A 4 min read

In this article, we’ll look at the solution to this GMAT sentence correction –  Out of America’s fascination with all things antique have grown a market for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures that are bringing back the chaise lounge, the overstuffed sofa, and the claw-footed bathtub.

We have analyzed the 5 answer choices and arrived at the correct choice through 3 steps:

General information on this question

• Difficulty level – Medium
• 55% of people got this question correct.
• The average time is taken to correctly answer this question – 1:34
• Sessions – 4,444
• Source – Official Guide, OG 10, OG 11

Video Solution

Take a look at the video solution of this 700-level GMAT SC question – Out of America’s fascination with all things antique have grown a market for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures that are bringing back the chaise longue, the overstuffed sofa, and the claw-footed bathtub.

1.1 Question – Out of America’s fascination with all things antique …

Out of America’s fascination with all things antique have grown a market for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures that are bringing back the chaise longue, the overstuffed sofa, and the claw-footed bathtub.

[Refer to GMAT Official Guide for answer choice.]

1.2 Meaning Analysis

1.2.1 Sentence Correction

1.2.2 Meaning

The sentence talks about America’s amazement with all things antique, and out of this passion for antiques, a new market has grown for furniture styles of furniture from the past.  This new market is bringing back the chaise lounge, overstuffed sofas, and claw-footed bathtubs. 

1.3 Error Analysis

Subject Verb Number Agreement Errors

a. The sentence has an inverted subject-verb pair “a market- have grown.”  Once we locate the subject-verb pair, we see that we have a subject-verb must agree error- the verb for the singular subject “market” is the plural “have grown,” and we need a singular subject “has grown.” 

b. The noun modifier “that” refers to the slightly far away noun “market,” so we have another Verb Tense Error as “that” requires the singular verb “is” and not the plural verb “are.” 

Note: The use of the slightly far away noun modifier is acceptable because we know we can have a slightly far noun modification when three criteria are fulfilled, and we have all three here.

1. The modifier does not make sense with the preceding noun; thus, we need to look deeper into the sentence.
2. The preceding prepositional phrase is modifying the “market”, and the noun modifier can jump over the prepositional phrase to modify the same entity.
3. The preceding modifier cannot be placed anywhere else in the sentence and still makes logical sense.

1.4 Answer Choice Analysis  

Choice A: things antique have grown a market for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures that are bringing

Incorrect: This choice has the errors discussed in the error analysis.

Choice B: things antique has grown a market for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures that is bringing

Correct: This option corrects both subject-verb issues using “has grown” and “is bringing” and does not introduce any new errors.

Choice C: things that are antiques has grown a market for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures that bring

Incorrect:  

1. Subject Verb Number Agreement Error: In this option, “that” refers to the singular subject “market” but takes the plural verb “bring.”

Choice D: antique things have grown a market for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures that are bringing

Incorrect:  

1. Subject Verb Number Agreement Error: This error is the same as discussed in option A (note they have only switched two words here, “antique things” and “things antique”). The subject and verb must agree- the singular “market” does not agree with the plural verb “have grown”. Thus, the noun modifier “that” refers to the singular noun “market” must have the singular verb “is” and not the plural verb “are.”

Choice E: antique things has grown a market for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures that bring

Incorrect: 

1. Subject Verb Number Agreement Error: This option repeats the subject verb number agreement error discussed in option C.

1.5 Takeaways

1. The use of the slightly far away noun modifier is acceptable under certain circumstances. Cement your understanding of this modifier by reading our article Noun Modifiers Can Modify Slightly Far Away Nouns.
2. Always check that the subject-verb pairs agree in number and make sense.
3. Do not let an inverted sentence structure confuse you; simply reverse the sentence to locate the SV pairs or use probing questions to help you identify the entities of the sentence and the meaning being communicated.

Planning to take the GMAT? We can give you access to quality online content to prepare. We are the most reviewed GMAT prep company on the GMAT club with more than 2060+ reviews and have delivered 10x 700+ scores than the average GMATClub partner. Why don’t you take a free trial and judge it for yourself? Write to us at acethegmat@e-gmat.com in case of any queries.

FAQs – Out of America’s fascination with all things antique