Cajuns

[varundaga05]

Cajuns speak a dialect brought to southern Louisiana
by the 4,000 Acadians who migrated there in 1755;
their language is basically seventeenth-century French
to which has been added English, Spanish, and Italian
words.
(A) to which has been added English, Spanish, and
Italian words
(B) added to which is English, Spanish, and Italian
words
(C) to which English, Spanish, and Italian words have
been added
(D) with English, Spanish, and Italian words having
been added to it
(E) and, in addition, English, Spanish, and Italian
words are added

[paridhi]

Cajuns speak a dialect brought to southern Louisiana
by the 4,000 Acadians who migrated there in 1755;
their language is basically seventeenth-century French
to which has been added English, Spanish, and Italian
words.
(A) to which has been added English, Spanish, and
Italian words -- has is incorrect should be have
(B) added to which is English, Spanish, and Italian
words
(C) to which English, Spanish, and Italian words have
been added - correct
(D) with English, Spanish, and Italian words having
been added to it
(E) and, in addition, English, Spanish, and Italian
words are added

D - having been added to it is incorrect.

IMO C

[Shawshank]

IMO -- C

HAVE is needed here .. not HAS

[ansumania]

IMO C........

[haveto]

In this question, "their" is referring to ?? Cajuns or Acadians.

As per sentence, it should be "Cajuns" but my question is do we use same noun-pronoun rule for two independent clauses connect through a semicolon as we do for two clauses connected with a comma + a conjunction.

Like in later type, pronoun as subject of main clause will refer to the subject of sub-ordinate clause. Can we use the same rule for sentences connected through semicolon?


Sorry for such a confusing post....

[ansumania]

A, B tense issues...

E, presence of in addition and added creates redundancy.....

between C and D , not able to pick one....Do we pick C only because of concision or is there anything wrong with D?

pl. suggest.....

[outreach]

i think in D "it" refers to what is not clear

[Stacey Koprince]

Received a PM asking me to discuss answer D. This is an OG question, so I'll have to use another sentence to discuss the general principles.

"their language is basically 18th century Chinese to which have been added Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese words."

or

""their language is basically 18th century Chinese with Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese words having been added to it."

"it" = ... language? Chinese? When you have a noun followed by a prepositional phrase, the prepositional phrase generally modifies that noun.

If you want the "with" to be an adverbial modifier modifying the entire previous clause, you need a comma before "with."

"Having been added" is present perfect continuous, except in modifier form. This implies an unbroken, continuous action and is generally more complex than saying "have been added." More complexity is not necessarily wrong - you just have to have support to justify using it. The general rule is to use a simpler tense unless you have reason to justify using the more complex tense. We don't really have that justification here.

Also, I'll just mention: "to which" is a very "stuffy-sounding" construction that most people do not use in daily speech - and that's probably why it's part of the correct answer - simply because a lot of people will think, "I'd never SAY it that way" and so they won't pick it.

[ansumania]

what I understand in ', prepositional phrase' structure, the preposition doesn't modify the preceding noun , rather the whole structure acts like an adverbial modifier and modify the whole prceding clause. Basically it shows the result of the preceding clause. Correct?

Pl. comment on the example:

Although she had been known as an effective legislator first in the Texas Senate and later in the Untied States House of Representatives, it was not until 1974 that Barbara Jordan became a nationally recognized figure, with her participation in
the hearings on the impeachment of President Richard Nixon, which was televised nationwide.

here the italicized part is acting as an adverbial modifier and should ideally modify the whole preceding clause showing the result of the preceding clause , but it is not doing so. Therefore, the sentence is wrong. Is it true? Or there are any other errors? pl. respond.

[Stacey Koprince]

Please post the source of any quotes. Your quoted sentence is from GMATPrep.

Prepositional phrases can be noun modifiers OR adverbial modifiers.

A "comma +prep phrase" setup is usually an adverbial modifier, yes. In this kind of setup, the adverbial modifier should modify the entire preceding clause and should provide some kind of additional information or followup on that clause. So, yes, you're right - it's not doing so here.

In addition, we have this basic structure:

"Although she <was...>, it was not until XX that Barbara..."

The structural expectation is that the subject pronoun "she" in the opening modifier will refer to the subject of the main clause. The subject of the main clause, however, is "it," not "Barbara." No good.

[prabsahi]

Option D,
..with English Spanish Words having been added to it.
I understand the wordy and passive construction (having been added) and I was able to eliminate
the answer based on this.
But,with English ,Spanish words --is there anything wrong with this construction.
Doesn't it modify French?

[tinku143]

Cajuns speak a dialect brought to southern Louisiana by the 4,000 Acadians who migrated there in 1755; their language is basically seventeenth-century French to which has been added English, Spanish, and Italian words.
This is a passive voice sentence.

(A) to which has been added English, Spanish, and Italian words
(B) added to which is English, Spanish, and Italian words
Is is incorrect in this sentence.
(C) to which English, Spanish, and Italian words have been added
French to which….This is a possible right answer
(D) with English, Spanish, and Italian words having been added to it
French… with … having been added to it.
This is wrong OMG
(E) and, in addition, English, Spanish, and Italian words are added
Language … and in addition – OMG this si wrong.

[gentvenus]

C for sure. HAVE is needed here, and not HAS