A different variety of giant tortoise can

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aditya8062: Legendary Member; Posts: 774; Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:32 amFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 46 times

by aditya8062 » Sun Aug 17, 2014 11:29 pm

A different variety of giant tortoise can be found on every island in the Galapagos, each with its own style of oversized dome and comically scrawny neck.

A each with its own style of oversized dome and comically scrawny neck
B each with their own styles of oversized domes and comically scrawny necks
C each having their own style of oversized dome and comically scrawny neck
D all having their own styles of oversized domes and comically scrawny necks
E all with their own style of oversized dome and comically scrawny neck

my doubt 1 : can "each" refer to "different variety"

doubt 2: in a construction "A different variety of giant tortoise" is the subject "A different variety" .in other words do we need to ignore the "of construction" in such construction? i am asking this because in a construction "a large proportion of young people" we do consider the "of construction" to decide the singularity and plurality of the construction

thanks and regards

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Aug 17, 2014 11:29 pm

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by [email protected] » Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:35 pm

Hi aditya8062,

By focusing on the word "each", you bring up an interesting point. To answer your initial question: "yes", the word "each" can refer to "A different variety."

Consider the following options...

A different variety....

vs.

Many different varieties.....

The first option is singular, the second option is plural. "Each" refers to a singular noun, so "each" can refer to "a different variety of giant tortoise."

When I first came across the word "each", it wasn't immediately clear whether the word was referring to "a...variety of...tortoise" or an "island." Once you read past the word "each", you'll see a description for what is obviously a tortoise. Since "a....variety of...tortoise" is singular, you can eliminate all 4 wrong answers (they all use a plural pronoun).

Final Answer: A

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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 Aug 20, 2014 3:30 am

On the GMAT, a COMMA + each modifier must serve to refer to the NEAREST PRECEDING PLURAL NOUN.
An OA from GMAC:
Deserts are inhabited by several distinct animal SPECIES, EACH with its own method of adapting to long periods of moisture shortage.
Here, COMMA + each serves to refers to species, the nearest preceding plural noun.

A: A different variety of giant tortoise can be found on every island in the Galapagos, each with its own style of oversized dome and comically scrawny neck.
Here, each must serve to refer to the Galapagos (the nearest preceding plural noun).
Conveyed meaning:
each [Galapago] with its own style of oversized dome and comically scrawny neck.
The conveyed meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate A.

Ignore the SC above.
It does not have a correct answer.

[email protected] wrote:To answer your initial question: "yes", the word "each" can refer to "A different variety."

Consider the following options...

A different variety....

vs.

Many different varieties.....

The first option is singular, the second option is plural. "Each" refers to a singular noun, so "each" can refer to "a different variety of giant tortoise."

In the construction each + NOUN -- each man, each country, each product, etc. -- the noun that follows each must be singular.
But a COMMA + each modifier works differently.
A COMMA + each modifier must serve to refer to the nearest preceding PLURAL noun.

Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:58 am, edited 2 times in total.

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aditya8062: Legendary Member; Posts: 774; Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:32 amFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 46 times

by aditya8062 » Wed Aug 20, 2014 5:06 am

thanks Mitch

On the GMAT, a COMMA + each modifier must serve to refer to the NEAREST PRECEDING PLURAL NOUN.

This is gem of a statement. million thanks for this information

please clarify my second doubt also

Doubt 2: in a construction "A different variety of giant tortoise" is the subject "A different variety" .in other words do we need to ignore the "of construction" in such construction? i am asking this because in a construction "a large proportion of young people" we do consider the "of construction" to decide the singularity and plurality of the construction

Thanks and Regards

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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 Aug 20, 2014 9:08 am

aditya8062 wrote:in other words do we need to ignore the "of construction" in such construction? i am asking this because in a construction "a large proportion of young people" we do consider the "of construction" to decide the singularity and plurality of the construction

Generally, a variety of + PLURAL NOUN is treated as plural:
A variety of reasons WERE given.
Conveyed meaning:
VARIOUS reasons were given.
To my knowledge, no official SC has tested this issue.

Apart from this one exception, variety is considered singular.

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aflaam: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 132; Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 2:52 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 4 times

by aflaam » Sun Feb 28, 2016 1:15 am

GMATGuruNY wrote:
Generally, a variety of + PLURAL NOUN is treated as plural:
A variety of reasons WERE given.
Conveyed meaning:
VARIOUS reasons were given.
To my knowledge, no official SC has tested this issue.

Apart from this one exception, variety is considered singular.

Different giant tortoises can be found on every island in the Galapagos, each with its own style of oversized dome and comically scrawny neck.
Is it correct now?
Best,

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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 » Mon Feb 29, 2016 4:08 am

aflaam wrote:Different giant tortoises can be found on every island in the Galapagos, each with its own style of oversized dome and comically scrawny neck.
Is it correct now?
Best,

Here, COMMA + each seems to refer to Galapagos (the nearest preceding plural noun), conveying the following meaning:
Different giant tortoises can be found on every island in the Galapagos, each Galapagos with its own style of oversized dome and comically scrawny neck.
Since this meaning is nonsensical, the revision above is not viable.

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