The thirteen original British colonies in North America, some formed as commercial ventures, others as religious havens, each had a written charter that set forth its form of government and the rights of the colonists.
A. some formed as commercial ventures, others as religious havens, each had a written charter
B. some being formed as a commercial venture, others as religious havens, all of which had written charters
C. some that formed as commercial ventures, others as religious havens, all had written charters
D. with some being formed as a commercial venture, others as religious havens, all had a written charter
E. with some formed as commercial ventures, while others as religious havens, each had a written charter

This is an official GMAT prep ques. I had zeroed down on A and E. In in the end i picked option E which is the wrong one.

I'm repeatedly facing the same issue of using "with" in modifiers. Inadvertently i pick the wrong answer almost 90% of the time. I have tried to search on the Web but couldnt trace any reliable source or information.

It will be great if you can guide me on how to use "with" in modifiers and what to look for when using it. Also if you can suggest me any information source where i can get more clarity.

Thanks in anticipation.

Karthyk

Hmm, a bit of an open-ended question. We'll see what we can do with it below, but first let's think about managing SC questions a bit better.

If you are consistently wrong about the use of the word "with," then you are smart to sort that issue out now. You'd also be smart to rely first on splits or features of the sentence over which you have greater mastery.

In this case, there's so much wrong with E that's easier to account for than the word "with." For instance, "while" is badly misused (though that's drifting OT).

Now, about "with." My hunch is that you are using "with" unnecessarily because you don't recognize that participles can introduce modifiers. In A, the past participle "formed" marks the participial phrase "some formed as commercial ventures, others (formed) as religious havens." Perhaps you don't trust that "formed" is adequate to introduce a modifying phrase?

You could practice the correct uses of "with," and avoid those uses you haven't practiced, but "with" is one of the most commonly used words in English. It has a lot of uses:

She ate up the flattery with a spoon. (manner)
He drifted with the wind. (direction or place)
You can't beat that deal with a stick. (means)
We can't lose with Gunther on our team.
etc.

I think that your best bet is to look over those questions in which you unnecessarily used "with," and ask "What other sort of modifier is already here?"

Hi can anybody pls explian ...that is the use of plural verb 'set' is correct here....
"set forth "is verb used for "each carter" which is singular


what is the rule here.....

"set" can be singular or plural if it is used as a past tense verb, so there is no problem here..

i hope your test went well, and other students please note: If you need an answer in five days, you're really taking your chances on the forums. We do the best we can but cannot ever guarantee timely responses to questions..

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Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor

Thank you for your response!

:)

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Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor

With is used to attach two nouns..

Please help me to understand why past participle 'formed' is correct here . I thought the passive form 'some was formed ' is required .

Thanks .

Dear MG Instructor - Please explain when to use past participle and when passive form of the verb?

Thanks .

Sorry, but where do you see "some was formed" as a possible answer? I'm not seeing it.

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Jamie Nelson
ManhattanGMAT Instructor

I agree with the explanation offered for the usage of 'with'. I would like to know the rules governing the use of each and all. In the given sentence, we have the following choices:
A. each had a written charter
B. all of which had written charters
C. all had written charters
D. all had a written charter
E. each had a written charter


The usage of charter/charters is governed by the use of 'a'.

Can we use any of the above structure? Do we have any specific rules governing them.
Help Appreciated.

"each" and "all" can both be used as long as they are used correctly. You need to remember that "each" is singular and that "all" is plural, so pay attention to subject-verb agreement. Also pay attention to pronouns and direct objects; for instance you can't say "each X had their own Y", because "their" has no antecedent in this case. i hope this helps sort things out a little..

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Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor