Of the top-grossing films of the 1980s, only a few, having a complianc

A. Of the top-grossing films of the 1980s, only a few, having a compliance with MPAA standards,
"having a compliance" seems to indicate that they still have a compliance with MPAA standards, however this additional information should have been presented in the same past tense, in which the sentence is written.

B.Of the top-grossing films of the 1980s, only a few, which complied with MPAA standards,
Looks correct.

C.Only a few of the top-grossing films of the 1980s, complying with MPAA standards
Meaning change : Even if we ignore comma, this seems to indicate that a few of the "all the films which complied with MPAA standards" however the intended meaning is "all the films in which a few were complied with MPAA standards"


D.Only a few of the top-grossing films of the 1980s, in which the MPAA standards were complied with,
Meaning Change

E.Only a few of the top-grossing films of the 1980s complied with MPAA standards,
Meaning change

Although C is not grammatically incorrect, option B is preferable because the modifier "which complied with MPAA standards" follows the modifier touch-rule. In absence of B, C would be correct.
(C can be grammatically justified by an exception rule to modifier touch rule, according to which a mission-critical modifier may fall in between a modifier and the noun it refers to. The less important modifier then modifies the noun and the mission-critical modifier together as in option C).

Could you please explain why option B is correct and not c?

There is already an expert reply in the bottom most section, but i am not able to understand it.

First try to understand the following rules:

Rule A - Modifier touch rule: A noun modifier should ideally touch the noun it modifies.

Rule B.1 - Exception 1 to modifier touch rule: ( The following is an excerpt from Manhattan SC guide explaining the first exception of the touch rule):
In general, noun modifiers must touch their nouns. However, there are a few exceptions to the Touch Rule.
1. A “mission-critical” modifier falls between. This modifier is often an Of phrase that defines the noun. The less important modifier refers to the noun plus the first modifier.
Right: He had a way OF DODGING OPPONENTS that impressed the scouts.
Here, the “mission-critical” modifier of dodging opponents defines the noun way.

Now consider option B and C. Option B is alright as per rule A.
Option C is alright as per rule B.1.

If you still have doubts, please post again.

Hi Sayantan,

Though I chose the correct ans, I still have some doubts. I eliminated option E, because I think, this option lacks one comma in the end and this made this option inappropriate. But I am not sure why option A is incorrect. Can you please explain?

Why is A wrong?
V-A-N rule states that verbs are preferred to nouns. Hence "which complied" (verb) or "complying" (verbal) is better than "having the compliance".

Why is E wrong?
The past participle "complied.." is wrong - it should be present participle "complying". The following post may help explain:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-gap-in-t ... l#p1796492

Dear Expert,
I am not able to find our why option D is incorrect, some of the experts are saying that there is a change in meaning in option, whereas some are saying that it is of passive construction, Plesae help me understand the error.

Thanking you in advance
Devesh Joshi

Hi AndrewN

In option B, how is the 'which' modifier correctly modifying the 'films'? Seems a bit of a stretch to me. That's why I chose C over B.

I hope you get a reply from Andrewn soon.

Meanwhile, here are my thoughts on your query- You did a fairly good job if you chose (C). As sayantanc2k has explained in the thread above, (C) is not grammatically incorrect. "Verb-ing modifier- complying ..." can modify its far away noun "few films". So, the construction is not grammatically wrong, and, to me, it conveys the intended meaning too. And either (B) or (C) would be correct on the GMAT. But, you won't face such a situation on the actual exam as it will have only one correct choice, not two.

Coming to your main doubt-
You need to understand that "ellipsis" (The term comes from the Greek elleipsis, meaning "to leave out" or "fall short.") is involved here. Without ellipsis the sentence would like this-
As you can see above, "which" is not referring to "few" but instead to "few films", which is its correct referent. "films" is left out in the sentence (ellipsis) and the sentence can be written without repeating "films" after "few" as it is implied.

Hello, Namangupta1997. I have little to add to the excellent response above, other than to say that if you think about the role of which in the clause which complied with MPAA standards, you have to supply a noun so that something complied. Look to the earlier part of the sentence for a noun: films and the 1980s. (Few is a counting or quantifying word, and as PyjamaScientist pointed out above, it cannot function on its own. You would still need to ask, Few what?) Test for a sensible meaning:

1) films complied with MPAA standards

2) the 1980s complied with MPAA standards

In the context of the sentence, the second interpretation makes no sense at all. A decade cannot be subject to standards for films, and the information at the end of the sentence about parental guidance leaves no room for debate.

Thus, even without considering ellipsis, you should still be able to see that the relative clause modifies the only reasonable noun available in the sentence up to that point. Do not be so prescriptive about so-called rules that you stop thinking about sentences and how they may be strung together.

Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

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