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655-705 Level|   Modifiers|   Pronouns|         
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 24 Feb 2020, 00:05
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Hello Everyone.
This is a modifier and pronoun error question.
Important tip- 1) Whenever you see a fully underlined sentence, the two most common errors to look for are modifiers and pronouns.
2) When the sentence gets too long, start by comparing any two similar choices. This would help you identify the errors faster.

This question has already been explained in several posts. However, these important tips would help you in other similar questions too. So follow the tips above for cracking such questions in future.

In this Question, we can start by comparing options A and B. In both options, chiseled from solid rock is modifying the subject ‘ mountainous regions’, whereas they should actually describe the monasteries. So eliminate A and B.

In C, the subject ‘hundreds of monasteries’ is followed by a modifier. If we remove the modifier between two commas, C reads ‘hundreds of monasteries... are dotting’. This is incorrect because they are not dotting the mountains actively at the present moment.

If we compare D and E together, the difference is in the last part. D says ‘many of which are chiseled’ while E says ‘many of them chiseled’. In D the verb ‘are chiseled’ is incorrect because it suggests that the monasteries have been chiseled in the present.
E is the best answer.

Hope this helps! :)
If you liked the tips, please give kudos.
Happy learning :)

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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 04 Apr 2020, 10:59
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hi ChiranjeevSingh

i did not eliminate option D for the tense reason as I've seen in OG that few facts happened in the past are written in present tense for instance : 'The elephant is descendant from aquatic animal or Plant is grown from seeds'.I eliminated option D as i felt that sentence following comma is IC ,as it has both subject ( many of which) & verb ( are ), which is joined by another IC just by comma.

I have read the thread and found in the responses people denoting 'Tense ' to be an issue.A pr their understanding 'were' must be used instead of 'are'

Kindly help
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 05 Apr 2020, 20:40
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hi ChiranjeevSingh

i did not eliminate option D for the tense reason as I've seen in OG that few facts happened in the past are written in present tense for instance : 'The elephant is descendant from aquatic animal or Plant is grown from seeds'.I eliminated option D as i felt that sentence following comma is IC ,as it has both subject ( many of which) & verb ( are ), which is joined by another IC just by comma.

I have read the thread and found in the responses people denoting 'Tense ' to be an issue.A pr their understanding 'were' must be used instead of 'are'

Kindly help
Show more

The below construction is fine:

many of which are chiseled from solid rock (it's presented as a general fact)

However, if we insert the time reference "centuries ago", then we need the tense to match the time reference:

many of which were chiseled from solid rock centuries ago

The example you quoted "the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal" presents a general fact without any past time reference.

- CJ
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 24 Apr 2020, 16:13
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Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.

(A) Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.
(B) Chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with many hundreds of monasteries.
(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.
(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

After a quick glance over the options, there are a few things we can focus on:

1. Modifier Placement/Agreement
2. Verb Tense & Meaning: are dotted / are dotting ; chiseled / are chiseled
3. hundreds / many hundreds

Whenever you see an entire sentence underlined, it's a good sign that modifiers are one of the major problems! Let's make sure the modifier is placed next to its antecedent. To start, we need to ask ourselves the following question:

WHAT was chiseled out of solid rock centuries ago? --> Monasteries

Let's see how our options stack up:

(A) Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.
(B) Chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with many hundreds of monasteries.
(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.
(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

We can eliminate options A & B because the modifier is modifying "the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia" rather than the monasteries.

Now that we have it down to 3 options, let's tackle #2 on our list, which focuses mainly on verb tense/usage:

(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.
This is INCORRECT because "are dotting" means that monasteries are still being built today, which isn't true.

(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
This is also INCORRECT because the present tense "are chiseled" doesn't work when talking about something that happened centuries ago!

(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
This is CORRECT because it's okay to say that Ethiopia is still dotted with monasteries, and it also clearly shows that they were "chiseled" in the past.


There you have it - option E is the correct choice! By focusing on common problems you find on the GMAT when the entire sentence is underlined, we were able to eliminate problematic options quickly and get to the correct one even quicker!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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Maybe I’m over analyzing but isn’t it somewhat difficult to tell what “them” is referencing here? Is them referencing the “mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia“ or the “hundreds of monasteries”. I know that since monasteries is the closest plural noun it is still grammatically correct but it does seem like a bit of pronoun ambiguity for an official question. That said, no other answer choice conveys a grammatically logical answer. D comes close however!

Thoughts on the usage of “them” here?
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 24 Apr 2020, 17:46
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The source of this topic seems to be the condemned 1000 series. Notwithstanding that, let's see whether we can have any take away from that, especially because MGMAT is has been cited in the discussions on the principles of modification
Following is an excerpt from the Manhattan guide:

1. Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF WHICH WERE only recently discovered.--

The question is whether the second part of this sentence is an IC or just a modifier clause. IMO, \it is an IC since we have a solid subject in 'many of which' and a solid verb in 'were'. The result is that this is rather a comma splice. In addition, the verb 'were' seems to be out of place here, since the first part is in the present tense and a present perfect such as 'have been' would have been better. However, tense may or may not a critical issue here. .

2. Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF THEM only recently discovered.

This seems to be correct since, the second part is a verbless phrase, simply modifying the touching noun 'particles'.

To extrapolate this to the issue at hand,


(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF WHICH ARE chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF THEM chiseled from solid rock centuries ago

In this also, the choice D is wrong more because D is a comma splice. Of course, whether they are chiseled or were chiseled may not the prima-facie fact.
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If I am not wrong here, in E) the second part is an absolute modifier right?

Absolute Modifier has the following form: Noun + Noun modifier

'Many of them' is a noun? (I am not sure)
Noun modifier is the subsequent: Chiseled...

Can someone confirm?

daagh AjiteshArun generis GMATNinjaTwo

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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 25 Apr 2020, 08:27
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'Many of them' is certainly a noun. 'Many' is the bare noun and 'of them' is just additive prepositional modifier. It will be better to just call it a modifier. If you start splitting hairs whether it is an absolute modifier, then you must be prepared to justify that it modifies the entire clause with stress on the action that lies before the modifier. Here, the subject and the action are --- the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted --. In what way can one justify that the mountainous regions that are dotted are chiseled from rocks? Here the modification is more adjectival because the modifier directly modifies the hundreds of monasteries.
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 27 Apr 2020, 08:08
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I have a very silly doubt :

The simple present tense in English describes a general characteristic as well.

If we say “Mike surfs like a champion”, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Mike is surfing right now; it just means that he has the general characteristic of surfing like a champion.

Similarly
Monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

Also means it is a FACT. It is a general statement

Can you please explain, I am confused
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 27 Apr 2020, 23:32
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RAHUL_GMAT
I have a very silly doubt :

The simple present tense in English describes a general characteristic as well.

If we say “Mike surfs like a champion”, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Mike is surfing right now; it just means that he has the general characteristic of surfing like a champion.

Similarly
Monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

Also means it is a FACT. It is a general statement

Can you please explain, I am confused
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Hey there
Thank you for posting the question. Let me try and help you out!

First of all you are absolutely right in saying that simple present tense describes general facts and your example is also correct. Kudos for that :) :thumbsup:

It is perfect to say 'many of them are chiseled from solid rock'
This uses simple present tense and describes general fact. :thumbsup:

However, when there is a time reference already specified then we need the tense to match the time reference

Here 'centuries ago' is a time reference. Hence we need to use past tense verb only.

many of them were chiseled from solid rock centuries ago

many of them are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago. It is incorrect.
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 27 Apr 2020, 23:54
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BradyMVP
EMPOWERgmatVerbal
Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.

(A) Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.
(B) Chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with many hundreds of monasteries.
(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.
(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

After a quick glance over the options, there are a few things we can focus on:

1. Modifier Placement/Agreement
2. Verb Tense & Meaning: are dotted / are dotting ; chiseled / are chiseled
3. hundreds / many hundreds

Whenever you see an entire sentence underlined, it's a good sign that modifiers are one of the major problems! Let's make sure the modifier is placed next to its antecedent. To start, we need to ask ourselves the following question:

WHAT was chiseled out of solid rock centuries ago? --> Monasteries

Let's see how our options stack up:

(A) Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.
(B) Chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with many hundreds of monasteries.
(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.
(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

We can eliminate options A & B because the modifier is modifying "the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia" rather than the monasteries.

Now that we have it down to 3 options, let's tackle #2 on our list, which focuses mainly on verb tense/usage:

(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.
This is INCORRECT because "are dotting" means that monasteries are still being built today, which isn't true.

(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
This is also INCORRECT because the present tense "are chiseled" doesn't work when talking about something that happened centuries ago!

(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
This is CORRECT because it's okay to say that Ethiopia is still dotted with monasteries, and it also clearly shows that they were "chiseled" in the past.


There you have it - option E is the correct choice! By focusing on common problems you find on the GMAT when the entire sentence is underlined, we were able to eliminate problematic options quickly and get to the correct one even quicker!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.


Maybe I’m over analyzing but isn’t it somewhat difficult to tell what “them” is referencing here? Is them referencing the “mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia“ or the “hundreds of monasteries”. I know that since monasteries is the closest plural noun it is still grammatically correct but it does seem like a bit of pronoun ambiguity for an official question. That said, no other answer choice conveys a grammatically logical answer. D comes close however!

Thoughts on the usage of “them” here?
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Hello,
Thank you for posting the question. Let me try and help you out!
The Important thing first. Let’s start by looking at the intended logical meaning.

The sentence starts by talking about somethings that are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago. From the way the sentence is formed it seems that the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are chiseled from solid rock. These regions also have many scattered monasteries.
Now, what does chiseled mean? It means to cut in shape. It is illogical to say that the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are cut out in shape from solid rock. The regions cannot be shaped from rocks. This meaning is nonsensical. In fact the logical intended meaning is that the monasteries are cut out in shape from these solid rocks.

Before answering your doubt lets talk a little about pronoun ambiguity.
Let's take one example
In the accident, the car hit the tree, but its engine was not damaged.
Now here grammatically 'it' can refer to both car and tree. But can we say the engine of the tree was not damaged? No, this is nonsensical. Only the car can have an engine right?

So its true that the pronoun should have one antecedent but it must be logical also. Hence when a pronoun is used you can replace the possible antecedent with that pronoun and see if it is logical or not. If you have more than one logical antecedent for a pronoun, then it is said to be ambiguous.

As explained in the meaning analysis it is illogical to say mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are chiseled from solid rock.
Therefore 'them' logically only refers to 'monstaries'. There is no ambiguity there.

I hope this helps
Thanks
Anmol :)
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 10 Jul 2020, 21:00
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sayantanc2k

Yes. The subgroup modifier topic is explained nicely in the Manahatatn SC guide. However please note that as per that explanation, both D and E would be correct.

Following is an excerpt from the Manhattan guide:
Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF WHICH WERE only recently discovered.
Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF THEM only recently discovered.

Compare the above with the following answer choices:

(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF WHICH ARE chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF THEM chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

Thus both D and E are apparently correct.

Nonetheless the verb "ARE" is wrong in option D.......should be "WERE". Hence we can eliminate option D (although the modifier construction is right).
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Would it be grammatically correct to say "many of which were" and "many of them were"? If the latter is incorrect, why?
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 11 Jul 2020, 04:02
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sayantanc2k

Yes. The subgroup modifier topic is explained nicely in the Manahatatn SC guide. However please note that as per that explanation, both D and E would be correct.

Following is an excerpt from the Manhattan guide:
Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF WHICH WERE only recently discovered.
Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF THEM only recently discovered.

Compare the above with the following answer choices:

(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF WHICH ARE chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF THEM chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

Thus both D and E are apparently correct.

Nonetheless the verb "ARE" is wrong in option D.......should be "WERE". Hence we can eliminate option D (although the modifier construction is right).

Would it be grammatically correct to say "many of which were" and "many of them were"? If the latter is incorrect, why?
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Hello, costcosized. In the sentence at hand, it would be grammatically incorrect to use many of them were in place of many of them. By adding a verb in were, the grammatical structure of the final part of the sentence shifts from being a phrase modifier to an independent clause, and when two independent clauses are joined by nothing more than a comma (i.e. without a conjunction), the result is known as a comma splice. To fix the grammatical issue, a semicolon could be used instead without changing anything else. As for many of which were, that would function just fine in the sentence, both in terms of grammar (since it creates a dependent clause) and meaning (since the chiseling was done in the past).

- Andrew
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 11 Jul 2020, 16:58
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Isn't in (E), "them" refers back to mountain ranges, as it is being the subject of the first first clause?
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 16 Jul 2020, 06:58
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Isn't in (E), "them" refers back to mountain ranges, as it is being the subject of the first first clause?
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As explained in this post, "if the subject of the second clause is a pronoun, it CAN refer back to the subject of the first clause -- even if there are a ton of other potential referents in the sentence."

But were the mountainous regions chiseled from solid rock centuries ago?? Of course not. The pronoun "them" clearly refers to "monasteries", not "mountainous regions".

Yes, the pronoun technically could refer to multiple nouns, but that's not necessarily a problem on the GMAT. More on pronouns -- and the fact that pronoun ambiguity is not an absolute rule -- in this video.

I hope that helps!
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 18 Jul 2020, 22:26
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Sentence Analysis



There is no grammatical issue with the given statement. However, there is a meaning issue: the sentence means that the mountainous regions were chiseled from solid rock. Logically, the monasteries, not the mountains, should be chiseled from solid rock.

Option Analysis

A. Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.
Incorrect. For the reason mentioned above.

B. Chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with many hundreds of monasteries.
Incorrect.For the same reason as in option A. The placement of “many” has been changed in this option, leading to a change in meaning. However, the meaning conveyed in this option w.r.t. “many” is fine and thus not a problem.

C. Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.
Incorrect.The only difference between this option and option E is that while this option uses present continuous tense, option E uses simple present tense. The given context is logically a present fact rather than an ongoing activity. Thus, the use of simple present tenses is preferred.

D. The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
Incorrect. This option is incorrect for the use of wrong verb tense ‘are chiseled’ (simple present) with the past indicator “centuries ago”. If the option had used “were chiseled”, it’d be correct.

E. The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
Correct.
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 11 Nov 2020, 11:40
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.


(A) Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries. -- mountainous regions are chiseled from solid rock?

(B) Chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with many hundreds of monasteries. -- mountainous regions are chiseled from solid rock?

(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia. -- 'are dotting' is not correct

(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago. -- 'are chiseled' is not correct

(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago. - Correct
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Sanchitdd
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 18 Nov 2020, 00:15
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Can comma splice be used as a reason to eliminate Option D?
Can any one confirm.
Thanks in advance.
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 18 Nov 2020, 09:58
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Sanchitdd
Can comma splice be used as a reason to eliminate Option D?
Can any one confirm.
Thanks in advance.
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Hello, Sanchitdd. No, choice (D) does not present a comma splice, since what follows the comma is not an independent clause but, believe it or not, a phrase. That is, you cannot have a standalone sentence that runs,

Many of which are chiseled...

Which adopts a subordinate construct, unless you are considering dialogue. Swap out which for them, however, and you would have an independent clause:

Many of them are chiseled...

That would indeed create a comma splice in (D), but of course, that is not what is on the screen. I hope that helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

- Andrew
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous Updated on: 14 Dec 2020, 06:53
Originally posted by MHIKER on 09 Dec 2020, 14:23.
Last edited by MHIKER on 14 Dec 2020, 06:53, edited 1 time in total.
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.


(A) Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.

(B) Chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with many hundreds of monasteries.

(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.

(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

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Split the options on the meaning ground. The sentence is about the mountain region of northern Ethiopia, which should be in the subject position.
A, B, and C are out. The event happened in centuries ago. So, the passive form present tense is - seen in option D "are chiseled" is out. A, B, and C also have same problem.

\(E\) is the answer.
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 12 Dec 2020, 22:57
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sayantanc2k
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I think It is a modifier issue. look at Many of them , modifies the monasteries directly. you can review Manhattan . SC book chapter 'Advanced modifiers'. please note that Many of them without helping verb be which is right.
thanks

Yes. The subgroup modifier topic is explained nicely in the Manahatatn SC guide. However please note that as per that explanation, both D and E would be correct.

Following is an excerpt from the Manhattan guide:
Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF WHICH WERE only recently discovered.
Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF THEM only recently discovered.

Compare the above with the following answer choices:

(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF WHICH ARE chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF THEM chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

Thus both D and E are apparently correct.

Nonetheless the verb "ARE" is wrong in option D.......should be "WERE". Hence we can eliminate option D (although the modifier construction is right).
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Can we reject option D because 2 clauses are connected with a comma ?
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Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous 13 Dec 2020, 09:15
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pchimanshu27
sayantanc2k
hatemnag
I think It is a modifier issue. look at Many of them , modifies the monasteries directly. you can review Manhattan . SC book chapter 'Advanced modifiers'. please note that Many of them without helping verb be which is right.
thanks

Yes. The subgroup modifier topic is explained nicely in the Manahatatn SC guide. However please note that as per that explanation, both D and E would be correct.

Following is an excerpt from the Manhattan guide:
Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF WHICH WERE only recently discovered.
Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF THEM only recently discovered.

Compare the above with the following answer choices:

(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF WHICH ARE chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF THEM chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

Thus both D and E are apparently correct.

Nonetheless the verb "ARE" is wrong in option D.......should be "WERE". Hence we can eliminate option D (although the modifier construction is right).


Can we reject option D because 2 clauses are connected with a comma ?
Show more
Hello, pchimanshu27. The short answer is no, because the second clause is not independent. A which clause is subordinate in nature when it is used as the object of a preposition (i.e. of), and here, the entire many portion is a phrase. Try it out:

Many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

This fragment begs the question, many of what? As strange as it may seem, swapping out which for them does, in fact, create an independent clause:

Many of them are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

But now we have exposed another problem. We cannot say that something is chiseled centuries ago. The verb tense should be changed to reflect a past event, and therein lies the real issue with (D).

I hope that helps. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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