opera performance, I will visit my grandmother.

We can dispense with one or both of the present progressive verbs, because the word “when” already carries the connotation of simultaneity.  These issues, deciding between sentences like 8 vs. 8a vs. 8b, is much more arcane than anything the GMAT Sentence Correction will ask you.

Here are a couple GMAT-like Sentence Correction Practice Questions involving progressive tenses.

Practice Questions

1) Mozart himself was a piano virtuoso, and the piano parts of his piano concerti, especially the mature work composed in 1784 and after, have astonishingly difficult finger work that having demanded incomparable technique to produce the required elegance and precision.

(A) that having demanded

(B) which demanded

(C) that had demanded

(D) that demands

(E) which is demanding

2) Punctuated equilibrium is a biological theory that regards evolution not as a gradual process by which one species slowly and continuously transforms into another, rather a process in which species were remaining stable for long periods and then have dramatic change in isolated short bursts.

(A) rather a process in which species were remaining stable for long periods and then have dramatic change

(B) but as a process in which species remain stable for long periods and change dramatically

(C) but a process in which species remain stable for long periods and then have dramatic change

(D) yet as a process in which species remained stable for long periods and change dramatically

(E) but also as a process in which species were remaining stable for long periods and were changing dramatically

Practice Question Explanations

1) First, the “that-which” distinction, about which you can read more here.  As a general rule, when a clause is separated by commas from the rest of the sentence, it should use “which”, but when it follows the noun modified without the break of a comma, it should use “that.”  That strongly suggests that (B) and (E) are not correct.

Let’s look at the verb tenses:

(A) having demanded = participle, not a verb at all = automatically wrong

(B) demanded = verb in simple past tense

(C) had demanded = verb in past perfect tense

(D) demands = verb in simple present tense

(E) is demanding = verb in present progressive tense

In this situation, the Mozart piano concertos exist, and they have difficult finger work – in the present, this is the case.  This difficult finger work demands incomparable technique, any time that a pianist sits down to play one of these concerti.  It is a general present condition.

All of this happens at the present time, and could happen today, so the past tense (B) is out.

The past perfect tense indicate an action that happens before another past action, so this is complete inappropriate.  (C) is right out.

We do not mean to imply that, right as this sentence is spoken, someone happens to be playing a Mozart concerto right at that moment.  That could be true by coincidence, but it is not the intent of the sentence to emphasize that simultaneity, so (E) is out.

That leaves (D), the simple present tense, as the verb that most aptly describes any action that is generally true in present times though not necessarily true at this precise moment.  Answer = D.

2) First of all, the conjunction.  The correct idiom is “not X but Y.”  We need the second half of the sentence to begin with the word “but.  (A) and (D) do not complete this idiom correct, so they are wrong.  The construction “not X but also Y” confuses the “not X but Y” idiom with the “not only X but also Y” idiom — “not X but also Y” does not construct either correctly, so (E) is wrong.

Furthermore, the X and Y must be parallel.  The first part begins “as a gradual process by which …”, so the second part, after the “but”, must also begin with “as” — only (B) does this, so that’s the correct answer.

Notice also the verb tenses.  (D) has a past tense in parallel with a present tense, so that’s wrong.  Similarly, (A) has the past progressive in parallel with the present tense, so that’s also wrong.  (E) has both verbs in the past progressive tense, but that’s unusual, because what we’re discussing is an ongoing process, how evolution continues to take place in the natural world.  Both (B) and (C) have the simple present test, which is correct and which mirrors the simple present test of “transforms” before the underlined part.  (C) does have the awkward wording, “have dramatic change”, instead of “change dramatically” — as a general rule, if you have a choice — action as noun vs. action as verb — always choose the latter.  Actions should be expressed as verbs as much as possible.  Again, this makes (B) the best answer.

Answer = B.

The infinitive is the most basic default form of a verb.  Verbs are listed in the dictionary by their infinitive forms.  To make an infinitive, we add the preposition “to” in front of the verb: to walk, to run, to love, to buy, to sell, to be or not to be.  Even though it begins with a preposition, it is not a prepositional phrase.  It is an infinitive.

Infinitives function as nouns, and can take any role a noun can take.  For example, an infinitive can be the subject of a sentence:

1) “To err is human.” — Seneca the Younger (4 BC-65 AD).

2) “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”  — Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

3) “To err is human, but it feels divine.”  — Mae West (1893-1980)

An infinitive can also be the direct object of certain verbs.  The following are some verbs that idiomatically can take an infinitive as a direct object: appear, ask, claim, help, hope, know, like, make, need, persuade, propose, require, want.  The following are some verbs that idiomatically do not take an infinitive as a direct object: find, prohibit, request, reveal, succeed, suggest.

Infinitive phrases

Any grammatical role that can be filled by a simple infinitive can be filled by a full infinitive phrase.  What’s an infinitive phrase?

Well, the verb in an infinitive can have all the accoutrements of a normal verb: a direct object, adverbs, prepositional phrases, etc.  In fact, the verb of an infinitive can have a subject: that subject will always be in the objective form (me, her, him, them) as opposed to the subjective form (I, he, she, they) normally used for subjects.  Here’s an assortment of infinitives and infinitive phrases.

4) To sleep, perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub.

5) He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspected he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

6) A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

7) Is it necessary for me to give further examples?

The esteemed authors of these: #4 = William Shakespeare (1564-1616), a sentence from the famous soliloquy in Hamlet; #5 = Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), one of the complaints against George III in the Declaration of Independence; #6 = James Madison (1751-1836), the complete text of the Second Amendment in his Bill of Rights.  The last, considerably less lofty, is my own ironic self-referential example sentence J, one that demonstrates a pronoun in the objective form as the subject of the infinitive.

If such lofty sources use infinitive phrase, you can bet you will see them with regularity on the GMAT.  For example, in the OG13, see SC #8, #13, #15, #16, #18, #28, #34, #39, #42 and #45: those are just a few examples of OG SC problems in which an infinitive phrase plays out either as the correct answer or as part of an incorrect answer.   That’s ten examples in the first 50 practice SC questions: clearly, infinitive phrases are all over the SC section!

Here’s another practice question:

http://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1131

1.) Last night, I walked my dog.

2.) I have walked Bucky every night for the last two years.

In the first sentence, I am doing the action, ‘walk’, only once. In the second sentence, I am describing something that has taken place on a number of occasions in the past and continues on till today (meaning tonight I will most likely walk Bucky).

The first tense is the simple past (if you look at my description it is very simple). The perfect tenses, on the other hand, aren’t so simple. To show you what I mean, let’s compare the present and the past.

1) Before I moved to California, I had walked Bucky in the mornings, not at nights.

2) Since moving to California, I have walked Bucky every evening.

The first sentence is an example of the past perfect tense. Notice, like the present perfect, that we have the verb ‘have’ coupled with another verb (which we call the participle):

Present Perfect: Has/have + Participle

Past Perfect: Had + Participle (plus another verb in the Simple Past)

Why use one tense versus the other? Well, if you notice in the first sentence, I am talking about two events that happened in the past: my walking Bucky and my moving to California. Whenever you are dealing with two events in the past, one of which started or happened before the other, you must use the past perfect tense to describe the event that started first.

First Event: I walked Bucky in the morning = Past Perfect Construction

Second Event: I moved to California = Simple Past

Another way to think of the past perfect is with specific dates. Let’s say I moved to California in 1984. I walked Bucky every morning from 1981 to 1984. The sentence implies that once I moved to California I no longer walked Bucky in the morning. That is, an event that happened repeatedly in the past stopped when another event happened. That interrupting event uses the simple past.

Now let’s try a couple of practice questions:

1) The corporation suffered/had suffered from consecutive quarterly losses until it hired/had hired a new CEO.

2) Every Christmas, the CEO granted/has granted employees three days off to celebrate the holidays.

In the first sentence, the event that happened first is the corporation suffering. So we want the past perfect tense: had suffered. The more recent action, the hiring of a new CEO, should be in simple past: hired.

For the second sentence, we want to describe an event that started in the past and continues in the present. So we need to use the present perfect tense: has granted.

Key Points

#1: Present Perfect: Has/Have + Participle = describes action/event that happened in the past and continues in the present.

#2: Past Perfect: Had + Participle = describes an action/event in the past that happened before another action in the past.

#3: Whenever we use the past perfect, we must also have another verb in the sentence that is in the simple past.

Some of the more difficult GMAT Sentence Correction questions will involve the subjunctive.  What is the subjunctive?

Verb Moods

In addition to tenses (past, present, future) and number (singular vs. plural), verbs also have “moods”.  English has three verb moods: (1) indicative, (2) imperative, and (3) subjunctive.  The indicative is what you probably think of as ordinary English: simple statements of fact.  Examples:

The quality of mercy is not strained.  (indicative present)

This was the most unkindest cut of all.  (indicative past)

Birnam wood shall come to Dunsinane.  (indicative future)

The imperative mood, not a likely subject for GMAT Sentence Correction, is only used in commands and instructions:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

To thine own self be true.

Mend your speech a little, lest it mar your fortunes.

That last quote, Lear’s words to Cordelia, is a two-for-one: the verb “mend” is in the imperative mood, but the verb “mar” is in the subjunctive mood.

The Subjunctive

When are talking about plain facts and truths we know for certain, we use the indicative mood.  The subjunctive is for everything that’s not so certain.  We use the subjunctive to talk about:

1) Counterfactual possibilities — that is, hypothetical possibilities that, at the moment, simply are not true

2) Doubtful possibilities

3) Possibilities in the constructions such as “wish that”, “desire that”, or “lest that”

The Subjunctive for Counterfactual Possibilities

Even if something is not true at the moment, it may be an important possibility to consider.  We use the past subjunctive in an “if” clause to discuss such counterfactual possibilities.

If I were you, I would explain the situation to her immediately.

Even if he had a million dollars, he still would complain about not having enough.

If I read six books at once, I would confuse all the plots and characters.

The past subjunctive uses the plural past tense form of the verb.  For most verbs, the past tense is the same for singular & plural, but for the form “to be”, the singular past tense (“was”) is different from the plural past tense (“were”).  This means, for most verbs, the past subjunctive will be indistinguishable from the past indicative; verb “to be” is the only verb that would reveal the different.

Doubtful Possibilities

Sometimes we need to plan for things that are unlikely, but that could happen.  We use the future subjunctive in an “if” clause to discuss such possibilities.

If I were to win the lottery, I finally would buy a new car.

If I were to learn Sanskrit, I would understand etymology much better.

If he were to be the next Picasso, I would be very happy to have known him for so long.

Notice: the form of the future subjunctive is “were” + the infinitive of the verb.

Wishes, Desires and “Lest”

We use the present subjunctive to express any wish/desire/etc. that is stated in a clause beginning with “that.”  We also use the present subjunctive in clauses that follow the word “lest.”

My parents desire that I be famous.

She hopes that she not be chosen for the committee.

He wants to clear his name, lest he lose some of his civil rights.

I study assiduously, lest I do poorly on the GMAT.

These may sound awkward, because fewer than 1% of the population uses these grammatical forms correctly.  Notice that the present subjunctive is merely the infinite form of the verb without the “to”; for many verbs, this is identical to the indicative present, but we don’t add an “s” for the third-person singular (he/she/it).

How Does One Learn the Subjunctive?

Since these forms are rarely used, and often used incorrectly, it’s hard to get the correct grammar into your ear.  The best way is to read sophisticated material: scholar books, The Economist Magazine, the New York Times.  When you are reading works like this, have your antennae up for the subjunctive, and write down in a journal examples you find of it.  Over time, you will develop familiarity.

Here’s a free practice SC problem, using some of these ideas: http://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1175