The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of

Question

The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of  which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to  any other cultural grouping.

(A) which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to

(B) which recognize a stronger cultural bond with their Nordic neighbors than

(C) which recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than with

(D) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than they have with

(E) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than they have to

blueseas · Accepted Answer

rule : 
each of X ==>SINGULAR HENCE NEEDS A SINGULAR VERB.

(A) which  recognize  a stronger cultural bond to  their  Nordic neighbors than to
  WRONG  
-SUB-VERB disagreement
(B) which  recognize  a stronger cultural bond with  their  Nordic neighbors than
  WRONG  
-SUB-VERB disagreement
-pronoun number error
(C) which recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than with
  CORRECT  
(D) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than  they  have with
  WRONG  
-PRONOUN NUMBER error
(E) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond to  their  Nordic neighbors than  they  have to
  WRONG  
-PRONOUN NUMBER ERROR.

HOPE IT HELPS

JusTLucK04 · Answer

Bumping for further review and discussion..!!!

C vs D...is it pronoun ambiguity??...coz they is plural and it also matches the plural neighbors or the states

PiyushK · Answer

The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of  which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to  any other cultural grouping.

(A) which  recognize  a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to -- Subject verb error
(B) which  recognize  a stronger cultural bond with their Nordic neighbors than -- Subject verb error
 (C) which recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than with  -- perfect no error and elements are parallel.
(D) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than  they have  with -- parallelism error.
(E) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than  they have  to -- parallelism error.

PiyushK · Answer

In option D, "each of them" is a subgroup modifier and it modifies states; therefore, in option D them refers to states and as them refers to state, they (another plural pronoun) automatically start referring to what them is referring.
In a sentence same category of pronouns can not refer two different nouns.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

I'm not sure there really is a switch in intended antecedent in D. Both "they" and "them" can refer to all 5 states. However, notice the intrusion of "it" in the middle. We can't use "it" and "they" to refer to the same subject!

JusTLucK04 · Answer

Is this correct??
The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of them recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than it has with any other cultural grouping.

souvik101990 · Answer

The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of  which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to  any other cultural grouping.

(A) which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to
(B) which recognize a stronger cultural bond with their Nordic neighbors than
(C) which recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than with
(D) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than they have with
(E) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than they have to

kumarashok29 · Answer

The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of  which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to  any other cultural grouping.
(A) which  recognize  a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to 
>> each of X...(singular), possible corrections can be recognize s /recogniz ing 
(B) which  recognize  a stronger cultural bond with their Nordic neighbors than
>> same as (A)
(C) which  recognizes  a stronger cultural bond  with  its  Nordic neighbors  than with
>> correct SVA + parallelism (a stringer...with X than with Y)
(D) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than  they have  with
>> SVA+||'ism issue
(E) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond to  their  Nordic neighbors than  they have  to
>> SVA error.

gmat2015p · Answer

Subject Verb number disagreement in original sentence. 'recognize' should be 'recognizes'
Hence A and B are eliminated 
Choice E and D have pronoun error. 'each' and 'their' / 'they ' do not match in number

C = Correct choice

kinjiGC · Answer

The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of  which recognize a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to  any other cultural grouping.

each of which -> Singular subject -> Singular verb

(A) which  recognize  a stronger cultural bond to their Nordic neighbors than to
(B) which  recognize  a stronger cultural bond with their Nordic neighbors than
(C) which recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than with ->  Correct .
(D) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than  they have  with ->  Parallelism issue 
 What does have refer to? Cannot refer to recognizing.  
(E) them recognizing a stronger cultural bond to  their  Nordic neighbors than they have to ->  each is the singular subject, so we need its (Singular possessive pronoun)

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

Hi JusTLucK04,

Your version mostly works, but there are two problems:

1) You've spliced together two independent clauses with a comma. You'd need a semicolon before "each." (Note that in the existing answers this isn't an issue because we are dealing with modifiers: "each of which" or "each of them recognizing.")

2) There's also a bit of a meaning shift in your sentence. In C we're comparing the recognition of two bonds: the bond with Nordic neighbors and the bond with another grouping. In yours, we're comparing the bond Norden  recognizes  with one group to the bond it  has  with another. This is a bit different, although it could work if that were the intended meaning.

solitaryreaper · Answer

Hi Dmitry ! I have a doubt regarding point 1 above. The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of them recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than it has with any other cultural grouping. In the above construction why is it necessary that the clause starting with "each of them recognizes ..." has to be an independent clause (I agree we have a subject "each" and a verb "recognizes"). I think it can very well act as a clause modifier modifying the noun sovereign states and therefore a semi colon would not be required. I would like to point to a similar example you clarified few months back. in-his-experiments-with-gravity-isaac-newton-showed-how-the-37080-20.html#p1466804 excerpts from that discussion It's not that a solitary "each" can't serve as a subject--it's that it doesn't have to. The word "each" can serve as either a pronoun or a modifier (adjective/adverb). Pronoun: Each one of these paintings is worth a million dollars. Modifier: There are three bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. However, we can also use "each" as a pronoun in a modifying clause. In this case, we use "of which/of whom" to signal that we are building such a clause. He ordered several different dishes, each of which could have served as a meal in its own right. Here, "each" is the subject and "could" is the main verb. We typically do this to express something more complicated than we could in a normal modifier. Notice that because we have a complex set of verbs ("could have served"), it would be hard to express this without a full clause. If we said "each serving as a meal in its own right," that would change the intended meaning (each dish actually is a meal). I might be missing something. Please have a look ! Regards, SR

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

Hi solitaryreaper,

This is definitely different. "Each of which could have served as a meal in its own right" is not an independent clause. It couldn't stand on its own as a sentence; rather, it is modifying the previous noun. Both of the clauses here ("The region . . . states" and "each of them . . . grouping") are independent. Either of them could be a sentence on its own (but not a meal in its own right. :lol:

). Neither of them is modifying any part of the other. What makes the difference? The two words "of which."

). Neither of them is modifying any part of the other. What makes the difference? The two words "of which."

282552 · Answer

Alright feeling dumb here to ask this as nobody else asked this till now, but let me shoot it out :
Aren't two independent clauses are connected with a comma in option C ??
Can somebody explain what I am missing here ??

Thanks in advance.

sayantanc2k · Answer

No, there aren't two independent clauses - just one independent clause and one dependent clause:

Independent clause: The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states

Dependent clause (modifier of states): which recognizes a stronger cultural bond with its Nordic neighbors than with any other cultural grouping.

Separating a dependent clause and an independent clause with a comma is alright - we do not need a conjunction here.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

If the second clause said "each of them recognizes . . . ," that would be an independent clause. However, "each of which" is just a specific way of using a dependent ("which") modifier. The "each" part lets us know that this modifier applies to each of the states, not just to the group of 5 states overall.

dixitraghav · Answer

" Then recognizing a stronger......" the clause in option D and E.
I think one of the reason to eliminate these 2 options is also that this clause does not contain a verb. The participle recognizing should have been recognizes.

Experts pls comment !

sayantanc2k · Answer

No, the participle is alright. This structure is known as subgroup modifier. e.g.,

I have three shirts,  each of them having two pockets . ... (the underlined portion is a subgroup modifier.)

D is wrong because of the wrong pronoun "its". E is wrong because of the faulty parallelism between "bond" and "they have to".

Nightmare007 · Answer

Hi I agree C being the best answer among the mentioned answers.
I got a doubt regarding usage of which for Plural noun states . ? 
Is it really applicable and apt to use Which instead of them for Plural nouns ?

Help appreciated.

The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The region of Norden is comprised of five sovereign states, each of

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