Sentence Correction

Artisans from small towns hoping to sell their popular glassware in large cities have found the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are reluctant to bargain.


(A) the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are

(B) local customers to be difficult to please, frugal, and are

(C) that local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and

(D) local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and they are

(E) that local customers are difficult to please and frugal, and they are

Artisans from small towns hoping to sell their popular glassware in large cities have found the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are reluctant to bargain.

The correct answer should be C. Let me explain:

This is a question testing parallelism and clause agreement.


(A) the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are
For clause to use "are", it should begin with "that". Also, "please","frugal" and "are reluctant" are not parallel.NO.

(B) local customers to be difficult to please, frugal, and are
Clause is ok for use of "to". But the same parallelism problem as above. NO.

(C) that local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and
Clause is ok (that + are). Also, "please","frugal" and "reluctant" are parallel.CORRECT.

(D) local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and they are
Same problems as A. NO.

(E) that local customers are difficult to please and frugal, and they are
Clause is ok. But the same parallelism problem still exists. NO.

Let me know if this helps

eagleeye wrote:Artisans from small towns hoping to sell their popular glassware in large cities have found the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are reluctant to bargain.

The correct answer should be C. Let me explain:

This is a question testing parallelism and clause agreement.

(A) the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are
For clause to use "are", it should begin with "that". Also, "please","frugal" and "are reluctant" are not parallel.NO.

(B) local customers to be difficult to please, frugal, and are
Clause is ok for use of "to". But the same parallelism problem as above. NO.

(C) that local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and
Clause is ok (that + are). Also, "please","frugal" and "reluctant" are parallel.CORRECT.

(D) local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and they are
Same problems as A. NO.

(E) that local customers are difficult to please and frugal, and they are
Clause is ok. But the same parallelism problem still exists. NO.

Let me know if this helps

eagleeye....what do you mean by "For clause to use "are", it should begin with "that"."
I did not get the clause agreement concept that you used to rule out A. Please explain as it will be a learning. I had only heard about SV agreement.
Though I agree that answer should be C.

@1947.....Sentence A changes the meaning without THAT

"Artisans .......have found the local customers...." means that the artisans have founded the local customers

But the intended meaning is to be "Artisans.....have found that the local customers....." now its correct.

I think this is what EAGLEEYE intended to mention as agreement

1947 wrote:

eagleeye wrote:Artisans from small towns hoping to sell their popular glassware in large cities have found the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are reluctant to bargain.

The correct answer should be C. Let me explain:

This is a question testing parallelism and clause agreement.

(A) the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are
For clause to use "are", it should begin with "that". Also, "please","frugal" and "are reluctant" are not parallel.NO.

(B) local customers to be difficult to please, frugal, and are
Clause is ok for use of "to". But the same parallelism problem as above. NO.

(C) that local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and
Clause is ok (that + are). Also, "please","frugal" and "reluctant" are parallel.CORRECT.

(D) local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and they are
Same problems as A. NO.

(E) that local customers are difficult to please and frugal, and they are
Clause is ok. But the same parallelism problem still exists. NO.

Let me know if this helps

eagleeye....what do you mean by "For clause to use "are", it should begin with "that"."
I did not get the clause agreement concept that you used to rule out A. Please explain as it will be a learning. I had only heard about SV agreement.
Though I agree that answer should be C.

OA is C

OE is :


This sentence is missing the relative pronoun that, which must introduce the noun clause describing what the artisans have found. It is not acceptable to omit that, and the omission of this pronoun creates ambiguity because it seems as though the the artisans literally found the local customers.

Also, the sentence lacks parallel structure because, in the list are difficult...frugal...and are resistant, are must either appear before all of the items or it must only appear before the first item, difficult. The correct answer should introduce the clause with the pronoun that and should either add are before frugal or eliminate are before reluctant to create parallel structure.

Choices B and D do not introduce the noun clause with that

Choice C correctly introduces the noun clause with that and deletes are before reluctant.

Choice E is not parallel and they is an ambiguous pronoun, and could refer to either the artisans or the customers.

Choice C is correct.

1947 wrote:

eagleeye wrote:Artisans from small towns hoping to sell their popular glassware in large cities have found the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are reluctant to bargain.

The correct answer should be C. Let me explain:

This is a question testing parallelism and clause agreement.

(A) the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are
For clause to use "are", it should begin with "that". Also, "please","frugal" and "are reluctant" are not parallel.NO.

(B) local customers to be difficult to please, frugal, and are
Clause is ok for use of "to". But the same parallelism problem as above. NO.

(C) that local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and
Clause is ok (that + are). Also, "please","frugal" and "reluctant" are parallel.CORRECT.

(D) local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and they are
Same problems as A. NO.

(E) that local customers are difficult to please and frugal, and they are
Clause is ok. But the same parallelism problem still exists. NO.

Let me know if this helps

eagleeye....what do you mean by "For clause to use "are", it should begin with "that"."
I did not get the clause agreement concept that you used to rule out A. Please explain as it will be a learning. I had only heard about SV agreement.
Though I agree that answer should be C.

I'm no grammar whiz, but I can give you some examples. Here goes:
I have found that the desserts are delicious. CORRECT.
I have found the desserts are delicious. INCORRECT.

Here we have two clauses.
A. I have found (the dependent clause)
B. The desserts are delicious (the independent clause)

To attach the dependent to the independent, we can do one of two things.
a. we use the relative pronoun that
b. we use the "to be" form.

So either,
1. I have found that the desserts are delicious.
2. I have found the desserts to be delicious.

That's what I meant by the clause having "are" requiring the use of "that"

If you write the two sentences as:
I have found the desserts are delicious. It not only sounds awkward, but is wrong because, there is no relative pronoun joining them, and we are not using "to be" as a modifier to modify the noun "desserts".

Let me know if this helps

karthikpandian19 wrote:Artisans from small towns hoping to sell their popular glassware in large cities have found the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are reluctant to bargain.

(A) the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are
(C) that local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and

Thanks Karthik and eagleeye...for giving such an explicit explanations...
I now understand without THAT in original sentence meaning is absurd i.e. means Artisans have found local customers. In terms of grammar ....there is a need to properly join the IC and dependent clause.

here "local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and..." is IC
and the starting part in original sentence is DC.

Thanks again ...this question helps understand when do we need to introduce a new clause.

eagleeye wrote:

1947 wrote:

eagleeye wrote:Artisans from small towns hoping to sell their popular glassware in large cities have found the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are reluctant to bargain.

The correct answer should be C. Let me explain:

This is a question testing parallelism and clause agreement.

(A) the local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and are
For clause to use "are", it should begin with "that". Also, "please","frugal" and "are reluctant" are not parallel.NO.

(B) local customers to be difficult to please, frugal, and are
Clause is ok for use of "to". But the same parallelism problem as above. NO.

(C) that local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and
Clause is ok (that + are). Also, "please","frugal" and "reluctant" are parallel.CORRECT.

(D) local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and they are
Same problems as A. NO.

(E) that local customers are difficult to please and frugal, and they are
Clause is ok. But the same parallelism problem still exists. NO.

Let me know if this helps

eagleeye....what do you mean by "For clause to use "are", it should begin with "that"."
I did not get the clause agreement concept that you used to rule out A. Please explain as it will be a learning. I had only heard about SV agreement.
Though I agree that answer should be C.

I'm no grammar whiz, but I can give you some examples. Here goes:
I have found that the desserts are delicious. CORRECT.
I have found the desserts are delicious. INCORRECT.

Here we have two clauses.
A. I have found (the dependent clause)
B. The desserts are delicious (the independent clause)

To attach the dependent to the independent, we can do one of two things.
a. we use the relative pronoun that
b. we use the "to be" form.

So either,
1. I have found that the desserts are delicious.
2. I have found the desserts to be delicious.

That's what I meant by the clause having "are" requiring the use of "that"

If you write the two sentences as:
I have found the desserts are delicious. It not only sounds awkward, but is wrong because, there is no relative pronoun joining them, and we are not using "to be" as a modifier to modify the noun "desserts".

Let me know if this helps

Can you please tell, according to terminology,
which is the dependent clause and which is the independent clause.

Artisans from small towns hoping to sell their popular glassware in large cities have found that local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and reluctant to bargain.
This is C sentence

Artisans - Subject
from small towns hoping to sell their popular glassware in large cities - Prepositional Phrase

have found - Main verb

Artisans .........have found - DEPENDENT CLAUSE (DC)

that local customers are difficult to please, frugal, and reluctant to bargain - INDEPENDENT CLAUSE (IC) along with THAT relative pronoun

Can you please tell, according to terminology,
which is the dependent clause and which is the independent clause

.