Facepalm Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
SAT Writing Question
Hi guys, the following questions are from Collegeboard's The Official SAT Study Guide.
Instructions: Find the error (underlined) in the following sentences. There may or may not be an error.
Test 7 pg 777 #20
In 1850 Jim Beckwourth, a Black American explorer, discovered in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada a pass soon becoming an important gateway to California gold-rush country. NE.
Collegeboard's explanation is " The error in this sentence occurs at (C), where an inappropriate verbal form, the present participle “becoming,” is inconsistent with the past tense of the main verb, “discovered.”
Test 8 pg 839 #14
Writing about people whose circumstances were deplorable, Dickens used the novel to protest social conditions in Victorian England. NE.
The answer is E, no error, but there is one thing I'm confused about. In the first question, the error occurs at C where the sentence contains a present participle that does not agree with the main verb. Isn't that the same for the second question? "Writing" is a present participle, but the main verb is "used". What's the trick here? Are their exceptions to this rule?
Instructions: Find the error (underlined) in the following sentences. There may or may not be an error.
Test 7 pg 777 #20
In 1850 Jim Beckwourth, a Black American explorer, discovered in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada a pass soon becoming an important gateway to California gold-rush country. NE.
Collegeboard's explanation is " The error in this sentence occurs at (C), where an inappropriate verbal form, the present participle “becoming,” is inconsistent with the past tense of the main verb, “discovered.”
Test 8 pg 839 #14
Writing about people whose circumstances were deplorable, Dickens used the novel to protest social conditions in Victorian England. NE.
The answer is E, no error, but there is one thing I'm confused about. In the first question, the error occurs at C where the sentence contains a present participle that does not agree with the main verb. Isn't that the same for the second question? "Writing" is a present participle, but the main verb is "used". What's the trick here? Are their exceptions to this rule?
Top answer
The circumstances are different. In the first, 'discovered' and 'becoming a gateway' happened at different times. In the second, 'used the novel' and 'writing' happened at the same time.
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The circumstances are different.
In the first, 'discovered' and 'becoming a gateway' happened at different times.
In the second, 'used the novel' and 'writing' happened at the same time.
The participles alone are non-finite: they have no definite independent time reference. They depend on another, finite, verb to define the time of the participial action. In the first
In the first, 'discovered' and 'becoming a gateway' happened at different times.
In the second, 'used the novel' and 'writing' happened at the same time.
The participles alone are non-finite: they have no definite independent time reference. They depend on another, finite, verb to define the time of the participial action. In the first
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