Lincoln, Discovering In Young Manhood The Secret GMAT Sentence Correction

Question: Lincoln, discovering in young manhood the secret that the Yankee peddler has learned before him, knew how to use a good story to generate good will.

(A) Lincoln, discovering in young manhood the secret that the Yankee peddler has learned before him, knew
(B) Discovering in young manhood the secret that the Yankee peddler has learned before him, Lincoln knew
(C) Lincoln, discovering the secret that the Yankee peddler had learned in young manhood before him, knew
(D) In young manhood Lincoln discovered the secret that the Yankee peddler had learned before him:
(E) Lincoln, discovered in young manhood the secret that the Yankee peddler had learned before him, knew

“Lincoln, discovering in young manhood the secret”- is a GMAT sentence correction question. These types of questions contain grammatical errors and we have to choose the correct statement from the options. This topic is the GMAT sentence correction comes with four options and candidates need to choose the one which is correct. GMAT sentence correction is a part of GMAT verbal. It checks whether the candidate is able to decode the inaccuracy in the sentence. It also checks if they are able to bring out an idea or meaning of the context.

Answer: D
Explanation: A and B are incorrect - the learning happened before the discovery so past perfect is needed. C - incorrect - misplaced modifier - "in young manhood before him" wrongly suggests that there were other manhoods before him. E - incorrect - wrongly suggests that Lincoln was discovered. Option D is the correct option while A, B, C and E are incorrect. Let us take a look at each option.

Option A
Lincoln, discovering in young manhood the secret that the Yankee peddler has learned before him, knew - past and present used together in the same sentence. Therefore, Incorrect.

Option B
Discovering in young manhood the secret that the Yankee peddler has learned before him, Lincoln knew- same as A. The context is in the past, so use of "has"(present perfect) is not correct

Option C
Lincoln, discovering the secret that the Yankee peddler had learned in young manhood before him, knew - Incorrect. "in young manhood" wrongly suggests that there were other manhoods before him.

Option D
In young manhood Lincoln discovered the secret that the Yankee peddler had learned before him- This sentence conveys the meaning very clearly. Correct.

Option E
Lincoln, discovered in young manhood the secret that the Yankee peddler had learned before him, knew- incorrect. Wrongly suggests that Lincoln was discovered. Two main verbs without any conjunction

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