GMAT Club Around The World!!! In 1428, Joan of Arc, an adolescent in

Question

In 1428, Joan of Arc, an adolescent in the village of Domremy, France,  claimed to have had visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael, who  she said ordered her to restore the French nation.

(A) claimed to have had visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael, who
(B) claimed to have visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael, whom
(C) claimed to have had visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael, whom
(D) claimed to have visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael, who
(E) had claimed to have had visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael, whom

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Bunuel · Accepted Answer

Expert's Global Official Explanation

Tenses + Pronouns

Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that in 1428, Joan of Arc made the claim that she had received visions of three saints.

• “who” is used to refer to a subject and “whom” is used to refer to an object. 
• The past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".
• The simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.

A. Correct.  This answer choice correctly uses the past perfect tense verb phrase “have had visions” to refer to the earlier of two actions that took place in the past; please note that the usage “have had” is perfectly alright; “have” reflects “possession” here and “had” is a helping verb, reflecting perfect past tense. Further, Option A correctly uses the pronoun “who” to refer to the nouns “Saint Margaret”, “Saint Catherine”, and “Saint Michael “which are the subjects of the sentence.

B. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense in “claimed to have visions”, incorrectly implying that Joan of Arc made her claim about the visions at the same time she had them; the intended meaning of the sentence is that in 1428, Joan of Arc made the claim that she had received visions of three saints; please remember, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past". Further, Option B incorrectly uses the pronoun “whom” to refer to the nouns “Saint Margaret”, “Saint Catherine”, and “Saint Michael”, which are the subjects of the sentence; please remember, “who” is used to refer to the subject of the sentence, and “whom” is used to refer to the object.

C. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the pronoun “whom” to refer to the nouns “Saint Margaret”, “Saint Catherine”, and “Saint Michael”, which are the subjects of the sentence; please remember, “who” is used to refer to a subject and “whom” is used to refer to an object.

D. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense in “claimed to have visions”, incorrectly implying that Joan of Arc made her claim about the visions at the same time when she had them; the intended meaning of the sentence is that in 1428, Joan of Arc made the claim that she had received visions of three saints; please remember, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".

E. This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect tense (see “had claimed…”) to refer to the later of the two actions that took place in the past; please remember, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past". Further, Option E incorrectly uses the pronoun “whom” to refer to the nouns “Saint Margaret”, “Saint Catherine”, and “Saint Michael”, which are the subject of the sentence; please remember, “who” is used to refer to a subject and “whom” is used to refer to an object.

A is the best answer choice.

Bunuel · Answer

Expert's Global Official Video Explanation

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ElninoEffect · Answer

Who and Whom
Who is used when we are referring to the subject of the sentence and whom when we have to refer to the object of the sentence.

who  she said ordered her to restore the French nation.
Who ordered her to restore the French nation.? - Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael
She ordered whom to restore the French nation. - Wrong.
So, B, C and E are out.

Between A and D
There are two events happening in the past so timeline needs to be defined which event occurred first so the use of have had is correct for portraying the clear meaning.
 A is the answer.

behlmanmeet · Answer

In 1428, Joan of Arc, an adolescent in the village of Domremy, France,  claimed to have had visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael, who  she said ordered her to restore the French nation.

Solution:

After reading the sentence, we have to be clear about the sequence of events. In 1428, Joan of Arc claimed something is one action. She claimed to have seen or had visions of three saints is another action. By obvious logic, for her to claim about the visions, she needs to have seen them before. So, it makes perfect sense to use past perfect(had) to properly define the sequence of events.

(A) claimed to have had visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael, who :  Correct.

(B) claimed to have visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael, whom :  Missing "had" disrupts the sequence of events. Now, we don't know what happened earlier or later. "whom" is the object of the sentence and therefore cannot attach itself to the verb of the sentence. The second part needs a subject to attach to the verb "ordered".

(C) claimed to have had visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael, whom :  "whom" is the object of the sentence and therefore cannot attach itself to the verb of the sentence. The second part needs a subject to attach to the verb "ordered".

(D) claimed to have visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael, who :  Missing "had" disrupts the sequence of events. Now, we don't know what happened earlier or later.

(E) had claimed to have had visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and Saint Michael, whom :  The "had" before claimed makes the sequence of events unclear. We need two related events with past perfect had to make sense of the sequence but here both the actions have "had". Thus, this makes it unclear what the sequence of events is. Also, "whom" is the object of the sentence and therefore cannot attach itself to the verb of the sentence. The second part needs a subject to attach to the verb "ordered".

VerbalBot · Answer

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GMAT Club Around The World!!! In 1428, Joan of Arc, an adolescent in

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