The music for which we heard last night at the concert was exceptional

Question

The music for which we heard last night at the concert was exceptionally good. A. for which we heard last night at the concert B. to which we listened at the concert last night C. last night at the concert that we listened D. of last night's concert who we heard E. which we listened last night at the concert I woke up early to get a good start on SC from GMAT Ultimate Grammar and maybe i woke up too early

i came across a few problems that i couldnt not explain to myself. If someone could help me with these it would be greately appreciated! --why can we simply say: The music which we listened at the concert last night was exceptionally great. ? (is it the commas?)

daagh · Accepted Answer

This is a test of idiom. The right idiom is ‘listen to’. Any choice without the accompaniment of the preposition’ to’ either as ‘listen to’ or in a slightly variant fashion as “to which listen”, is faulty. Note that B is the only choice that maintains the idiom.

gmat1220 · Answer

Since comma is missing in E, I picked up B.

bb · Answer

Yes, in this case, we tried to make it a bit tricky.

It says "to which we listened" and then we threw in "at the concert"
In reality, the "to" refers to "listened" and "at" does not.

Makes sense or not really?

aslnlot · Answer

"Listen  to  the music" is correct

DmitryFarber · Answer

aslnlot is correct--we need the word "to." You can listen to music, but you cannot listen music. "Listen" is an intransitive verb. Other examples of intransitive verbs (verbs without objects):

I  ran  all day.
I  ran  to the park. (Followed by a prepositional modifier, but not an object)
I  paid  attention.
I  paid  attention to my mother.

Transitive verbs:
I  see  the statue.
I  want  a bicycle.

So if I see something, that's transitive, and I don't need a modifier to express it. (I see the statue.) If I  look  at something, that's intransitive, and it is followed by a prepositional modifier rather than an object. (I look  at the statue .) The exact same thing applies to hear vs. listen:

I hear the music.
I listen  to the music .

I hope that helps!

DmitryFarber · Answer

I should add that the awkwardness you're feeling about (B) stems from the fact that in this case, the music is the subject of the sentence. If we were the subject, it would be simpler: "We listened to exceptionally good music at the concert last night." With "music" as the subject, we end up with "to which we listened," which is not a common usage in spoken English. A casual speaker of English would be more likely to say "The music we listened to was . . ." That's what I'd say myself.

VerbalBot · Answer

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The music for which we heard last night at the concert was exceptional

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The music for which we heard last night at the concert was exceptional

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