Modifiers With Relative Pronouns

By Abhishek Tomar on Aug 24, 2009 with Comments 0

Now you might be pretty comfortable with modifiers. GMAT exam is not so simple, they do not make only one type of error in a single sentence. What they do is make at least two or more error so that if you are able to correct one error you won’t be able to correct the other error. In this modifier chapter we learn about two most common error that you may encounter in GMAT exam. They error are modifiers errors and Pronoun error mingled together in a single sentence. These type of errors are known as Modifiers with Relative Pronouns errors.

Pronouns such as

which, that, where, who, whose, whom

Relative pronouns are helpful when other ways of inserting a modifier are awkward.

Awkward: We test-drove a truck having tyre problem
Correct: We test-drove a truck THAT had tyre problem.

Awkward: The Talent Club, never liking to lose, practice every day.
Correct: The Talent Club, WHO never like to lose, practice every day.

Till this time modifiers were used with the help of noun but now we use pronoun that are wrongly used in the sentences. Generally in GMAT exam you may encounter words that include -ing the form of Verb. You may also notice this form in the above example where we have used HAVING and LIKING. Remember words including -ing should be omitted in modifiers. In the above example we have replaced the HAVING with HAD and LIKING with LIKE.

NOTE:
The pronoun WHO introduces phrases that modify a person or a group of people, where as the pronoun WHICH introduce phrases that modify things. THAT can be used for both the forms that is people and things.

REMEMBER: whenever you see WHICH you are inviting trouble in GMAT example and has to be omitted.

GMAT TESTED

GMAT mostly test the use of THAT and WHICH. Whenever you are in a situation where you have to choose what to choose either THAT or WHICH use THAT because it goes mostly with every thing where as WHICH introduces middle man in a GMAT sentences. WHICH is correctly use when it introduces a middleman and is set by a comma. The statement WHICH introduce can always be omitted and will have no effect on the sentences

Example

The team THAT loses the game will take over second place.
Magic island, WHICH is a small state, is a very interesting place to visit.

Here In the first sentence the modifier “THAT loses the game” is necessary to identify the team that takes the second place. Therefore THAT (Pronoun) is been used. In the second sentence you will find that the phrase WHICH introduce can be easily removed and there would be no effect on the meaning of the sentence. Therefore the pronoun WHICH is used.

GMAT Error

However be aware of the GMAT most common error

Example

Cars come in many colors, which can be very cool or very ugly.

In the above sentence WHICH refer to the COLORS or the CARS? Avoid sentence that contain confusion. Remember avoid WHICH.