sukanyar wrote:
Hi Mike, I think HiLine wanted to ask whether "which" can refer to a "noun phrase" (I know that pronoun "it" can refer to noun phrase, but not sure about "which"). So, would the following be correct: Fighting corruption, which is not easy, requires guts.
So, here, does "which" modify the noun phrase "Fighting corruption"..or will "which" modify "corruption"?
Dear
sukanyar,
I'm happy to respond.
I don't believe this was HiLine's question, but what you ask is an excellent question on its own.
There are three major grammatical forms that act as nouns:
1)
gerunds (e.g. "
fighting corruption")
2)
infinitives (e.g. "
to ask interesting question")
3)
substantive clauses, a.k.a noun clauses (e.g. "
that dogs make good pets")
Now, if we were to take a mathematically approach to grammar, then certainly anything that is true of a noun would be true of these as well. We can modify a noun with "
which," so theoretically we could modify any of these with "
which."
Theoretically, that is true. In practice, this is a rare and questionable construction. I have never seen it on any official question or on any reputable practice questions, and instinctually I would avoid it in writing my own questions. I don't recall ever seeing this construction in any sophisticated written material. It's exceedingly rare, and I am not aware of a grammar source that discusses it.
Your sentence is quite reasonable:
Fighting corruption, which is not easy, requires guts. The pronoun "
which" unambiguously modifies the gerund. This doesn't strike me as wrong, but I have never ever seen this on an official question. I could imagine sentences of this sort in colloquial speech, but I can't imagine them in formal academic writing, as we see on the GMAT.
That's my best guess on this very good and unusual question.
Mike