The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of

The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to any other cultural grouping.

(A) which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to -- Subject verb error
(B) which recognize a stronger cultural bond with their Nordic neighbors than -- Subject verb error
(C) which recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than with -- perfect no error and elements are parallel.
(D) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than they have with -- parallelism error.
(E) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than they have to -- parallelism error.

In option D, "each of them" is a subgroup modifier and it modifies states; therefore, in option D them refers to states and as them refers to state, they (another plural pronoun) automatically start referring to what them is referring.
In a sentence same category of pronouns can not refer two different nouns.

I'm not sure there really is a switch in intended antecedent in D. Both "they" and "them" can refer to all 5 states. However, notice the intrusion of "it" in the middle. We can't use "it" and "they" to refer to the same subject!

Is this correct??
The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of them recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than it has with any other cultural grouping.

The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to any other cultural grouping.

(A) which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to
(B) which recognize a stronger cultural bond with their Nordic neighbors than
(C) which recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than with
(D) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than they have with
(E) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than they have to

The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to any other cultural grouping.
(A) which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to
>> each of X...(singular), possible corrections can be recognizes/recognizing
(B) which recognize a stronger cultural bond with their Nordic neighbors than
>> same as (A)
(C) which recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than with
>> correct SVA + parallelism (a stringer...with X than with Y)
(D) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than they have with
>> SVA+||'ism issue
(E) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than they have to
>> SVA error.

Subject Verb number disagreement in original sentence. 'recognize' should be 'recognizes'
Hence A and B are eliminated
Choice E and D have pronoun error. 'each' and 'their' / 'they ' do not match in number

C = Correct choice

The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to any other cultural grouping.


each of which -> Singular subject -> Singular verb

(A) which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to
(B) which recognize a stronger cultural bond with their Nordic neighbors than
(C) which recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than with -> Correct.
(D) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than they have with -> Parallelism issue
What does have refer to? Cannot refer to recognizing.
(E) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than they have to -> each is the singular subject, so we need its (Singular possessive pronoun)

Hi JusTLucK04,

Your version mostly works, but there are two problems:

1) You've spliced together two independent clauses with a comma. You'd need a semicolon before "each." (Note that in the existing answers this isn't an issue because we are dealing with modifiers: "each of which" or "each of them recognizing.")

2) There's also a bit of a meaning shift in your sentence. In C we're comparing the recognition of two bonds: the bond with Nordic neighbors and the bond with another grouping. In yours, we're comparing the bond Norden recognizes with one group to the bond it has with another. This is a bit different, although it could work if that were the intended meaning.

Hi Dmitry !

I have a doubt regarding point 1 above.

The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of them recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than it has with any other cultural grouping.

In the above construction why is it necessary that the clause starting with "each of them recognizes ..." has to be an independent clause (I agree we have a subject "each" and a verb "recognizes"). I think it can very well act as a clause modifier modifying the noun sovereign states and therefore a semi colon would not be required.

I would like to point to a similar example you clarified few months back.

in-his-experiments-with-gravity-isaac-newton-showed-how-the-37080-20.html#p1466804

excerpts from that discussion

It's not that a solitary "each" can't serve as a subject--it's that it doesn't have to. The word "each" can serve as either a pronoun or a modifier (adjective/adverb).

Pronoun: Each one of these paintings is worth a million dollars.
Modifier: There are three bedrooms, each with its own bathroom.

However, we can also use "each" as a pronoun in a modifying clause. In this case, we use "of which/of whom" to signal that we are building such a clause.

He ordered several different dishes, each of which could have served as a meal in its own right.

Here, "each" is the subject and "could" is the main verb. We typically do this to express something more complicated than we could in a normal modifier. Notice that because we have a complex set of verbs ("could have served"), it would be hard to express this without a full clause. If we said "each serving as a meal in its own right," that would change the intended meaning (each dish actually is a meal).


I might be missing something. Please have a look !

Regards,
SR

Hi solitaryreaper,

This is definitely different. "Each of which could have served as a meal in its own right" is not an independent clause. It couldn't stand on its own as a sentence; rather, it is modifying the previous noun. Both of the clauses here ("The region . . . states" and "each of them . . . grouping") are independent. Either of them could be a sentence on its own (but not a meal in its own right. ). Neither of them is modifying any part of the other. What makes the difference? The two words "of which."

Alright feeling dumb here to ask this as nobody else asked this till now, but let me shoot it out :
Aren't two independent clauses are connected with a comma in option C ??
Can somebody explain what I am missing here ??

Thanks in advance.

No, there aren't two independent clauses - just one independent clause and one dependent clause:

Independent clause: The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states

Dependent clause (modifier of states): which recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than with any other cultural grouping.

Separating a dependent clause and an independent clause with a comma is alright - we do not need a conjunction here.

If the second clause said "each of them recognizes . . . ," that would be an independent clause. However, "each of which" is just a specific way of using a dependent ("which") modifier. The "each" part lets us know that this modifier applies to each of the states, not just to the group of 5 states overall.

" Then recognizing a stronger......" the clause in option D and E.
I think one of the reason to eliminate these 2 options is also that this clause does not contain a verb. The participle recognizing should have been recognizes.

Experts pls comment !

No, the participle is alright. This structure is known as subgroup modifier. e.g.,

I have three shirts, each of them having two pockets. ... (the underlined portion is a subgroup modifier.)

D is wrong because of the wrong pronoun "its". E is wrong because of the faulty parallelism between "bond" and "they have to".

Hi I agree C being the best answer among the mentioned answers.
I got a doubt regarding usage of which for Plural noun states . ?
Is it really applicable and apt to use Which instead of them for Plural nouns ?

Help appreciated.