Noun Modifiers can Modify slightly far away noun

Hi Saurabh,

Here is the first official sentence with the CORRECT OFFICIAL answer:

Although she had been known as an effective legislator first in the Texas Senate and later in the United States House of Representatives, Barbara Jordan did not become a nationally recognized figure until 1974, when she participated in the hearings on the impeachment of President Richard Nixon, which were televised nationwide.

If you carefully notice the Verb after "which", it is plural "were". Now if "which" referred to impeachment and not to the "hearings", then the Verb would be singular "was" and not plural "were". This is from the grammatical standpoint.

Now let's look at the logical point here. It were the hearings that were televised nationwide and not the impeachment. Also Barbara Jordan participated in the hearings of the impeachment and not in the impeachment. Hence, "which" refers to "hearing" and not "impeachment".

Also , just because a word ends with "ing" does not mean it will be a Verb. For example, the word "meeting" is not a Verb. It's a Noun. "Hearing" has been used in the same manner in this sentence. It is a Noun.

Now let's look the other official sentence with the CORRECT OFFICIAL answer:

Out of America's fascination with all things antique has grown a market for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures that is bringing back the chaise lounge, the overstuffed sofa, and the claw-footed bathtub.

In this sentence "that" DOES modify "market". It is the market that is selling all those different kind of furniture that Americans are fascinated about. This is from the meaning standpoint.

From grammatical standpoint, "that" CANNOT jump over any Verb to modify a Noun entity. The Relative Pronoun "that" needs to jump over the Verb "has grown" to modify "America's fascination...".This is NOT allowed.

Hope his helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Thank you Shraddha for this article.

I have one question regarding this GMATPrep question


Naked mole rats form colonies of approximately 20 animals, each of which consists of a single reproductive female and workers that defend her

A. each of which consists
B. with each of them consisting
C. each colony consisting
D. and each of them consist
E. and each colony consisting


The OA is C, and I understand why it is much superior GMAT style answer; resumptive appositive "each colony" is unambiguously placed at the end of sentence which is also modified by the present participle "consisting of ..."

My question is different - can we use the approach you suggest to justify the answer choice A?
Using the "meaning" we know which cannot refer to the "animals" because an animal cannot consist of "a female rat and workers that defend her" - so it can also jump animals and modify the head of the phrase "colonies".

Can we say (if above justification is ok) although A can be justified but C is much superior and clear therefore better answer choice?


Thank you

Hi code19,

Yes, your analysis of answer Choice A is absolutely correct. It is evident that "which" logically CANNOT modify "animals". Hence it may jump over modify to "colonies". However, Choice C is far more superior in clarity and conciseness and hence, is the correct answer.

In Choice C, we have the Noun (each colony) + Noun Modifier (consisting) that conveys the intended meaning clearly.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Hi Shraddha,
I don't have any issue with the option C as it's undoubtedly more concise and clear.

But, can you please tell me why 'which' can't modify 'Earth' as Earth, in turn, modifies 'largest lake(and hence Caspian)' ?

Hello Shraddha. Thanks for the article.

Please help me understand the below mentioned point.

thangvietnam wrote:
Can I say that when the phrase inserted between the far noun and its modifier modifies that noun, the modifier is acceptable ?

When the phrase inserted between the far noun and its modifier DOSE NOT modify that noun, the modifier is not acceptable?

can the rule be good for all cases?


Hi there,

Yes, your understanding is correct. If the inserted phrase is modifying the head of the noun phrase they make together then a noun modifier can modify this slightly far away noun. If this inserted phrase is not doing so, then the noun modifier will modify the preceding noun.

Thanks.
Shraddha

If your answer to the thangvietnam's post is correct then how come Simba's answer to the questions mentioned in the article is correct.


1) The decision of the European leaders to use the Continent’s bailout funds to recapitalize struggling banks would provide help to banks without directly adding to the sovereign debt of countries, which has been a problem for Spain and potentially for Italy.

In this sentence "which" is referring to sovereign debt and even though there is prepositional phrase " of countries" between which and the noun- sovereign debt, the sentence is correct because " of countries" is correctly modifying the noun sovereign debt.

2)The decision of the European leaders to use the Continent’s bailout funds to recapitalize struggling banks would provide help to banks without directly adding to the sovereign debt in the coming months, which has been a problem for Spain and potentially for Italy.

In this sentence "which" is referring to sovereign debt as well, however the prepositional phrase -"in the coming months" that is between "which" and the noun- sovereign debt is not modifying the noun but instead modifying "provide help"

Hi Simba2012,
I'm glad that you liked the article. But what makes me really happy that now you understand in which scenario "which" can modify a slightly far away noun.
Let me also congratulate for solving the execise correctly. Great job there.

You can also check out a foundation concept on Noun phrases and Noun modifiers.

noun-modifiers-can-modify-slightly-far-away-noun-prequel-135910.html#p1105284

Thanks.
Shraddha

Hi kd1989,

Since you haven't used the 'quote' function on your post, it's a little difficult to figure out what your query is. I'm guessing that you would like to know why Simba's responses are correct. If so, as Simba has pointed out, the first version of the sentence is correct and the second is incorrect.

In case you would like to clarify this point in greater detail, please let me know.

Thanks,
Meghna
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Hi bagdbmba,

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you on this one.

Note that 'Earth' doesn't modify 'the largest lake' here. Rather, the prepositional phrase 'on Earth' modifies the noun 'the largest lake' to tell us where the lake is located. The noun 'Earth' can't modify the noun 'lake', because logically, the Earth and the lake are not the same entity.

'Which' can't modify 'Earth' here because the Earth doesn't cover more than four times the surface area of Lake Superior; the Caspian does.

I hope this helps!

Regards,
Meghna
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Hi egmat,
In your article if this sentence is correct "The committee chose Mr. Smith of Left Block, who was the most experienced member, to lead all the management-related operations." and if 'of Left Block' correctly modifies 'Mr. Smith'(per the explanation and logic given by you in the article) then why 'on Earth' can't modify the noun 'the largest lake' ?

Here also "the largest lake on Earth" is a BIG noun phrase and as it does in case of 'Mr. Smith of Left Block', "who" will accordingly have the liberty to jump over the preceding preposition phrase 'on Earth' (the modifier) to modify the HEAD of this noun phrase – “the largest lake”!

Please clarify where I'm getting it wrong ?

Hi bagdbmba,

Thank you for the post.

You are absolutely correct in saying that the relative pronoun modifiers can have the liberty to jump over the preceding prepositional phrase provided that this prepositional phrase is modifying the preceding noun.


• It is called a sea,
• but the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth,
o which covers more than four times the surface area of its closest rival in size, North America's Lake Superior.

Now, in the given sentence, the modifier ‘which’ can refer to the following two entities:

1. Earth- The sentence means that the Earth covers four times the surface area of its closest rival. This is illogical.

2. The largest lake- This conveys the meaning that the largest lake on Earth covers four times the surface area of its closest rival.

So, the modifier ‘which’ modifies ‘the largest lake’ in this sentence.


Also, as Meghna has already pointed out in her response to your last post, the prepositional phrase ‘on Earth’ modifies the noun ‘the largest lake’. It tells us that this lake is the largest on the Earth.
The ‘Earth’ cannot modify the ‘the largest lake’ since both of them are different entities.


Hope this helps!
Deepak
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egmat

In 1995 Richard Stallman, a well-known critic of the patent system, testified in Patent Office hearings that, to test the system, a colleague of his had managed to win a patent for one of Kirchhoff's laws, an observation about electric current first made in 1845 and now included in virtually every textbook of elementary physics.

(A) laws, an observation about electric current first made in 1845 and
(B) laws, which was an observation about electric current first made in 1845 and it is
(C) laws, namely, it was an observation about electric current first made in 1845 and
(D) laws, an observation about electric current first made in 1845, it is
(E) laws that was an observation about electric current, first made in 1845, and is

In Option B, can which refer to patents, it can skip over the noun laws and the prepositional phrase and then can modify patents??

Hi,
which is not refering to patent but to 'law'. what was this law? It was an observation about... in 1845..
so there is no problem here..
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I have a question regarding this article ( Noun Modifiers can Modify slightly far away noun). Does it mean that relative pronoun should always modify the head of the noun phrase (if it is a noun phrase) or can it modify the the last noun in a noun phrase?
eg. In the above question, the "abolition of local times" is a noun phrase (is it?), so shouldn't "which" or "determined" modify the head of the noun phrase "abolition"?

Keep things simple.

"Noun Modifiers can modify slightly far away noun", but those cases are exceptional - in general a modifier modifies the noun it touches - even when the noun is an object of preposition (as in the above case). The relative pronoun "which" clearly refers to "times", simply because of the "modifier touch rule".

can you please explain but and it usage here in the choices.

Not sure whether I understood your query correctly.

A pronoun may precede an antecedent in a sentence - such usage is accepted in GMAT. Here the pronoun "it" comes before its antecedent "the landlocked Caspian".

"But" is a conjunction joining two clauses "It is called a sea" and "the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth".

I hate to spoil the party, but this thread is relying on an incorrect answer! In the Caspian Sea problem, the use of "which" in A and B is actually a flaw that the correct answer fixes! "Which" cannot jump over that many elements.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/it-is-called ... 36536.html
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gtrak, no rule has been established. There are exceptions to the touch rule, but it is still the norm unless the sentence really requires us to pass over a minor modifier. The norm is to modify the adjoining noun (dog), and we'd only interpret the sentence otherwise if it made sense. Here, there would be no need to use a modifier to say that the tale (or do you mean tail?) was big. We'd say "The tale (tail) of the dog was big and black."

We can say "The jar of peanut butter, which shattered on the floor, had never been opened." In this case, it's clear that the jar, and not the peanut butter, is what shattered. But again, this is an exception.
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Hi! I got answer B however I didn't use the technique mentioned in the post. The answer choices differ mostly by switching '...have/has grown...' and '... fixtures that are bringing/is bringing/bring' since fascination is singular the answer choices must have has grown in them. This leaves us with answer choices B and E. Reading forward the growing market is also singular hence the correct wording would be 'is bringing' and we can eliminate E.

Is this analysis correct? Your response would be highly appreciated. Thanks

hello @e-gmat
can you please elaborate the use of WITH modifier, its structure and uses
are there any rules to use WITH modifier?