Sentence Correction

rohu27 wrote:Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power only after a long struggle by the native people

a)Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power b)Before independence in 1947, Britain had ruled India as a colony and relinquished power
c)Before its independence in 1947, India was ruled by Britain as a colony and they relinquished power
d)Before independence in 1947, India had been ruled as a colony by Britain, which relinquished power
e)Before independence in 1947, India had been a colony of the British, who relinquished power

rohu27 wrote:Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power only after a long struggle by the native people

a)Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power
b)Before independence in 1947, Britain had ruled India as a colony and relinquished power
c)Before its independence in 1947, India was ruled by Britain as a colony and they relinquished power
d)Before independence in 1947, India had been ruled as a colony by Britain, which relinquished power
e)Before independence in 1947, India had been a colony of the British, who relinquished power

GMATGuruNY wrote:

rohu27 wrote:Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power only after a long struggle by the native people

a)Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power
b)Before independence in 1947, Britain had ruled India as a colony and relinquished power
c)Before its independence in 1947, India was ruled by Britain as a colony and they relinquished power
d)Before independence in 1947, India had been ruled as a colony by Britain, which relinquished power
e)Before independence in 1947, India had been a colony of the British, who relinquished power

In A and C, they has no clear antecedent. A plural pronoun such as they cannot be used to refer to a country, which is singular. Eliminate A and C.

In B, the placement of Britain next to the modifying phrase before independence incorrectly implies that Britain became independent in 1947. The intended meaning of the sentence is that India became independent. Eliminate B.

In D, which could refer either to Britain or to colony. Also, the meaning of ruled as a colony is unclear. Was India a colony of Britain, or was it only ruled that way? Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.

pankajks2010 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

rohu27 wrote:Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power only after a long struggle by the native people

a)Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power
b)Before independence in 1947, Britain had ruled India as a colony and relinquished power
c)Before its independence in 1947, India was ruled by Britain as a colony and they relinquished power
d)Before independence in 1947, India had been ruled as a colony by Britain, which relinquished power
e)Before independence in 1947, India had been a colony of the British, who relinquished power

In A and C, they has no clear antecedent. A plural pronoun such as they cannot be used to refer to a country, which is singular. Eliminate A and C.

In B, the placement of Britain next to the modifying phrase before independence incorrectly implies that Britain became independent in 1947. The intended meaning of the sentence is that India became independent. Eliminate B.

In D, which could refer either to Britain or to colony. Also, the meaning of ruled as a colony is unclear. Was India a colony of Britain, or was it only ruled that way? Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.

@Gmatguru: Would be great to know your views on evaluating "who vs which" when we are referring to a nation or the people of that nation. Like in this case isn't it more appropriate to use "who" with Britain rather than "which"