Chinese, the most ancient of living writing systems, consists of tens

Question

Chinese, the most ancient of living writing systems, consists of tens of thousands of ideographic characters,  each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside its  own square frame.

(A) each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside its

(B) all the characters a miniature calligraphic composition inside their

(C) all the characters a miniature calligraphic composition inside its

(D) every character a miniature calligraphic composition inside their

(E) each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside their

egmat · Accepted Answer

Hi All,
Chinese, the most ancient of living writing systems, consists of tens of thousands of ideographic characters,  each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside its  own square frame.

https://e-gmat.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Meaning-icon-final.png

The meaning of this sentence is easy to understand. Chinese is the most ancient of living writing systems. It consists of tens and thousands of ideographic characters. Each character is a miniature calligraphic composition inside its own square frame.

https://e-gmat.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Grammar.png

Usage of “each” is correct in this sentence. It denotes every individual character of tens and thousands of characters that the writing system has. Singular pronoun “its” also agrees in number with “each” and also the phrase “a miniature calligraphic composition”, which is singular in number, agrees in number with “each”. Hence this sentence is correct as is.

POE

Choice A: Correct  for above mentioned reasons.

Choice B:  all the characters a miniature calligraphic composition inside their.  Incorrect.  Singular phrase “a miniature calligraphic composition” has been used to refer to plural “all characters”. Again, plural pronoun “their” does not agree in number with singular “composition”.

Choice C:  all the characters a miniature calligraphic composition inside its.  Incorrect.  This choice repeats the first mistake of choice B. Singular phrase “a miniature calligraphic composition” has been used to refer to plural “all characters”.

Choice D:  every character a miniature calligraphic composition inside their.  Incorrect.  Plural pronoun “their” agrees in number neither with its antecedent “every” nor with singular “composition”.

Choice E:  each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside their.  Incorrect.  Plural pronoun “their” agrees in number neither with its antecedent “each” nor with singular “composition”.

https://e-gmat.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Takeaway.png

1. “All” is used for plural entities.
2. “Each” and “every” are always singular.
3. Pronouns must agree in number with their antecedents.

PS:  “Each” denotes every individual entity in the collective group while “every” refers to the all the entities in that group. In this sentence, if there were a choice that read: every character a miniature calligraphic composition inside its, then also this choice would be correct as it conveys the same meaning.
Hope this helps.

Thanks.
Shraddha

GMATNinja · Answer

I'm not 100% sure that I'm interpreting your question correctly, yt770. But I'll take a shot, anyway!

You definitely don't always need a relative pronoun (such as "that" or "which" or "who") to start a noun modifier. Consider the following:

Donald Trump, an orange-haired politician, likes taco salads.

No problem, right? The noun "an orange-haired politician" just modifies the noun "Donald Trump." And we can make it more complicated, but it's still OK to have a noun directly modify a noun, without using a relative pronoun:

Dr. Boiko voted for Donald Trump, an orange-haired politician obsessed with his hand size and approval ratings.

Or try this one:

Dr. Boiko voted for two Republicans, each an orange-haired politician obsessed with his hand size and approval ratings.

This is still fine: the last part of the sentence is still just a noun modifying a noun. Sure, "two Republicans" is plural, but the second part of the sentence is just a modifier that gives us extra information about each of them. By using the singular "each", it becomes OK to use the singular pronoun "his."

The original question in this thread isn't terribly different:

Chinese... consists of tens of thousands of ideographic characters, each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside its own square frame.

The last half of the sentence is just a noun phrase that modifies the noun "characters." It might not sound like normal speech, but it's not all that different from using any other noun to modify a noun. No relative pronoun is necessary in any of these examples.

I'm not sure if I answered your questions, but I hope this helps!

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

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 the crucial part of this sentence is that each of the tens of thousands of Chinese ideographic characters is a miniature calligraphic composition that is inside its own square frame.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Pronouns

• “every” has a stronger connotation than “each”; generally, “each” is preferred over “every”.

A:   Correct.  This answer choice uses the phrase 'each character", conveying the intended meaning - that   each   of the tens of thousands of Chinese ideographic characters is a   separate   miniature calligraphic composition that is inside its own square frame. Further, Option A correctly refers to the singular noun "composition" with the singular pronoun "its". Additionally, Option A uses the preferred term "each".

B:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "all the characters" the use of "all" incorrectly implies that   all   of the tens of thousands of Chinese ideographic characters   collectively   comprise a   single   miniature calligraphic composition; the intended meaning is that   each   of the tens of thousands of Chinese ideographic characters is a   separate   miniature calligraphic composition that is inside its own square frame. Further, Option B incorrectly refers to the singular noun "composition" with the plural pronoun "their".

C:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "all the characters" the use of "all" incorrectly implies that   all   of the tens of thousands of Chinese ideographic characters   collectively   comprise a   single   miniature calligraphic composition; the intended meaning is that   each   of the tens of thousands of Chinese ideographic characters is a   separate   miniature calligraphic composition that is inside its own square frame.

D:  This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "composition" with the plural pronoun "their". Further, Option D uses "every" in place of "each"; remember, “every” has a stronger connotation than “each”; generally, “each” is preferred over “every”.

E:  This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "composition" with the plural pronoun "their".

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

syamee_u · Answer

D, E - every character - thier doesn't match
C - same problem
B - changes the meaning
A - perfectly fine.

huntgmat · Answer

Please advice of the EACH and EVERY for this question.

Sahil's note
The dog has bitten my younger son twice, and each time, he has had to be sent
to his kennel.
(A) each time, he has had to be sent to his
(B) every time, it has had to be sent to his
(C)each time, it has had to be sent to its
(D)every time, it has had to be sent to its
(E)each time, he has had to be sent to its

‘Each time’ because it has bitten only twice. The use of the pronoun "he" is unclear here -
does it refer to the dog or to the son? In fact, tracing our way back along the sentence,
we find that we come across the word "son" before we come across the word "dog",
which rather implies that it is the son who owns, and is sent to, the kennel.
The way to get round this ambiguity is to use "it" followed by "its" (no apostrophe!). This
limits the choices to (C) and (D). The only difference between these options is the fact
that one uses the word "every" and the other uses the word "each". Since these refer to
the two times that the dog bit the son, we shouldn't use "every" (that refers to three or
more times). The correct option is therefore (C).

Using Each was to have only 2 chinese characters in the language...

hinkin · Answer

A it is and here is why:

(A) each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside its

(B)   all the characters     {awkward}  a miniature calligraphic composition inside  their  {Wrong pronoun should be its}

(C)  all the characters     {awkward}  a miniature calligraphic composition inside its

(D) every character a miniature calligraphic composition inside  their  {Wrong pronoun should be its}

(E) each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside  their  {Wrong pronoun should be its}

Consider a kudos if you like the way I explain

TVKL · Answer

Friends,
In choice A, do not we need "is" between "each character" and "a miniature"?
Thanks for the explanation

egmat · Answer

Hi there,

Since this is a noun + noun modifier, we don't need the verb 'is'. Adding 'is' will make the part after the comma an independent clause, and two independent clauses cannot be separated by just a comma. We would need to change the comma into a semicolon, or add a connecting word.

I hope this helps!

Regards,
Meghna

sdlife · Answer

Hi Experts,

I had a quick doubt on the portion after comma in this sentence. Can you please tell me what type of construction is this - "each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside its own square frame" ? I read on the forums that it is a NOUN + Noun Modifier. But if that is the case, why is there no relative pronoun to start the noun modifier? Also, the phrase a miniature calligraphic composition has to agree with the Noun number? Is this construction sort of an exception? Any advice on how to identify noun + noun modifier usage without a relative pronoun? Thanks for your help.

YT

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

There are no obvious errors with Option A in this question. I am going to hold on to that for now and look at the other options to see what the variations are.

So the first part seems to be testing the  SVA concept.  We need to know the different verb agreements that will go with ‘each’, ‘all’, and ‘every’

There are obvious errors with options B, C, D and E as indicated below in red. 
There are also pronoun errors as indicated in red.

(B)  all  the characters a miniature calligraphic composition inside their

(C)  all  the characters a miniature calligraphic composition inside its

(D) every character a miniature calligraphic composition inside  their

(E) each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside  their

Eliminate Options B, C, D, and E.

Option A is the best option! 
 
Hope this helps!

dabaobao · Answer

Main Issue 
Pronoun should match noun in number. Plural noun needs plural pronoun.

(A) each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside its  - Correct

(B) all the characters  a miniature  calligraphic composition inside their  - Wrong: Pronoun

(C) all the characters a miniature calligraphic composition inside  its   - Wrong: Pronoun

(D) every character a miniature calligraphic composition inside  their   - Wrong: Pronoun

(E) each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside  their   - Wrong: Pronoun

uchihaitachi · Answer

egmat

Got a little confused. 
If we just look at the SVA, then what will their refer to? The composition or the all characters?
And what will its refer to? composition or each character?
I eliminated C,D,E because in C its is used with all, in D their is used with every and E their is used with each.

DmitryFarber · Answer

uchihaitachi  You have the right idea. Notice that in the correct version, "each" and "composition" match in number. Since they are referring to the same thing--the character is also a composition--we don't have to worry about which one "its" refers to, although I'd default to the main noun, "each." C-E are wrong for the reasons you cite, but B and C are also wrong for matching a plural noun phrase ("all the characters") to a singular one ("a miniature composition").

uchihaitachi · Answer

luckyatc 
It seems we were on the right track.

mba757 · Answer

Quick question  DmitryFarber : isn't "all" considered one of those unique pronouns in which you can have it as a plural or a singular? "All of the money was stolen." Isn't this correct?

Also analysis below!

(A) each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside its
 Best option

(B) all the characters a miniature calligraphic composition inside their
 (1) SV disagreement – “all the characters a   COMPOSITION…their”; should be “its”; (2) SV disagreement/meaning issue – how can “all the characters” be considered “a calligraphic composition”? this sounds as though all the characters collectively are considered a calligraphic composition.

(C) all the characters a miniature calligraphic composition inside its
 (1) meaning error – “all the characters   inside its own square frame”? doesn’t make sense; (2) SV disagreement/meaning issue – how can “all the characters” be considered “a calligraphic composition”? this sounds as though all the characters collectively are considered a calligraphic composition.

(D) every character a miniature calligraphic composition inside their
 (1) SV disagreement – “every character” = singular (“a miniature…COMPOSITION” also singular), but “their” = plural

(E) each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside their
 (1) SV disagreement – “each character” = singular (“a miniature…COMPOSITION” also singular), but “their” = plural

MHIKER · Answer

The interesting fact of the SC options is all the options contain "a miniature" So the verb and pronoun will surely singular. 
A. Correct. 
B. All the character is wrong.
C. All the character is wrong. 
D. Their is wrong. 
E. Their is wrong.

The answer is A.

krndatta · Answer

KarishmaB  ma'am, 
the pronoun in the end of the sentence "its" or "their" should refer to "composition" or "characters". 
Logically, it should refer to "composition". 
One more error that comes out of option B "All the characters a miniature calligraphic composition..." How can all the characters be a miniature composition?? 
Please share your two cents.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  krndatta ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, both of the observations you have made here are correct.

Kudos.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

abelcermak · Answer

The first one is correct. This sentence got me to check whether the Chinese writing system is the old still used nowadays, and it appears true. Even though the oldest known writing system is cuneiform, it’s not used actively today to write down things. You can learn it if you want in history classes in college, but it’s not widely used anymore.

Chinese, the most ancient of living writing systems, consists of tens

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