Pronoun and antecedent

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BTG14: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 45; Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2012 5:28 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 3 times; GMAT Score:500

by BTG14 » Wed Feb 20, 2013 5:27 am

Hi all,

While going through MGMAT SC material, I got some problem in my understanding of pronouns in below question:

We finally chose the coffee table towards the back of the store, which we thought would complement our living room furniture. - which incorrectly refers to store. It is not the store that would complement the living room furniture.

In above question( we finally chose the coffee table towards the back of the store)
: Subject - We
Verb - chose
Object-Coffee table
So which should modify Object that is coffee table.

Then why above sentence is wrong.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Feb 20, 2013 5:27 am

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Wed Feb 20, 2013 6:28 am

BTG14 wrote:Hi all,

While going through MGMAT SC material, I got some problem in my understanding of pronouns in below question:

We finally chose the coffee table towards the back of the store, which we thought would complement our living room furniture. - which incorrectly refers to store. It is not the store that would complement the living room furniture.

In above question( we finally chose the coffee table towards the back of the store)
: Subject - We
Verb - chose
Object-Coffee table
So which should modify Object that is coffee table.

Then why above sentence is wrong.

COMMA + which should refer to the nearest eligible antecedent.
Here, the nearest eligible antecedent is store.
As a result, which seems to refer to store, implying that the STORE would complement the living room furniture.
Not the intended meaning.

For more on the usage of which, check my posts here:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/spanish-arma ... 67329.html
https://www.beatthegmat.com/publishing-d ... 99353.html
https://www.beatthegmat.com/emily-dickin ... 21769.html (second post)

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