A recent decision made by the United States Attorney for the Southern

A) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

B) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

C) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

D) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

E) whom is seen as a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is also seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

Below are the main decision points:

1. WHO Vs. WHOM
Since "Southern District of New York" is an Object for the verb in the sentence, WHOM should be used in place of WHO
Therefore A & D are out for using WHO
"WHOM IS" not the correct expression and therefore E is also out

2. "BOTH SEEN AS" Vs. "SEEN AS BOTH"
"SEEN AS BOTH" is the correct usage here since the below option makes sense:
He is seen as both:
- a savvy political maneuver
- an abrogation of professional responsibility

This version is incorrect:
He is both:
- seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver
- an abrogation of professional responsibility

Therefore C wins over B IMO

Split 1 both seen vs seen by both

Here the intended meaning is seen by both X and Y. We can also eliminate A and B using parallelism. Both X AND Y is not parallel in A and B.

C, D and E remain

Split 2 who vs whom.

Here whom refers to the attorney and conveys the clear meaning. D is out

Between C and E,
E is incorrect for the usage of whom is seen.

C is clear without any errors.

Posted from my mobile device

There are two main splits in this sentence.
Split#1: who vs whom
split#2:the idiom both x and y

Split#1: who vs whom.
who is used as the subject of a relative clause while whom is used as the object of a verb or a preposition. To decide which is the correct choice, we need to ask the question: what role is who/whom playing in the second clause? Armed with this information lets narrow down on the options.
In option A, the subject of the second clause is many, hence whom is required instead of who. Based on this, we can eliminate option A.
In option B, the subject is many, hence who/whom plays the role of an object. whom instead of who is the correct option. Keep B for now.
In option C, the subject is many, hence whom is appropriate. Keep C.
In option D, the subject is many, hence whom rather than who is appropriate. Eliminate option D.
In option E, who/whom is the subject, hence the who is appropriate. Eliminate option E.

We are down to options B and C.
Split#2: both x and y. The trick here is that x and y must be parallel. So let's identify the X and Y and test for parallelism.
In option B, X: seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver; Y: an abrogation of professional responsibility. X and Y are not parallel. X, a verb phrase is not parallel to Y, a noun phrase. In order for B to be parallel, either Y should be: seen by most legal observers as an abrogation of professional responsibility, whereby Y is also converted into a verb phrase or seen by most legal observers precedes both, in which X and Y now become noun phrases. Eliminate option B.

In option C, X: a savvy political maneuver; Y: an abrogation of professional responsibility. X and Y are parallel. The answer is, therefore, option C.

Based on split#2, options A, is also incorrect, because of parallelism error.

Option A: A recent decision made by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility.

Option B: A recent decision made by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility.

Option C: A recent decision made by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility.

Option D: A recent decision made by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility.

Option E: A recent decision made by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, whom is seen as a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is also seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility.

Usage of who is not correct here.
We need whom to refer back to the US Attorney.

When in doubt, try this simple trick: If you can replace the word with “he”' or “'she,” use who. If you can replace it with “him” or “her,” use whom.



whom is seen as a leading is absurd.



Now we boil down to the last factor, both seen vs seen as both. Usage of later is correct. Seen as both X and Y.

C is the winner.!
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The link to this question was not on the first page of SC Butler (in the summary of questions broken out by month).

(I wondered why so few people had taken the question. )

I have extended the time to answer by 12 hours. See the original post at the top for the new time that the OA will be revealed.

For future reference:

I always post two questions.
If my summary on page 1 of SC Butler (the page with the picture of the butler) does not give a proper link to a question, go to the last available page of SC Butler.

I post links to the day's questions in a separate post before I enter the questions in the summary on the first page.

You can find that separate post by going to the main SC Butler page and selecting the last page available, this way



If you click on that last page indicated by the red arrow, you will find the most recent day's questions, with links, in a post that is dated.

If you were to click on that page 11, you would scroll down until you saw the post for OCTOBER 23, 2019, which is here.
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A recent decision made by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility.

structure of the sentence is - Decision made by Attorney, Who/Whom many consider..., is seen by legal observers as both A and B. is seen by legal observers as Savvy political maneuver and is seen by legal observers as an abrogation of professional responsibility

Between Who/Whom, because Attorney is object of the what many consider, it should be Whom. If confused, replace Who/Whom with he/him. Many consider him as a leading contender. Him -> Whom.

A) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
Whom is the correct pronoun to use. Parallelism error with 'Both'

B) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
Parallelism error with 'Both'

C) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
It corrects pronoun and parallelism errors

D) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
Whom is the correct pronoun to use.

E) whom is seen as a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is also seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
While this corrects the pronoun and parallelism error. it introduces other error of attorney seen as a leading contender. while in verbal diction 'seen' is used as visualising him as a leading contender, 'consider' is a better word to describe this expression of others for him

A) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility - Placement of "both" is incorrect. It gives a meaning here the decision is seen by two set of parties in the same way, But only one party is mentioned i.e. legal observers

B) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility - Placement of "both" is incorrect. It gives a meaning here the decision is seen by two set of parties in the same way, But only one party is mentioned i.e. legal observers

C) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility - Correct

D) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility - - "who" - is incorrect. Within the modifier it refers to the subject of a sentence (or try He/Him substitution)

E) whom is seen as a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is also seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility - "Also" - here is incorrect. it is seen in one way only.

A recent decision made by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility.


A) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
who v whom : others consider him so it should be whom not who. The structure both .... and.... is not parallel. One part of the parallel structure starts with the verb phrase is seen while the other is a noun

B) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
fixes the who/whom issue but the problem of parallelism remains
C) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
fixes the parallel structure both .... and ..... on either side of and we have a descriptive noun that describes the attorney's decision
D) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
the who issue remains here even though the parallelism issue is solved

E) whom is seen as a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is also seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
whom is used wrongly here since it isn't the object of anyone's consideration.. the use of also seems to indicate that the decision is seen as a leading contender for a cabinet position

Answer is C

A recent decision made by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility.


Who is wrong .
idiom error in second part of sentence

object whom is fine, but idiom error is not acceptable.


seems correct to me.no idiom error.


who is wrong .
eliminate it


Whom is seen as Vs Whom many consider
C is better than E.
Finally I didnot explain in a reasonable way and i'll happy to see flaws in my reasoning.

A recent decision made by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility.

"Who" refers to preceding verb, which is New york in this case and is incorrect. It should refer to United states attorney so to do that "Whom" is the correct relative pronoun.

That gets us down to choices B,C & E
All the choices used the idiom Both X and Y correctly ,but choices B & E places it incorrectly making the sentence illogical. Choice C uses the Both X & Y idiom at correct position and presents clear meaning i.e most legal observers see it as Both X ....and Y..

C) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

MEANING
A recent decision by the US Attorney is seen by most as both a savvy maneuver and an abrogation of pro responsibility.
Who/Whom consider the US Attorney a contender? Many = object = Whom.

A) "who" ref to subject, here "many" is the object; "both seen…and…an" not parallel and unintended;
B) "both seen…and…an" not parallel and unintended;
D) "who" ref to subject, here "many" is the object;
E) "the decision…is also seen" unintended;

Answer (C)

A) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

B) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

C) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

D) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

E) whom is seen as a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is also seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

in our 5 second scan we can notice the options are between who and whom..whom is used when its used as the object of the sentence and therefore we need to use whom

therefore we are down to B/C/E

option E is wrong as "Whom" is used as a subject with the verb "is"

between B/C

there is a parallelism error : the parallel elements are

B) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

C) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

C is therefore correct since "seen by most legal observers as" is common for the parallel elements and should be present before the two-part idiom both X and Y
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A quick read-through reveals that there is a 3-2 split, i.e. who vs whom. The meaning of the sentence requires whom, because the part after the first comma is about the US Attorney. Hence, options (A) and (D) can be eliminated instantly.

A) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

B) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
both is used incorrectly, because it fails to maintain a proper parallelism, i.e. both A and B.

C) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
both A and B works fine here. Best option so far.

D) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

E) whom is seen as a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is also seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility
What does is seen part attempt to do?... It is ungrammatical and does not work with whom.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



A recent decision made by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility.


A) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

B) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is both seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

C) whom many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

D) who many consider a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

E) whom is seen as a leading contender for a cabinet appointment, is also seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility [meaning is absurd][/quote]

• POE (process of elimination)

Two major splits exist.
(1) Both X and Y
-- the U.S. Attorney . . . is both seen . . .
-- the U.S. Attorney . . . is seen as both

(2) who/whom - within this split, another split exists that involves whom
-- who many consider
-- whom many consider
-- whom is considered

• Split #1: BOTH X AND Y

Options A and B:
[The U.S. attorney's action] . . . is both seen . . . and an abrogation

X and Y must be parallel. In options A and B,
X (participle phrase) = seen by most legal observers as a savvy political maneuver
Y (noun phrase) = an abrogation (violation) of professional responsibility

Seen is an irregular past participle (a verbED). It is a verbal. Seen is not a verb. Ever.
Seen can be part of a verb, but it is not a standalone or main verb. [
Always wrong: He seen [saw] frost on the grass.

In options A and B, X and Y are not parallel. Eliminate A and B

• Split #2: who vs. whom

When you see these two words, the first question you should ask is, "What or who is the subject of this sentence?"
One easy way to find the subject is to find a main verb.
In this case, the verb is consider.

The subject of the sentence is many [people]. The verb is consider.
Relative pronouns refer to the immediately preceding noun (or noun phrase).
The word who or whom refers to the U.S. Attorney.

Now ask whether the U.S. attorney does the action or receives the action.
If the U.S. attorney does the action (considers), use who.
If the U.S. attorney receives the action, use whom.

Many [people] is the subject (the actor) and the U.S. attorney is the one being acted upon (being considered)
The U.S. Attorney is the object who receives the action, so we should use whom.
Option D incorrectly uses who. Eliminate D

• Split #3 - WHOM and the missing subject

In option E, in the phrase whom is seen as a leading contender, whom is an object. (Whom is always an object pronoun.)
Just one problem. No subject exists.
That is, no subject is acting upon this object.
The U.S. attorney is seen as a contender by which people? No subject exists.
Eliminate E.

• The correct answer is C

Option C: whom many consider a leading contender for ABC, is seen by most legal observers as both a savvy political maneuver and an abrogation of professional responsibility

-- Both X and Y
In option C, X and Y are both nouns and thus parallel.
X = a maneuver
Y = an abrogation

-- whom correctly is the object of the verb consider
Whom many [people] consider a contender . . .
Subject: many people | Verb: consider | Object: whom

[IF YOU UNDERSTAND THE POE, the notes below are probably not necessary. I would look at the footnote. It's just a FYI, but its content is not well-known.]

• NOTES

WHO/whom

SUBJECT/OBJECT pronouns

Subject pronouns: I, you, she, he, it, we, they, who
Subject pronouns act. They are doers.

Object pronouns: Me, you, her, him, it, us, them, whom
Object pronouns get acted upon. They receive action. They are "done to."
Object pronouns also act as the object of a preposition. (Give the present to him.)

Consider is a verb that needs an object. Rephrase the sentence.

-- In other words, test the object to see whether it IS an object.
Make an easier sentence. Many people consider ____ a contender.
-- If him should go in the blank, use whom. Both him and whom end in M.
-- I f he should go in the blank, use who. Neither he nor who ends in M.
(Or: both he and who end in vowels. I think the "M/no M" is easier than "M/vowel")

Correct: Many people consider him a leading contender.
Wrong: Many people consider he a leading contender . . .
-- HIM is correct. The correct pronoun—which, like the word him, ends with "M"— is WHOM

Other posts in which you can read about who and whom are
here, here.

Two articles that discuss who and whom are here and here.

CONSIDER X Y
X, whom many consider Y
The verb consider requires an object in this sentence.

The most-used idiom is Consider X, Y
But consider to be is not autmatically wrong.*
See my footnote.

Samantha considers X Y means that
Samantha assesses the noun, X, and gives the noun a "rating" or rank, which is the Y part.

Do not mistake the Y part as the object.
The Y part can be a noun. If Y is a noun, Y is not the object of the verb considers but rather just a noun that describes X.

We can use Consider X Y in two ways:
(1) [SUBJECT] considers + noun (X) + adjective (Y)
-- I consider him kind, smart, and funny.
Subject = I (I am the one considering)
Verb = consider
Object = Noun = X = him (Whom am I assessing? HIM.)
Adjective that describes the Object = Y = kind, smart, and funny

(2) [SUBJECT] considers + noun (X) + noun (Y) [the situation in this question]
-- The students consider the teacher a friend, however exacting or stern she may be.
(Even if the teacher is demanding or stern or both, the students think of her as a friend.)
Subject = students
Verb = consider
Object = Noun #1 = X = the teacher
Noun #2 = Y = the "rank" that the students have ascribed to X = a friend

We rearrange the words to get a sentence similar to this question:
The teacher, whom the students consider a friend, can be demanding and stern.

COMMENTS

There are so many excellent answers on this thread! Well done!
The issues tested in this question are fairly easy to sort out because of the question's straightforward splits, but when you face the real test, you who posted will be glad that you can explain the issues presented in this question.

Kudos to all.


**
Consider to be is not automatically wrong!
One official question uses only "consider to be" in all of its answer choices. That official question is 'here.
A couple of other official questions use consider to be in the non-underlined portion of the prompt.
When someone writes, "consider to be" and "consider as" are unidiomatic on the GMAT, ignore the "consider to be" part. That fact may have been true at the time the person posted the comment. If the comment is from late 2017 to the present, then its author is just repeating a belief that no long holds.
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generis, You are so kind and so helpful! Thank you!
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TheNightKing , thank you!

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