General Grammar Clarification

[neeshpal]

Can some one please help me here with the following sentences.
Are these grammatically correct if the meaning that I want to convey is that " the owner of the car is Jim but sometimes Bill also drives it."

1.The car is owned by Jim and is also sometimes driven by Bill.
2.The car is owned by Jim, and is also sometimes driven by Bill.
3.The car is owned by Jim , and that is also sometimes driven by bill.
4.The car, which is owned by Jim, is also sometimes driven by Bill.
5. The car, owned by Jim,who is a football player, is sometimes driven by by Bill.

(in 5th sentence i just want to clarify whether we can introduce non-essential clauses in between the sentences.)

[JonathanSchneider]

I think the word "but" would be more appropriate than "and" here, because you are expressing a difference (owned by one person, but sometimes driven by another).

1 would be correct if you rephrased to: "The car is owned by Jim but is sometimes driven by Bill." You don't need the "also." In fact, the "also" seems strange after the word "but."

2 is incorrect because of the comma followed by a non-clause. In general, don't use a comma and then a tensed verb (without a new subject) unless you are listing three or more verbs for the same subject.

3 is incorrect because we would use "it" and not "that" to refer to the car.

4 is probably correct on its own as is, though it is not ideal.

5 is okay, and yes, you can insert modifiers, but 5 is not ideal. notice that you have created two modifiers in a row: "owned by Bill, who is a football player," all after the word "car." This is a bit much (though it is not technically wrong).

[neeshpal]

Thank You for the response on the above sentences.

1. I understood why the new sentence is better than original one.

2. Got your point( if I am right) that it has to be a standalone sentence after ", and" .

3. Though i used "that" , which was wrong, I clarified a main concept that ", it" can refer to the subject no matter how far (to the left) the subject is.

I want to clarify one more thing here , if you can please comment on the below:

which of the following sentences are correct. With these I want to clarify where do we exactly place an adverb in the sentence. And does the tense play a role in placement of an adverb?

a. The usual appetite of a tiger is one deer per day, but it gradually is increasing to two deer per day.
b. The usual appetite of a tiger is one deer per day, but it is gradually increasing to two deer per day.
c. The usual appetite of a tiger is one deer per day, but it gradually has increased to two deer per day.
d. The usual appetite of a tiger is one deer per day, but it has gradually increased to two deer per day.

4. I understood this one.

5. This is a bit much from a GMAT point of view...right? So keeping gmat in mind , how do we place two modifiers side by side or how do we modify this sentence.

Thanks a lot...

[esledge]

I want to clarify one more thing here , if you can please comment on the below:

which of the following sentences are correct. With these I want to clarify where do we exactly place an adverb in the sentence. And does the tense play a role in placement of an adverb?

a. The usual appetite of a tiger is one deer per day, but it gradually is increasing to two deer per day.
b. The usual appetite of a tiger is one deer per day, but it is gradually increasing to two deer per day.
c. The usual appetite of a tiger is one deer per day, but it gradually has increased to two deer per day.
d. The usual appetite of a tiger is one deer per day, but it has gradually increased to two deer per day.

I don't think any of the above are technically wrong, as the placement and part of speech of "gradually" make clear that it modifies the verb "increase."

However, there may be some obscure grammar rule/preference that I am not explicitly aware of, because my ear strongly prefers (b) and (d), with "gradually" embedded in the verb.

The GMAT writers seem to (mostly) agree. In a quick check of the 11th edition OG, I found the following, all used in the non-underlined portion of the sentence:
#5: ...has become increasingly willing...
#12: ...has steadily increased...
#39: ...have recently discovered...
#67: ...have occasionally argued...
#78: ...have often looked...
[You'll note these are all perfect tenses. Whether that has anything to do with this apparent preference, I don't know. The GMAT simply uses the perfect tenses (e.g. your sentences (c) and (d)) much more frequently than the progressive tenses (e.g. your sentences (a) and (b)).]

I could find fewer (but not zero!) examples with the adverb next to the verb:
#16: ...can sting repeatedly...

It seems extremely unlikely that the GMAT would make you chose between such similar sentences.