Joan of Arc, a young Frenchwoman who claimed to be divinely inspired, turned the tide of English victories in her country by liberating the city of Orleans and she persuaded Charles VII of France to claim his throne.
- (A) she persuaded Charles VII of France to claim his throne
- (B) persuaded Charles VII of France in claiming his throne
- (C) persuading that the throne be claimed by Charles VII of France
- (D) persuaded Charles VII of France to claim his throne
- (E) persuading that Charles VII of France should claim the throne
What does this question test?
This question tests your ability to identify the sentence structure and ensure that the clauses are connected properly. It also tests your knowledge of the idiom “persuade X to verb”
What does the sentence mean?
This sentence talks of a young Frenchwoman – Joan of Arc. It states two things that she did
- She turned the tide of English victories in France. She did this by liberating the city of Orleans.
- She persuaded Charles VII of France to claim his throne.
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What are the errors in the original sentence?
- Clause 1: Joan of Arc, a young Frenchwoman
- Clause 2: who claimed to be divinely inspired,
- Clause 1: turned the tide of English victories in her country by liberating the city of Orleans
- Clause 3: and she persuaded Charles VII of France to claim his throne.
This sentence has three clauses as shown. Clause 1 and 3 are independent clauses but they have been connected by using “and”. This is not correct. Two independent clauses should be connected using comma + and in this case. Thus, this sentence has sentence structure error.
Answer Choice Analysis
Choice B – Idiom Error: The correct idiomatic construction for the verb “persuade” is “persuade X to verb”. Thus this choice is incorrect since it uses the construction “persuade X in claiming”.
Choice C – Meaning & Idiom Error: As with choice B, this choice does not use the idiom “persuade X to verb” correctly. It uses the construction “persuade X that clause”. Furthermore, by writing this sentence in this manner, the intended meaning has been changed.
In the original sentence, the two accomplishments of Joan of Arc are specified as shown in meaning analysis.
This choice is worded in a manner that communicates that Joan of Arc turned the tide of English victories in France and she did this by doing two things – liberating the city of Orleans and persuading Charles VII to claim the throne. This meaning though logical is different from the intended meaning of the sentence.
Choice D – No Errors. In this choice, clause 3 has been eliminated and since subjects of both Clause 3 and 1 were same – Joan of Arc, now per this choice, Clause 1 has two verbs – turned and persuaded.
Choice E – Meaning and Idiom Error as in Choice C.
Thus, choice D is the correct answer.
What are the key take-away messages?
- Sentences should be connected properly using appropriate punctuation.
- The idiomatic usage of “persuade” is “persuade X to verb”.
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