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I was practicing the Cambridge Michigan Grammar test when I came across the following question

_________, I still was able to get to the top of the mountain.

  1. Even though unfit
  2. Unfit as I am
  3. While ever out of condition
  4. Much as I am unfit

I chose option 1 but it turned out that the correct answer was 2. Why cannot option 1 be correct? I would like to know what grammar point is involved.

CowperKettle
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learner
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    To use even though, you will need a clause. (Even though is a conjunction.) The word "unfit" alone is not qualified as a clause. – Damkerng T. Dec 19 '13 at 15:09
  • FWIW, whatever the book may say, I'd word it like this: Even though I'm out of shape, I still made it to the top of the mountain. – J.R. Dec 19 '13 at 15:14
  • Thanks @DamkerngT. I know where to go now! I have already tagged the question with clauses. – learner Dec 19 '13 at 15:53
  • There is a problem, or that is what I think, with the second choice: "Unfit though I am". It should have "was", instead of "am". What you say? – Man_From_India Dec 19 '13 at 15:32
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    @Man_From_India - No, "am" is fine. Both are grammatical, though they mean different things: "Unfit though I am, I climbed the mountain" means you climbed the mountain in the past, but you are unfit in the present. (Presumably, you were also unfit when you made the climb; otherwise, these two thoughts are unrelated and probably don't belong in the same sentence.) However, "Unfit though I was, I climbed the mountain" means that you were unfit when you made the climb, but that's not necessarily the current case (otherwise, you might have said "am" instead of "was"). – J.R. Dec 19 '13 at 19:11
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    To be honest, I thought option 1 sounded okay. Maybe my grammartron needs recalibrating. –  Dec 20 '13 at 12:38
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    I feel the same way about option 1. "I am" is understood in the context IMO. – BobRodes Dec 24 '13 at 23:14
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    I concur with @snailboat and Bob Rodes. – StoneyB on hiatus Jan 04 '16 at 00:49
  • You wrote that you were practicing for the test, but can you identify exactly where you found this question, and the answer? – Jim Reynolds Jan 04 '16 at 16:42

2 Answers2

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Your test says it's incorrect, so you'd better say it's incorrect when you're asked.

But I think it's arguably grammatical. We can interpret even though unfit as something called a verbless clause. In this sort of clause, the verb is deleted, and commonly the subject is as well; the verb is generally a form of be, and the subject (when deleted) is recoverable from the main clause.

Here are some examples from Quirk et al's 1985 grammar:

Though already middle-aged, he took a swim every morning.
Though [he was] already middle-aged, he took a swim every morning.

Whether right or wrong, the government always wins the argument.
Whether [it is] right or wrong, the government always wins the argument.

We can do the same thing with your example:

Even though unfit, I still was able to get to the top of the mountain.
Even though [I am] unfit, I still was able to get to the top of the mountain.

Whether the form of be should be past or present probably depends on the context of the sentence. I chose the present tense am here based on the other examples.

When we start talking about missing words, we're talking about theory rather than fact. The missing words aren't actually there, of course! We're just trying to come up with the simplest explanation for why these sentences work when they do.

So there's no requirement that you analyze these as having missing words. But however you choose to analyze them, you'll have to at least understand them when other people say them. And whether or not you decide this particular example is grammatical (I think it is, but another speaker might not), you'll have to admit that other verbless clauses are grammatical.

Here's one last example, this time courtesy of Huddleston & Pullum:

While in Boston I lived with my aunt.
While [I was] in Boston I lived with my aunt.

This sort of sentence is so common that I don't think you could possibly call it ungrammatical.

In any case, best of luck with your test!

Community
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What is unfit, you or the mountain? In the choice you selected, it's unclear. However, the second selection makes it crystal clear which noun gets the modification.

Another reason #1 is incorrect: You need a noun after the phrase "even though". As an alternative you could use "despite" followed by a gerund ("despite being out of shape").

Karen927
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  • The reasoning makes sense. I liked it, but one can argue that the pronoun is closer to the clause than the word mountain. I forgot what that grammar rule is called; closeness? – learner Jan 08 '14 at 01:32
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    I'm not familiar with that rule. Frankly, I'd avoid constructing sentences when it begins with a clause, which is the case in the example you provide. If you're looking for clarity, I'd write the sentence as follows: "I was still able to get to the top of the mountain even though I was out of shape. As a side note, you'll notice I didn't use "unfit" as the adjective. That word is typically reserved to describe "lack of ability" as in "unfit to hold office". "Out of shape" is typically used when describing a lack of physical fitness. See my edit for another reason why your choice was wrong – Karen927 Jan 15 '14 at 01:13
  • What do you think about starting a sentence with a clause like, "As a side note" ;-) – Jim Jan 15 '14 at 01:39
  • " You need a noun after the phrase "even though""; if it was followed by an example, it would definitely be clearer and therefore more useful for second language learners. EDIT: I see it now, "Even though I was ..."? So if you add a noun, does that mean you have to add a verb? What confused me for a moment is that you said a noun not a pronoun. Of course a pronoun works, but not every noun is a pronoun. – learner Jan 15 '14 at 07:37
  • Yes, "even though" goes with "I", not "mountain". I also forget the name of the rule, but it is about closeness. As others have said, you could say option 1, but books for grammar learning are often quite pedantic about "proper" as opposed to "accepted" usage. It may even be that the related course has taught option 2, so they are just testing you on previous learning. – nxx Jan 15 '14 at 19:41
  • "While in Rome, be sure to see the Colosseum" -- no noun in "while in Rome". This is an example from Quirk et al., "verbless clauses of time". – CowperKettle Jan 03 '16 at 13:21
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    I can't agree with either argument. 1) I is both the subject of the matrix clause and the nearest NP to the opening phrase, and therefore by default its predicand. 2) The opening phrase is syntactically unexceptionable: it requires neither a noun nor a verb. – StoneyB on hiatus Jan 04 '16 at 00:55