Each of the sales people that were retained after the company was acqu

Each of the Sales People THAT ( here that refers to People) so verb has be plural
Eliminated B & D

Each of ......... acquired.. (Verb has to be singular as subject is EACH)
Eliminate C & E

Answer A

Each of the sales people that were retained after the company was acquired is more likely to receive a promotion than any of the other sales team members are.


Meaning:
1. The company was acquired by someone or some other company
2. Some sales people were retained after the the company was acquired
3. Each of these sales people is more likely to receive a promotion
4. than any of the other sales team members that joined the company after the company was acquired

Errors:


The main aspect tested here is SV agreement, to make this agreement correct we have to be able to correctly identify plurality of the subject and subject itself.



for example:
1. Every man and woman is required to check in. Each-singular subject - correct
2. Three cats each eat fish. Each has nothing to do with plural subject - correct

Here each takes is so we are fine

'that' refers to 'people'
'people' depending on the context can be singular or plural. In our given context 'people' is singular - so we need singular verb.
'any' also depending on the context can be singular or plural. In our given context 'people' is singular - so we need singular verb.

POE

A. Each of the salespeople that were retained after the company was acquired is more likely to receive a promotion than any of the other sales team members are.
C. Each of the salespeople that were retained after the company had been acquired are more likely to receive a promotion than any of the other sales team members are.
E. Each of the salespeople that were retained after the company was acquired are more likely to receive a promotion than any other sales team member are.

So we are left with (B) and (D).
B is rather interesting choice, 'had been acquired' seems that implying that company first acquired then there is likelihood of people staying there or not.
But to me difference is not so crucial, we have 'after' clear indicator of the sequencing of the events.

SO between (B) and (D) I'm with D, 99.99%
B. Each of the salespeople that was retained after the company had been acquired is more likely to receive a promotion than any other sales team member is.

D. Each of the salespeople that was retained after the company was acquired is more likely to receive a promotion than any of the other sales team members is.



D is the answer

A. Each of the salespeople that were retained after the company was acquired is more likely to receive a promotion than any of the other sales team members are.
Correct.

B. Each of the salespeople that was ....
Incorrect. There should be "were' instead of 'was'.

C. Each of the salespeople that were retained after the company had been acquired are ....
Incorrect. There should be "is' instead of 'are'.

D. Each of the salespeople that was ...
Incorrect. The same as B. There should be "were' instead of 'was'.

E. Each of the salespeople that were retained after the company was acquired are
Incorrect. There should be "is' instead of 'are'.

The answer choice is A.

I have a question regarding "That" in the premise.
Can "That" modify people in GMAT? I thought Not

Can someone explain how A is correct?
Each if the salespeople is singular.
Hence were is incorrect.
I choose D as the subject verb agreement, modifiers go well with this option. Please explain

Hi Uswetha,

Note that one of something and each of something are similar constructions because both convey singularity. So what is true for one of something is also true for each of something. I couldn’t find any official question testing each of something that as does this question from Veritas. However, below are two OG and GMAT Prep questions testing one of something and one of something that. I am sure that the explanations given to them also apply to each of something and each of something that.

1. https://gmatclub.com/forum/biologists-b ... fl=similar
2. https://gmatclub.com/forum/twenty-two-f ... fl=similar

Let’s picture a conversation during which you are telling me about apples on the table:

You: One of the apples is rotten.

I: Which apples do you mean?

You: Apples that are on the table.

Look, you could tell this information without making me ask a question. Instead of saying: One of the apples is rotten. Apples that are on the table. You could just say: One of the apples that are on the table is rotten. So please don’t make me ask a question

As you see that are on the table is a noun modifier clarifying which apples you mean. So you just insert this noun modifier after the noun it's modifying. In a similar manner you can say:

You: Each of the apples is rotten.

I: Which apples again do you mean Uswetha?!

You: Apples that are on the table.

You see, you again made me ask a question Well, we can conflate your two sentences by putting that noun modifier after the noun it’s modifying:

Each of the apples that are on the table is rotten.

Here that are refers to apples, and is refers to each.

In the question from Veritas we have a similar sentence:

You: Each of the salespeople is more likely to receive a promotion.

I: Whom do you mean? Us? Where is our promotion?

You: Salespeople that were retained after the company was acquired.

That’s how we get a sentence in which each of something that is followed by were, not was.

Each of the salespeople that were retained after the company was acquired is more likely to receive a promotion.

Here that were refers to people, and is refers to each. That’s it.


I hope I wrote at least something helpful to you

I don't understand how come "any" is treated as a plural in the last part of the sentence.



generis /daagh: Could you please help here? I chose option A as I was able to rule out other options, and for option A, I guessed that with "any", there is a chance of exception because it is a part of "SANAM" pronoun.
My doubt is ain't we explicitly comparing each of the sales team members who were retained to each of the sales team members of any other team members? To substantiate my doubt I will say Each of the salespeople that were retained after the company was acquired is more likely to receive a promotion than any of the other sales team members are is. The parallelism would have been correct, had the comparison been each person to each person.

By meaning wise shouldn't this be "is"-?

regards,
Arup Sarkar

Arup

As far as your query about SANAM pronouns is concerned, it is more academic than contextual, I suppose. The general answer is that in the case of SANAM, the decision is more contextual than a rule of thumb.

Generally, when 'any' is used to mean 'all' as in:

EX:The inmates of the prison know their rights like 'any' (all) other citizens

However, when you use 'any' to refer to a part of a whole and any individual item, then 'any' is singular.

EX: You can get a delicious Manchurian dish in any authentic Chinese restaurant.

Usually the clue is the noun that follows 'any'; if it is singular, then 'any' is most likely to be singular. If there is a plural noun, then it is likely to be a plural.

1. than any of the other sales team members are---- this is ok.
2. than any other sales team member is. -- This is also ok
3. than any of the other sales team members are. --- Ok
4. than any of the other sales team members is. -- not ok
5. than any other sales team member are.-- not ok.

In other words, this split is not the decision point in the given question. In A, 'any' means 'all"

Curiously, there is also hearsay that GMAT is not fastidious about SANAM these days.

But let me also ask at this juncture, whether we require a verb at all after the phrase 'team member' or 'team members.'

Mahmoudfawzy83 , technically, no. The pronoun is not a decision point.

I think Veritas should update its article , here.

After the first paragraph, the author writes:
Rule #1: You can only use which and that to refer to inanimate objects, never people!

I would be careful, though.
Some people believe that GMAC will dispense with the who/that distinction.
I have never seen a correct answer in which the relative pronoun that referred to human beings.
Still, if four options are clearly wrong and the fifth has only one error in which the relative pronoun that is used for human beings, pick the fifth option.

Hope that helps.

ammuseeru and NRJ11090 , any is an indefinite pronoun that can be singular or plural.

Where are people getting the idea that any is always singular?

When SANAM pronouns are used (some, any, none, all, more/most), we look at the object of the preposition to determine whether the subject is singular or plural.

Any of the followed by a plural count noun almost always takes a plural verb.
I cannot think of an exception.

On the other hand, anyone is always singular.
Anybody is always singular.

Perhaps that is the source of some of this confusion?

B implies the following:
Of the salespeople, each that was retained...is more likely to receive a promotion than any other sales team member is.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Consider the following case.
Both Ann and Bob were retained.
According to B:
Ann is more likely than Bob to receive a promotion (since Bob = other sales team member).
Bob is more likely than Ann to receive a promotion (since Ann = other sales team member).
The two meanings contradict each other.
Eliminate B.

C and E: Each...are more likely.
Here, are (plural) does not agree with each (singular).
Eliminate C and E.

any of + NON-COUNTABLE SINGULAR NOUN = SINGULAR
The chef does not know whether any of the cake HAS been eaten.
any of + COUNTABLE PLURAL NOUN = PLURAL
The chef does not know whether any of the cookies HAVE been eaten.

D: any of the other sales team members is
Here, is (singular) does not agree with any (plural).
Eliminate D.



OA: Each of the salespeople that were retained after the company was acquired
Here, the referent for that is salespeople.
To my knowledge, no official SC has employed that to refer to people.
To refer to people, the GMAT invariably uses who rather than that.
I recommend that you disregard this SC.

Hi GMATGuruNY

Regardless of 'who' and that' problem, what does choice A imply? I think that in same case of Bob and Ann, both will contradict each other and choicer A makes no sense too.

Can you elaborate please?

The OA implies the following:
Of the salespeople that were retained after the company was acquired, each is more likely to receive a promotion than any of the other sales team members are.
From context, it seems clear that the blue group -- the OTHER members -- refers to salespeople who do NOT belong to the green group.
Implication:
Ann and Bob -- who were retained after the company was acquired -- are compared not to each other but to salespeople who were NOT retained after the company was acquired.

Just wanted to know if we can compare a singular sales person to a plural group of salespeople?

Hello

In general, if we want to modify "each," we use "who" instead of "that," right?

How could the below fragment in the option A be correct :

any of the other sales team members are

Expert, kindly help.

Quoting from Manhattan Sentence Correction guide for SANAM exception:

"Don’t apply the Of phrase mechanically. None of and any of followed by a plural noun can be singular."

"Right: Any of these women IS a suitable candidate for marriage to my son."