Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a co

I agree with your statement...we need to find ways to eliminate the incorrect answers. Let's talk about D. As was stated, the wording "ruled as a colony by Britain" is indirect/wordy language that the GMAT does not like. Additionally, using that wording creates a potential meaning where India isn't even a colony, just that is was ruled as if it were a colony. Choice E clearly states that India was actually a British colony. Back to meaning issues with choice D, you could also interpret from that wording that India was a colony "next to" Britain.

KW
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Be careful here. Choice D mentions Britain the country, not the people inside the country, so we can correctly use "which". Choice E changes Britain to British, referring now to the people of Britain (use of "who" is now appropriate).

KW
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that India had been a colony of the British before it became independent in 1947, and the British relinquished power only after a long struggle by the native people.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Pronouns + Grammatical Construction + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• In a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• Semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses; commas are used to link an independent clause with a dependent one; commas cannot be used to join two independent clauses.

A: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "Britain" with the plural pronoun "they". Further, Option A incorrectly uses "Before its independence in 1947" to modify "Britain", incorrectly replying that India had been a colony of the British before Britain became independent in 1947; the intended meaning is that India had been a colony of the British before India became independent in 1947; remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Additionally, Option A incorrectly uses conjunction ("and" in this case) to join the independent clauses "Britain ruled India as a colony" and "they would relinquish power...people"; remember, semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses. Besides, Option A uses the needlessly indirect phrase "ruled India as a colony", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

B: This answer choice incorrectly uses "Before independence in 1947" to modify "Britain", incorrectly replying that India had been a colony of the British before Britain became independent in 1947; the intended meaning is that India had been a colony of the British before India became independent in 1947; remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option B uses the needlessly indirect phrase "ruled India as a colony", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

C: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "Britain" with the plural pronoun "they". Further, Option C incorrectly uses conjunction ("and" in this case) to join the independent clauses "India was ruled by Britain as a colony" and "they would relinquish power...people"; remember, semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses. Additionally, Option C uses the needlessly wordy phrase "ruled by Britain as a colony", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: This answer choice uses the needlessly wordy phrase "ruled as a colony by Britain", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

E: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun "the British" with the pronoun "who", which can be used to refer to both plural and singular nouns. Further, Option E correctly uses "Before independence in 1947" to modify "India", conveying the intended meaning - that India had been a colony of the British before India became independent in 1947. Additionally, Option E avoids the grammatical construction errors seen in Options A and C, as it only features one independent clause - "India had been a colony of the British". Besides, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the use of punctuation on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~10 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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A) Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power ….. misplaced modification, India should come after modifier phrase
B) Before independence in 1947, Britain had ruled India as a colony and relinquished power ...... same as A
C) Before its independence in 1947, India was ruled by Britain as a colony and they relinquished power … correct modification but ambiguous pronoun ‘they’
D) before independence in 1947, India had been ruled as a colony by Britain, which relinquished power ----- ‘had been ruled as a colony by Britain’ is round about.
E) Before independence in 1947, India had been a colony of the British, who relinquished power…….’had been a colony of the British’ is more forthright.


E the choice
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Here we go,

The fight is between option D and Option E

Option D: India had been ruled as a colony by Britain

as is used as a preposition here.. followed by a noun -> Colony
when as is used as a preposition, it generally means 'in a role of'/ 'in a capacity of'

For Example -

As a teacher, Rahul has done a commendable job. ---> Rahul is in the role of Teacher.

The India in the role/capacity of colony had been ruled by Britain ----> wrong

Going with E.

Hi debbiem,

I would say, using "rule" and "colony" together is in a way redudancy. When X rules Y, Y is a colony of X. One does not need to say rule as a colony. This usage is awkward.

The usage Y is a colony of X is quite common, and does not seem to make the sense ambiguous.

After "Before its independence in 1947", India -> "India" should be placed immediately after the modifier.
A and B out

C, D and E remain.
C, D - "by" hence both passive. out
E has to be the answer.

ans E...

A. Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power
they ' is wrong

B. Before independence in 1947, Britain had ruled India as a colony and relinquished power
wrong modifier, britian being modified

C. Before its independence in 1947, India was ruled by Britain as a colony and they relinquished power
again they is incorrect for a single country

D. Before independence in 1947, India had been ruled as a colony by Britain, which relinquished power
ruled not reqd and which is wrong

E. Before independence in 1947, India had been a colony of the British, who relinquished power
correct
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I am giving below the relevant portion of explanation with regard to the difference between D and E in relation to ‘India was ruled as a colony’ and ‘India had been a colony’, by Ron of MGMAT: As this topic was originated by MGMAT, their rationale weighs in, I believe.
>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/forums/british-india-who-t2008.html>

Quote:

Re: British India - Who
Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:07 pm

enniguy wrote: Can someone please explain why D is wrong?

"ruled as a colony" is unclear.

the gmat doesn't tolerate this sort of circumlocution. you have to say things directly.
i.e., if India WAS a colony, then you have to say that it WAS a colony.
"ruled as a colony" doesn't necessarily mean that; it could just signify that India was ruled as though it were a colony, even though it wasn't one.

analogy:

joe was a slave --> he was actually a slave.
joe was treated as a slave --> he probably wasn't a slave.

same problem in (d).

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Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power only after a long struggle by the native people.

A. Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power --- Britain is a wrong modification. It should be India

B. Before independence in 1947, Britain had ruled India as a colony and relinquished power – same as in A.

C. Before its independence in 1947, India was ruled by Britain as a colony and they relinquished power --- no proper reference for ‘they’. Britain is not plural

D. Before independence in 1947, India had been ruled as a colony by Britain, which relinquished power – had been ruled is unnecessarily wordy.

E. Before independence in 1947, India had been a colony of the British, who relinquished power – precise expression. The British refers to the administrators or to the people of Britain.
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It is E

D) Before independence in 1947, India had been ruled as a colony by Britain, which relinquished power- Had been rule as colony is indirect
E) Before independence in 1947, India had been a colony of the British, who relinquished power- "Had been a colony" is direct and Gmat likes direct sentence.

why D is wrong?. I think "which" in D is correct.

if we can not explain why D is wrong, we have to accepat that D is correct and this question is not good.

IMO (D)

Ruled as a colony is a better form than was a colony. Colony can also be a settlement/township..so ambiguity would be there with just colony.

As no expert has highlighted this, I would like to know, is the use of "which" in option D correct?

I believe we use "which" for things. That was the main reason I chose E with "who". Please clear this.

In option D, "Britain" is a country - hence use of "which" is alright. D is wrong because of redundant use of "ruled" - a colony is always ruled by the colonizer.

In option E "British" refers to the people of Britain - hence "who" is alright.

Yes, this generalization is wrong - "had been" is the past perfect of the verb "to be".

Option A has no special significance. It is not any more (or less) likely to be correct than the other options are. That means that we should look at all 5 options and choose the one that conveys the intended meaning, without worrying about whether that meaning differs from the meaning in option A.
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CEdward "who" actually refers to the british and not colony.

In GMAT we always talk about meaning, this ans to this q is quite obvious to me should be D not E. So OA is wrong in my view.

1) a colony != ruled as colony.
2) British != Britain; ie who are we referring to when we reference British, Queen? A random person from Manchester? The colonisation is set at Sovereign level. British could refer to the empire, but the relative pronoun should be which not who

while D is more lengthy, E is not correct to me. But with this mindset, I will be wrong in the actual test