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OG 2019 - Q739 & Q740 Subject Verb Agreement Question

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Dizzi3
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OG 2019 - Q739 & Q740 Subject Verb Agreement Question [#permalink] New post   24 Mar 2020, 08:56
Hello All,

I am confused by these two questions one after the other on their subject verb agreement.

In Question 739 - In some types of pine tree, a thick layer of needles protects the buds from which new growth proceeds; consequently they are able to withstand forest fires relatively well.

In my understanding and from what I've read, in the underlined portion "layer" is the noun which "protects" is agreeing with.

In Question 740 - The Tourism commission has conducted surveys of hotels in the most popular resorts, with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service.

I am so confused by this question, as I thought "the number" would be the noun that express is agreeing with which would be singular. However, in the answers, it says that it points to "guests" which throws me off because it seems like it is a preposition because the "of" before guests.

Could someone please help me understand why the first question seems to follow this logic of the prepositional addition and the second doesn't?
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Re: OG 2019 - Q739 & Q740 Subject Verb Agreement Question [#permalink] New post   24 Mar 2020, 08:57
Subject Verb Agreement
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Re: OG 2019 - Q739 & Q740 Subject Verb Agreement Question [#permalink] New post   24 Mar 2020, 09:02
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Dizzi3 wrote:
Hello All,

I am confused by these two questions one after the other on their subject verb agreement.

In Question 739 - In some types of pine tree, a thick layer of needles protects the buds from which new growth proceeds; consequently they are able to withstand forest fires relatively well.

In my understanding and from what I've read, in the underlined portion "layer" is the noun which "protects" is agreeing with.

In Question 740 - The Tourism commission has conducted surveys of hotels in the most popular resorts, with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service.

I am so confused by this question, as I thought "the number" would be the noun that express is agreeing with which would be singular. However, in the answers, it says that it points to "guests" which throws me off because it seems like it is a preposition because the "of" before guests.

Could someone please help me understand why the first question seems to follow this logic of the prepositional addition and the second doesn't?


The first question is discussed in details here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-some-type ... 20379.html
The second question is discussed in details here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-tourism- ... 20380.html

Hope it helps.
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Re: OG 2019 - Q739 & Q740 Subject Verb Agreement Question [#permalink] New post   24 Mar 2020, 22:41
Dizzi3 wrote:
Hello All,

I am confused by these two questions one after the other on their subject verb agreement.

In Question 739 - In some types of pine tree, a thick layer of needles protects the buds from which new growth proceeds; consequently they are able to withstand forest fires relatively well.

In my understanding and from what I've read, in the underlined portion "layer" is the noun which "protects" is agreeing with.

In Question 740 - The Tourism commission has conducted surveys of hotels in the most popular resorts, with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service.

I am so confused by this question, as I thought "the number" would be the noun that express is agreeing with which would be singular. However, in the answers, it says that it points to "guests" which throws me off because it seems like it is a preposition because the "of" before guests.

Could someone please help me understand why the first question seems to follow this logic of the prepositional addition and the second doesn't?


look at who after the word guests, express refers to guests.
if the stmt were the number of guests expresses would have been correct
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Re: OG 2019 - Q739 & Q740 Subject Verb Agreement Question [#permalink] New post   25 Mar 2020, 04:47
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Dizzi3 wrote:
In Question 740 - The Tourism commission has conducted surveys of hotels in the most popular resorts, with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels' service.

Hi Dizzi3, this is because who marks the start of a separate clause.

So, whether the correct verb is express or expresses, depends on what who is modifying:

i) If who is modifying a singular noun, then the correct verb is expresses

ii) If who is modifying a plural noun, then the correct verb is express

To summarize, this question is about what who is modifying.

At the risk of being slightly simplistic, let me state that since guests immediately precedes who, who will modify guests (plural) and hence, the correct verb is express.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses this concept of subject-verb agreemengt, its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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Re: OG 2019 - Q739 & Q740 Subject Verb Agreement Question [#permalink]
25 Mar 2020, 04:47
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