Past Participles of Irregular Verbs

Remember the simple past and past participle of the irregular verbs.

Dr. Hakuta's research among Hispanic children in the United States indicates that the more the children use both Spanish and English, their intellectual advantage is greater in skills underlying reading ability and nonverbal logic.

(A) their intellectual advantage is greater in skills underlying reading ability and nonverbal logic
(B) their intellectual advantage is the greater in skills underlaying reading ability and nonverbal logic
(C) the greater their intellectual advantage in skills underlying reading ability and nonverbal logic
(D) in skills that underlay reading ability and nonverbal logic, their intellectual advantage is the greater
(E) in skills underlying reading ability and nonverbal logic, the greater intellectual advantage is theirs

The three things noteworthy about the above sentence are:

1) The sentence is the present form.
2) A present participle of "underlay" should be used as a modifier of "skills". The present participle is underlying.
3) The phrase "the more the X...the greater the Y" should be completed.

We go by options again.

Option B and D are ruled out because of second point stated above.
Option A rules out because of point number 3.
Option E is an awkward construction.
Only Option C clearly fits into all the points stated for the sentence to be both logically and grammatically correct.

If-then can be an inTense Construction- Be Cautious!

Sentences that use the word "if" to describe hypothetical conditions require a conditional verb construction. These sentences have two parts: if clause, and the then clause. The word "if" does not always signal a conditional sentence. Only when the sentence has a "then" clause, then the sentence is considered a conditional sentence. Also note would/could never appears in the "if" clause.

If v/s Whether

Use If- When you have a conditional sentence.
Use whether When you have two alternatives possible.
Do not use "whether or not" construction while solving sentence correction questions.

Go through the following examples:-

I do not know if I will go for shopping today or tomorrow.
I do not know whether I will go for shopping today or tomorrow.

In both the sentences above there is one surety that I am confused about going for shopping.

Let's see the difference in meaning of both the sentences.

With the usage of if, the additional condition is that I may not go of shopping at all. It in whether this condition is not applicable. I will go shopping either today or tomorrow. GMAT considers "whether" as a correct usage.

The first decision for most tenants living in a building undergoing being converted to cooperative ownership is if to sign a no-buy pledge with the other tenants.

(A) being converted to cooperative ownership is if to sign
(B) being converted to cooperative ownership is whether they should be signing
(C) being converted to cooperative ownership is whether or not they sign
(D) conversion to cooperative ownership is if to sign
(E) conversion to cooperative ownership is whether to sign

If I would have solved the questions I would have gone in the following way-

Being is generally not accepted in GMAT Land so, I eliminate option A, B and C right away. In option D if is used, not a very safe option. E uses whether, and correctly uses conversion, which grammatically uses the phrase begun by undergoing. Hence, E is the best choice.

But let me elaborate more on this.

In options A, B an C, the phrase being converted is redundant because the process indicated by being has already being conveyed by the usage of undergoing. D brings the possibility of not signing at all by the usage of if and the same goes for option A as well. Hence, eliminated. Option E uses "whether", and is grammatically and logically correct.

A trip to fantasy Grammar Land is over. Come back to reality. This is Gadha Land, and we are donkeys. Remember?