Sentence Correction

Is E the official answer? Please let me know. Thank you.

imo B

@gmatbeater,

IMO C....

just printing the question here agn for ease....

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 Indian alphabets.

A) same as above

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 the

My explanation:

A) i firstly looked at 'was derived' which is a singular verb used incorrectly for the plural subject "northern and southern Indian alphabets".
also, "from which" seems to incorrectly refer to the empire (referenced by the pronoun "it") rather than to the script.
finally, "northern and southern Indian alphabets" is unclear. are there just one alphabet each in northern and southern alphabets or many in both of them?

B) "and" indicates that something new is to be written about. but in fact, we just need a continuation of the sentence. also,, "deriving" is an incorrect verb tense.

C) CORRECT. "From which" correctly refers to the script. Additionally, "derive," a plural verb, correctly agrees with the plural subject "the Northern and the Southern Indian alphabets."

D) "derives," a singular verb, does not agree with the plural subject "Northern and Southern Indian alphabets."

E) The second pronoun "it" is ambiguous: does it refer to the "empire" or to the "script"? also, did the empire derive the northern and southern alphabets??? certainly no:)

Hope that helps! wats the OA

Wonder thank you very much for detailed explanation, the OA is C.

Hi,
I understand that we arrived at the official answer mainly by the process of elimination, but why does the official answer too sound grammatically incorrect to me?
Isn't a "were" or an "are" supposed to precede the word "derive" in this case?
When you read the OA, doesn't it seem that the alphabets are deriving something and whatever it is that the alphabets are deriving is left unsaid?

Shilo

were or are not needed.

"derive from" is an idiomatic use of the verb derive used without an object.

https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/derive -> check bullet 5 in this link

It is idiomatically similar to the usage of "stem from"

java_ka_jalwa wrote:were or are not needed.

"derive from" is an idiomatic use of the verb derive used without an object.

https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/derive -> check bullet 5 in this link

It is idiomatically similar to the usage of "stem from"

Thanks! I did not know that; I have never before seen a sentence in which the word "derive" has not been preceded by a "was" or an "is" or a "were" or a "has been". Good to know this.

Shilo