India is a country with at least fifty major regional languages, of

Question

India is a country with at least fifty major regional languages,  of whom fourteen have official recognition .

(A) of whom fourteen have official recognition
(B) fourteen that have official recognition
(C) fourteen of which are officially recognized
(D) fourteen that are officially recognized
(E) among whom fourteen have official recognition

daagh · Answer

Of which is the right usage to describe languages. C

vraptor · Answer

(C)

A. of whom  fourteen have official recognition
B. fourteen  that have official recognition
C.fourteen of which are officially recognized
D. fourteen  that are officially recognized 
E. among whom  fourteen have official recognition

AliciaSierra · Answer

"whom"- should refer to people so A and E are out.
Can anyone explain please why Option B and D are wrong ?

CounterSniper · Answer

fourteen that ..... doesn't make any sense.
it has to have a "be" after fourteen

09173140521 · Answer

please EXPLAIN why  D  is wrong ? the structure of " (some/any/few..... of which) is correct but in this case "14 of which.." is also correct ???????  "14"  is NOUN AND ADJECTIVE ......IF it use as noun + THAT .....why is wrong ? look like a  appositive phrase  
 beautiful kudos for BEST answer .........

Iotaa · Answer

Hey Experts,

Can you please help in the evaluation of options E & C? I can easily eliminate A, B & D.

Thanks!
Iotaa

GMATNinja · Answer

Take another look at (E):

"Whom" should prefer to a person or people. Here, it seems to refer to "languages." That's wrong, so (E) is out.

That leaves you with (C), which is the correct answer.

I hope that helps!

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  Iotaa ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, Option E incorrectly refers to the noun "languages" with the pronoun "whom"; remember, "who" and "whom" can only be used to refer to human beings.

To understand the use of "Who" and "Whom" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMeOhXVC0SM

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

BLTN · Answer

Dear  09173140521 
fourteen of which/them - clearly modifies languages,

Appositive  is a rename of noun and thus can be substituted.

- Lynda, Alex's sister, has an impressive look. - > Alex's sister has an impressive look

In our case we cannot substitute 14 in lieu of languages without the distortion of meaning.

Abstract appositive  modifies abstract idea of preceding clause.

- The equity trader lost $100M, a deed that was accepted with acclamation

In case of D:
"fourteen that are officially recognized" 
 - What this sentence signifies? 
 - What descriptive/explanatory information sentence provides?

Hence, the option D can be neither appositive nor abstract appositive.

Hope it helps.

Taulark1 · Answer

isn't option C having 2 independent clauses joined together by comma ?

PituxaBR · Answer

I was going to ask the same, but can you someone confirm if this piece "Fourteen of which" is a pronoun referring to languages? 
If that is that is the case i believe that the second sentence is a dependent clause modifying languages.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Modifiers + Pronouns

• “whom” can only be used to refer to human beings.
• “that” is used to provide information needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, and the “comma + which” construction is used to provide extra information.

A: 
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses "whom" to refer to the noun "languages"; please remember, “whom” can only be used to refer to human beings.

B: 
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the "comma + that" construction to refer to extra information - the fact that fourteen major languages have official recognition; remember, “that” is used to provide information needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, and the “comma + which” construction is used to provide extra information.

C:   Correct. 
1/ This answer choice correctly uses "which" to refer to the noun "languages".
2/ Option C correctly uses the "comma + which" construction to refer to extra information - the fact that fourteen major languages have official recognition.

D: 
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the "comma + that" construction to refer to extra information - the fact that fourteen major languages have official recognition; remember, “that” is used to provide information needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, and the “comma + which” construction is used to provide extra information.

E: 
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses "whom" to refer to the noun "languages"; please remember, “whom” can only be used to refer to human beings.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Which" vs "That", you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F61rK86ND44

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

GMATNinja · Answer

Exactly. If I write, "Tim is a jerk, he loves to kick puppies," I've got a comma splice, as there are two independent clauses with no conjunction.

But if I write, "Tim is a jerk,  the kind of jerk who kicks puppies ," the portion in blue is a modifier describing "jerk" and can't stand on its own as a complete sentence. This is fine.

(C) is more like the second example.

All to say: you're right. Nicely done!

sidhusan · Answer

India is a country with at least fifty major regional languages, fourteen which have official recognition.
is this a valid construction in which i have used "fourteen which have official recognition"
as an appositive?

GMATCoachBen · Answer

sidhusan  you would need to add "OF":

India is a country with at least fifty major regional languages, fourteen OF which have official recognition.

Technically, this is a relative clause, using "of which". Relative clauses use relative pronouns, such as "which, who, where, when, that."

Appositives are nouns or noun phrases that rename another noun right next to them. They can often be removed without drastically changing the meaning of the sentence. They don't usually begin with relative pronouns.

An example using an appositive might be: "India, a diverse nation, has at least fifty major regional languages." Here, "a diverse nation" is an appositive giving additional information about "India."

GMATGuruNY · Answer

A visual note to add to Ben's explanation:
Generally, any usage of  which  on the GMAT must be immediately preceded by a COMMA or by a PREPOSITION, as in the following OAs:
 Emily Dickinson’s letters to Susan , which  were written over a period ending shortly before Emily’s death, outnumber her letters to anyone else. 
 Declining values for farm equipment, the collateral  against which  farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, are going to force many lenders to tighten credit .
Thus, the construction  fourteen which  is not valid.
If an answer choice includes NOUN +  which , eliminate the answer choice.

India is a country with at least fifty major regional languages, of

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India is a country with at least fifty major regional languages, of

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards