India is a country with at least fifty major regional languages, of

"whom"- should refer to people so A and E are out.
Can anyone explain please why Option B and D are wrong ?

fourteen that ..... doesn't make any sense.
it has to have a "be" after fourteen

please EXPLAIN why D is wrong ? the structure of " (some/any/few..... of which) is correct but in this case "14 of which.." is also correct ??????? "14" is NOUN AND ADJECTIVE ......IF it use as noun + THAT .....why is wrong ? look like a appositive phrase
beautiful kudos for BEST answer .........

Hey Experts,

Can you please help in the evaluation of options E & C? I can easily eliminate A, B & D.

Thanks!
Iotaa

Take another look at (E):


"Whom" should prefer to a person or people. Here, it seems to refer to "languages." That's wrong, so (E) is out.

That leaves you with (C), which is the correct answer.

I hope that helps!

Hello Iotaa,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, Option E incorrectly refers to the noun "languages" with the pronoun "whom"; remember, "who" and "whom" can only be used to refer to human beings.

To understand the use of "Who" and "Whom" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Dear 09173140521
fourteen of which/them - clearly modifies languages,

Appositive is a rename of noun and thus can be substituted.

- Lynda, Alex's sister, has an impressive look. - > Alex's sister has an impressive look

In our case we cannot substitute 14 in lieu of languages without the distortion of meaning.

Abstract appositive modifies abstract idea of preceding clause.

- The equity trader lost $100M, a deed that was accepted with acclamation

In case of D:
"fourteen that are officially recognized"
- What this sentence signifies?
- What descriptive/explanatory information sentence provides?

Hence, the option D can be neither appositive nor abstract appositive.

Hope it helps.

isn't option C having 2 independent clauses joined together by comma ?

I was going to ask the same, but can you someone confirm if this piece "Fourteen of which" is a pronoun referring to languages?
If that is that is the case i believe that the second sentence is a dependent clause modifying languages.

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Modifiers + Pronouns

• “whom” can only be used to refer to human beings.
• “that” is used to provide information needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, and the “comma + which” construction is used to provide extra information.

A:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses "whom" to refer to the noun "languages"; please remember, “whom” can only be used to refer to human beings.

B:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the "comma + that" construction to refer to extra information - the fact that fourteen major languages have official recognition; remember, “that” is used to provide information needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, and the “comma + which” construction is used to provide extra information.

C: Correct.
1/ This answer choice correctly uses "which" to refer to the noun "languages".
2/ Option C correctly uses the "comma + which" construction to refer to extra information - the fact that fourteen major languages have official recognition.

D:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the "comma + that" construction to refer to extra information - the fact that fourteen major languages have official recognition; remember, “that” is used to provide information needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, and the “comma + which” construction is used to provide extra information.

E:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses "whom" to refer to the noun "languages"; please remember, “whom” can only be used to refer to human beings.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Which" vs "That", you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Exactly. If I write, "Tim is a jerk, he loves to kick puppies," I've got a comma splice, as there are two independent clauses with no conjunction.

But if I write, "Tim is a jerk, the kind of jerk who kicks puppies," the portion in blue is a modifier describing "jerk" and can't stand on its own as a complete sentence. This is fine.

(C) is more like the second example.

All to say: you're right. Nicely done!

India is a country with at least fifty major regional languages, fourteen which have official recognition.
is this a valid construction in which i have used "fourteen which have official recognition"
as an appositive?

sidhusan you would need to add "OF":

India is a country with at least fifty major regional languages, fourteen OF which have official recognition.

Technically, this is a relative clause, using "of which". Relative clauses use relative pronouns, such as "which, who, where, when, that."

Appositives are nouns or noun phrases that rename another noun right next to them. They can often be removed without drastically changing the meaning of the sentence. They don't usually begin with relative pronouns.

An example using an appositive might be: "India, a diverse nation, has at least fifty major regional languages." Here, "a diverse nation" is an appositive giving additional information about "India."

A visual note to add to Ben's explanation:
Generally, any usage of which on the GMAT must be immediately preceded by a COMMA or by a PREPOSITION, as in the following OAs:
Emily Dickinson’s letters to Susan, which were written over a period ending shortly before Emily’s death, outnumber her letters to anyone else.
Declining values for farm equipment, the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, are going to force many lenders to tighten credit.
Thus, the construction fourteen which is not valid.
If an answer choice includes NOUN + which, eliminate the answer choice.