BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

When is it safe to use the word "that?"

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 46
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 6:27 am

When is it safe to use the word "that?"

by Tame the CAT » Sun Mar 11, 2007 5:18 am
Jessica Mitford wrote The American Way of Death, a best-selling book, that led eventually to an official investigation of the funeral industry.

A. that led eventually
B. that had led eventually
C. that eventually led
D. which led eventually
E. who eventually led


___________________________________

This is one of the most confusing parts of sentence correction. When can you use the word "that" versus which, to, for, who or a bunch of other words?

I think the answer is D. I haven't looked at the solution yet. The reason I picked D is the sentence just flowed better. I'm still studying the rules, but just thought I would ask on this forum.

Thanks in advanced!!
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 7:21 pm
Thanked: 2 times

by rajesh_ctm » Sun Mar 11, 2007 7:51 am
No idea which one is correct grammatically. Going just by the ears, C "sounds" most appropriate (familiar).

Please let us know the OA.
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 46
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 6:27 am

by Tame the CAT » Sun Mar 11, 2007 2:15 pm
D is correct. C sounds good as well.

I got lucky. I want to know why the answer is D. I took an online sentence correction quiz which only gives the answers, but not the reasons behind them.
Top
User avatar
Community Manager
Posts: 789
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 3:51 pm
Location: Silicon valley, California
Thanked: 30 times
Followed by:1 members

by jayhawk2001 » Sun Mar 11, 2007 3:11 pm
Here's what I recall reading on "that" vs "which" --

"Which" is used in non-restrictive clauses (one that can be removed
without altering the meaning of the sentence).

"That" is used in restrictive clauses (where the meaning of the sentence
depends on the clause).

In the question, it appears that the official investigation is an integral
part of the sentence and hence should be introduced with a "that". This
leaves us with A or C. "eventually led" seems like a better construction compared to "led eventually".

So, C looks like a better option. Only snag is that there's a comma
before "that" which is usually not the case.

If the OA is D, I'll be interested in hearing why the last clause is
non-restrictive.
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2007 6:53 pm

by ashok_uddaraju » Sun Mar 11, 2007 7:15 pm
here what led was the book so while referring to the book the apt option should be "which led" option D
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 3:35 am

Expert comments

by amitamit2020 » Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:24 am
Any expert comments if the clause is restrictive or non-restrictive ..pl?
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Site Admin
Posts: 6778
Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 1249 times
Followed by:994 members

Re: Expert comments

by beatthegmat » Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:31 am
amitamit2020 wrote:Any expert comments if the clause is restrictive or non-restrictive ..pl?
It's my understanding that clauses beginning with "that" are restrictive and should not be separated by a comma: https://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/gram ... n/3_4c.htm
Beat The GMAT | The MBA Social Network
Community Management Team

Research Top GMAT Prep Courses:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/gmat-prep-courses

Research The World's Top MBA Programs:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/school
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 354
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:20 pm
Thanked: 11 times
Followed by:5 members

Re: Expert comments

by 800guy » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:00 am
beatthegmat wrote:
amitamit2020 wrote:Any expert comments if the clause is restrictive or non-restrictive ..pl?
It's my understanding that clauses beginning with "that" are restrictive and should not be separated by a comma: https://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/gram ... n/3_4c.htm
thats how i understand it too
Top
User avatar
Community Manager
Posts: 789
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 3:51 pm
Location: Silicon valley, California
Thanked: 30 times
Followed by:1 members

Re: Expert comments

by jayhawk2001 » Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:11 pm
Hmm, getting rid of "a best-selling book" clause, we have

Jessica Mitford wrote The American Way of Death that led eventually to an official investigation of the funeral industry.

The commas as I see it pertain to the non-restrictive clause
"a best-selling book", which makes the part introduced by "that"
a restrictive clause.

I'm just plainly confused :-)
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2228
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada
Thanked: 639 times
Followed by:694 members
GMAT Score:780

by Stacey Koprince » Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:57 pm
The additional info about the investigation is just that - extra info. The basic sentence is "she wrote a book" and we can understand that without the extra info of what happened after the book was written. Since the additional info isn't essential to the basic meaning of the core subject-verb-object, we use "which" instead of "that."

Think of it this way.
You're driving down my street looking for my house and I tell you:
- I'm in the third house, which is red.
- I'm in the third house that is red.

The first sentence tells you to look for the third house, which also just happens to be red. You can still understand the core subject-verb-object (I'm in the third house) without that last bit (even though you would lose some meaning - that the house is red - if you chopped it out).

The second sentence tells you to look for the third red house, which may or may not be the third house overall. If the second sentence is true, I need to use the word "that" or you won't properly understand the core subject-verb-object (I'm in the third house) b/c I'm not just in the third house, I'm in the third red house.

(Of course, I haven't told you what side of the street I'm on, but we'll ignore that for now. :))

If the sentence above really wanted to use "that" to make an essential modifier, it would basically be saying that there is more than one book by this title and so the sentence has to specify that she wrote the one that led to an official investigation etc. And that doesn't make sense.
Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!

Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT

Contributor to Beat The GMAT!

Learn more about me
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 559
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2007 1:29 am
Thanked: 5 times
Followed by:2 members

by Cybermusings » Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:08 am
Thank you stacey
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:29 am
Thanked: 1 times

by mohish » Tue May 19, 2009 3:42 am
If the above classification between which and that is true, then why is the following sentence considered correct:

Elephants emit low-frequency sounds, believed to originate from a small area on their foreheads, that they may use as a secret language to communicate with other members of the herd.
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1