The Roman Empire expanded to most of southern Europe and the

Question

The Roman Empire expanded to most of southern Europe and the Mediterranean region by the beginning of the first century C.E., bringing  the Latin language with it, from which were derived Romance  languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian.

(A) the Latin language with it, from which were derived Romance

(B) the Latin language with it, and from which deriving the Romance

(C) with it the Latin language, from which derive the Romance

(D) with it the Latin language, from which derives Romance

(E) with it the Latin language, and deriving from it the Romance

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Note: Intiailly OA was marked incorrectly. OA corrected on 26th June 2014.  
 
 The explanation says that in option A and B The pronoun which is referring to It...Is this possible because...I know pronoun can refer to another pronoun but here it is just doesn't look right....Do we have OG questions which follow the same structure.

PiyushK · Accepted Answer

C is the best option.

C.with it the Latin language, from which derive the Romance -- Romance languages derive from Latin language << inverted sentence... looks best.

D.with it the Latin language, from which derives Romance --- from Latin language derives Roman languages --- Latin language is object of preposition  from  thus cant be subject. Therefore, Roman languages plural is only eligible subject, which doesn't fit with singular verb  derives .

E.with it the Latin language, and deriving from it the Romance --- Original sentence doesn't convey such meaning that The Roman Empire derived the Romance languages from Latin language. Therefore E is also wrong.

Gnpth · Answer

I go for option D. Since which should always come after the comma. Comma is not needed if it follows a preposition.

also must refer to the noun that comes immediately before the comma

But i have no idea whether do we have similar questions in OG. what about that El Nino question in OG 13?

ronr34 · Answer

Romance languages are plural, so shouldn't it be "derive"? I chose C.
Can someone give an explanation?

aditya8062 · Answer

in fact i ruled out A for precisely the same reason . remember that A is not outright wrong (considering this point of "which" reference) but it is just that D has better construction that A

aditya8062 · Answer

always remember  "including"  does not make a compound subject . u might have got confused with the concept of "AND" .

ronr34 · Answer

Romance languages..
That's plural regardless of the details concerning which language... Is this wrong?

aditya8062 · Answer

i guess ur right !!

WoundedTiger · Answer

Guys,I am really sorry.

Precisely the reason ans is C. Apologies for the confusion. OA edited.

ronr34 · Answer

I have a question here. If the two options, B and C were like this:
B.the Latin language with it, and from which derive the Romance
C.with it the Latin language, from which derive the Romance
In the above case, what would be the preferred option and why?

mvictor · Answer

since we have which, it must be that latin language must be right before the pronoun. A and B are out right away
E - changes the meaning..now it is not implied that the romance languages derived from the "bringing the language". so incorrect.
between C and D - romance languages is plural so must have plural verb. C it is.

goforgmat · Answer

The act of deriving must be done by someone. When it is not clear who derived shouldn't that be put in passive voice.
the languages don't themselves derive rather they must be derived. In the above, is it correct to say the romance languages derive from the Latin Language?
can Derive act as a stand alone verb? 
 chetan2u ,  sayantanc2k  please explain.

chetan2u · Answer

Hi,

here do not take the meaning of derive as obtained.. 
example the theorem was derived by ...

But here derive MEANS its origin.. 
example the country X derives its name from its main river..
here too the derive is used in this context..

manhasnoname · Answer

Can someone please explain why (A) is wrong? Thanks!

arunavamunshi1988 · Answer

How come 'C.with it the Latin language, from which  derive  the Romance' be the correct ans? Here 'derive' should be in past tense. It seems the Romance Languages are still in the act of 'deriving'.

Spovil · Answer

C is the correct answer

The modifier starting with 'which' must have referrant as near as possible. C does that
Also, option - A uses 'were' and this usage means as if romance languages were derived even before latin languages came.

gauravraos · Answer

This sentence uses a relative clause construction with inversion, starting with "from which was derived..." The relative pronoun "which" refers back to the nearest logical antecedent. In answers A and B, this is the word "it", which refers to "The Roman Empire". Since these sentences incorrectly suggest that the Romance languages were derived from the Roman Empire, they can be eliminated.

daagh · Answer

This is a simulated version of the below-given GMAT Prep topic. The OA of the official version is also C.

The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus Valley in the fifth century B.C., bringing  the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and  southern India alphabets.

A. the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and
B. the Aramaic script with it, and from which deriving both the northern and the
C. with it the Aramaic script, from which derive both the northern and the
D. with it the Aramaic script, from which derives both northern and
E. with it the Aramaic script, and deriving from it both the northern and

warriorguy · Answer

I have a query related to the non-underlined portion of the sentence.

When we state that - 'by the beginning of first century C.E' - something happened, so this event which already occurred should be in past perfect tense.

i.e. The Roman Empire had expanded to ........ by the beginning of ......

Why are we using simple past tense (expanded) here?

rekhabishop · Answer

Sir, although I chose the correct answer, I wasn't hundred percent sure. I would really appreciate, if you could pick out the errors in all the other choices. Thanks, as always.

The Roman Empire expanded to most of southern Europe and the

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The Roman Empire expanded to most of southern Europe and the

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