Next month, state wildlife officials are scheduled to take over the

In A, the pronoun which tries to refer to designated recovery area and this reference is illogical.

Next month, state wildlife officials are scheduled to take over the job of increasing the wolf population, the number of which --> Which here refers to "wolf population".

Can which refer to wolf ? (I know that we need wolves because number of wolf is incorrect but if we ignore this fact for the moment) I also think wolf here is just an adjective that modifies population.(Pronouns can only refer to Noun but wolf in the phrase wolf population in an adjective)

In other words - xxxx adjective noun, which --- Can which refer ONLY to the adjective ? I think it can refer to the entire phrase - adjective noun


Next month, state wildlife officials are scheduled to take over the job of increasing the population of wolves, the number of which --> here which can refer to wolves because the number of population of wolves DOES NOT make sense.

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , MagooshExpert , VeritasPrepBrian, GMATGuruNY , VeritasKarishma , DmitryFarber , RonPurewal , egmat , other experts - please enlighten

Next month, state wildlife officials are scheduled to take over the job of increasing the population of wolves, the number of which --> here which can refer to wolves because the number of population of wolves DOES NOT make sense.

EncounterGMAT First of all, THANK YOU for the great explanation! The concept of an uncountable noun makes total sense to me now. Although now I have clear reasons why option A, C, D, and E are eliminated, I still have a few questions lingering on my mind. I want to get the most out every question, hope you don't mind.
If you can please answer these questions for me?

1. Are you implying that option E is an independent sentence as well? If yes, then how come? Isn't that a relative clause which cannot stand on its own?
Answer- No. Option E is not independent for the above said reason. If it had semicolon, we could have considered it. Still, the option is wrong. Here's why. Option E states ''area, when the size of the population will, however,'' -the original sentence is speaking about a plan, which means something intended for future, but the sentence is using present tense. So the meaning would be weird. Use of 'however', if we check for more mistakes, is not required i.e basically useless here.


2. About option C, could you tell what the word "however" is modifying? Is it modifying "are scheduled" (which according to the O.G answer explanation it is) or is it modifying the "number of wolves"? Would a comma after the word "however" in option C make any difference in terms of what it modifies?
Answer- Option C- ''area, however the number of wolves will'' Firstly, from 'however' starts the independent clause(it has its own subject and verb). Instead, they used comma before 'however'. According to me, it doesn't matter wherever you put the comma(in this case). Generally, 'however' is started at the beginning of the sentence with semicolon followed by comma. Nevertheless, it can be used instead of 'but' (conjunction-read the meaning of independent clause I mentioned above) , but the grammar rules states that it should be preceded by a semicolon and followed by a comma. Also, whatever appears after the comma must be a complete sentence. The grammatical reason is that 'however' is an adverb conjunction. An adverb typically modifies other words (verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs). In layman terms, 'however' modifies the main verb of the sentence, i.e, are ''scheduled''.
Do notice that 'number of wolves' is correct because we can actually count wolves (countable nouns). Except this construction, everything else is incorrect.

3. You didn't answer me this question.
The explanation in the O.G says that in option D, the semicolon creates confusion since it is not followed by an independent clause. I don’t see why option D is not an independent clause?
D. area; the number of which will, however, ultimately be dictated by the number of prey in the area.- How can this not stand on its own?
Answer- Yes, the sentence seems to be independent because of the use of semicolon but if you look at the meaning, this option(similar to option A) must be cut off right away. This option is not an independent clause. How can ''the number of which will.......'' stand by itself? So, incorrect use of semicolon. Secondly, ‘which’ refers to ‘area’ in this option. How can the number of area be dictated by the number of prey? The antecedent for both option A and D is confusing. Another reason that I mentioned in my earlier post is that ''the number of population'' is wrong since you can't count population.

In answer choice B, is the placement of however proper ?
I have selected answer choice C on first attempt.

Next month, state wildlife officials are scheduled to take over the job of increasing the wolf population in the federally designated recovery area, the number of which will however ultimately be dictated by the number of prey in the area.

A. area, the number of which will however - Use of Comma to join two Independent clauses is incorrect. Moreover use of "The number" to modify POPULATION is incorrect
B. area; the size of the population, however, will - Correct since two Independent clauses are joined by semicolon
C. area, however the number of wolves will - Semi colon should be used before HOWEVER
D. area; the number of which will, however, - Use of "The number" to modify POPULATION is incorrect
E. area, when the size of the population will, however, - Why do we need to use WHEN

COULD YOU PLEASE HIGHLIGHT THE SUBJECT -VERB PAIRS IN THIS SENTENCE?

AjiteshArun, COULD YOU PLEASE HIGHLIGHT THE SUBJECT -VERB PAIRS IN THIS SENTENCE?

GMATNinja

Do you think A has a problem of joining two independent clauses with only a comma?

Hi sakshiagarwal96,

Here is option A:
... state wildlife officials are scheduled to take over the job of increasing the wolf population in the federally designated recovery area, the number of which will however ultimately be dictated by the number of prey in the area.

The one on the left is independent, and the one on the right is dependent.

And as vaibhav101 pointed out for option B:
... state wildlife officials are scheduled to take over the job of increasing the wolf population in the federally designated recovery area; the size of the population, however, will ultimately be dictated by the number of prey in the area.

Both clauses are independent.

AjiteshArun, why is the clause on the right dependant?

In general, [However, subject + verb. ] Is this an Independent clause or Dependent Clause?