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SC - What's wrong in these sentences

by karthikpandian19 » Sat Jul 14, 2012 5:36 pm
Let me know what's exactly wrong with each of these sentences with GMAT eye:


(A) Veronica emptied the trash in the kitchen that had been sitting in the house for a week.

(B) The pond on which Greg learned to ice-skate with his family which is full of algae is finally frozen.

(C) Dennis wrote about the trip, which included a tour of Europe, in his diary, which his mother is currently reading.

(D) When my alarm rang in the morning that I set for 6:30, I woke up.

(E) Agnes roasted the pumpkin as an appetizer, which she picked from a local patch
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by eagleeye » Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:45 pm
karthikpandian19 wrote:Let me know what's exactly wrong with each of these sentences with GMAT eye:
How about the "Eagle" eye? just kidding. Let's get on with it.

(A) Veronica emptied the trash in the kitchen that had been sitting in the house for a week.
Modifier position error. "that had been sitting" seems to modify kitchen. It should modify trash.

(B) The pond on which Greg learned to ice-skate with his family which is full of algae is finally frozen.
"which" seems to modify family. It should modify pond.

(C) Dennis wrote about the trip, which included a tour of Europe, in his diary, which his mother is currently reading.
This is correct. "which included" is a non-essential modifier. and hence "in his diary" modifies trip

(D) When my alarm rang in the morning that I set for 6:30, I woke up.
"that I set for" seems to modify morning; it should modify alarm.

(E)Agnes roasted the pumpkin as an appetizer, which she picked from a local patch.
which should modify pumpkin.
Here's a possible correction:

Agnes roasted the pumpkin, which she picked from the local market, as an appetizer.

Let me know if this helps :)
Last edited by eagleeye on Sun Jul 15, 2012 8:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by patanjali.purpose » Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:29 am
eagleeye wrote:
karthikpandian19 wrote:Let me know what's exactly wrong with each of these sentences with GMAT eye:
How about the "Eagle" eye? just kidding. Let's get on with it.

(A) Veronica emptied the trash in the kitchen that had been sitting in the house for a week.
Modifier position error. "that had been sitting" seems to modify kitchen. It should modify trash.

(C) Dennis wrote about the trip, which included a tour of Europe, in his diary, which his mother is currently reading.
modifier error again. It seems as if Dennis did the tour of Europe in his diary. "In his diary" should modify "about the trip" and not "a tour of Europe".

(D) When my alarm rang in the morning that I set for 6:30, I woke up.
"that I set for" seems to modify morning; it should modify alarm.

Let me know if this helps :)
I have the same opinion about B/E but different for A/C/D.

IMO,

A) THAT need not modify immediately preceding noun - it can take far away nouns as subject, as long as meaning is clear and logically correct.

In A 'that had been sitting in the house' cannot modify KITCHEN as that does not make logical sense. Furthermore, IN THE KITCHEN is an essential prepositional modifier of TRASH and therefore has to sit closer to TRASH.

C) "in his diary" is a prepositional modifier after comma and therefore it need not modify immediately preceding noun. It acts as an adverbial modifier - has two options WROTE and INCLUDED.

Where did Dennis wrote about his trip - IN HIS DIARY
Where did the trip included a tour of Europe - IN HIS DIARY

Therefore, IMO, IN HIS DIARY can logically modify both actions leading to ambiguity. This could a problem with C

D) The logic of C applies here as well, it does not make logical sense for "that I set for" to modify MORNING.

"that I set for" can modify two nouns ALARM/MORNING, BUT it does not make logical sense for "that I set for" to modify MORNING and therefore it modifies ALARM.

But, IMO problem with D is the use verb RANG and SET - in the same time period (SET should be in perfect)
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by shekhar.kataria » Sun Jul 15, 2012 7:35 am
HI Eagleeye

Can you please confirm your solution for the sentence C. I think you misinterpret it. I have quoted the red part which is enclosed inside the commas. So IMO sentence is correct in saying ( excluding the modifier )

Dennis wrote about the trip in his diary, which his mother is currently reading.

Please confirm.
eagleeye wrote:
karthikpandian19 wrote:Let me know what's exactly wrong with each of these sentences with GMAT eye:
How about the "Eagle" eye? just kidding. Let's get on with it.

(A) Veronica emptied the trash in the kitchen that had been sitting in the house for a week.
Modifier position error. "that had been sitting" seems to modify kitchen. It should modify trash.

(B) The pond on which Greg learned to ice-skate with his family which is full of algae is finally frozen.
"which" seems to modify family. It should modify pond.

(C) Dennis wrote about the trip, which included a tour of Europe, in his diary, which his mother is currently reading.
modifier error again. It seems as if Dennis did the tour of Europe in his diary. "In his diary" should modify "about the trip" and not "a tour of Europe".

(D) When my alarm rang in the morning that I set for 6:30, I woke up.
"that I set for" seems to modify morning; it should modify alarm.

(E)Agnes roasted the pumpkin as an appetizer, which she picked from a local patch.
which should modify pumpkin.
Here's a possible correction:

Agnes roasted the pumpkin, which she picked from the local market, as an appetizer.

Let me know if this helps :)
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by shekhar.kataria » Sun Jul 15, 2012 7:50 am
HI Patanjali

IMO your point about the usage of That is wrong. That should modify the immediately pressing noun unless you see a that clause.

"THAT" and ",WHICH" , They must modify the immediately precedding noun.

However, the point you raised is correct in only one form i.e X of Y, that or which. Now here it can modify X or Y, depending upon the context.

Here is the rule for X of Y cons :- If you modifier modifies X then you will see that the OF Y added to the noun acts a necessary modifier of X and because it is necessary,you cannot keep it in commas like X,of Y,

But in the sentences A and D there is no ambiguity such as X of Y const. and THAT in both the sentences modify the immediately noun before that.

HTH
patanjali.purpose wrote:
eagleeye wrote:
karthikpandian19 wrote:Let me know what's exactly wrong with each of these sentences with GMAT eye:
How about the "Eagle" eye? just kidding. Let's get on with it.

(A) Veronica emptied the trash in the kitchen that had been sitting in the house for a week.
Modifier position error. "that had been sitting" seems to modify kitchen. It should modify trash.

(C) Dennis wrote about the trip, which included a tour of Europe, in his diary, which his mother is currently reading.
modifier error again. It seems as if Dennis did the tour of Europe in his diary. "In his diary" should modify "about the trip" and not "a tour of Europe".

(D) When my alarm rang in the morning that I set for 6:30, I woke up.
"that I set for" seems to modify morning; it should modify alarm.

Let me know if this helps :)
I have the same opinion about B/E but different for A/C/D.

IMO,

A) THAT need not modify immediately preceding noun - it can take far away nouns as subject, as long as meaning is clear and logically correct.

In A 'that had been sitting in the house' cannot modify KITCHEN as that does not make logical sense. Furthermore, IN THE KITCHEN is an essential prepositional modifier of TRASH and therefore has to sit closer to TRASH.

C) "in his diary" is a prepositional modifier after comma and therefore it need not modify immediately preceding noun. It acts as an adverbial modifier - has two options WROTE and INCLUDED.

Where did Dennis wrote about his trip - IN HIS DIARY
Where did the trip included a tour of Europe - IN HIS DIARY

Therefore, IMO, IN HIS DIARY can logically modify both actions leading to ambiguity. This could a problem with C

D) The logic of C applies here as well, it does not make logical sense for "that I set for" to modify MORNING.

"that I set for" can modify two nouns ALARM/MORNING, BUT it does not make logical sense for "that I set for" to modify MORNING and therefore it modifies ALARM.

But, IMO problem with D is the use verb RANG and SET - in the same time period (SET should be in perfect)
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by patanjali.purpose » Sun Jul 15, 2012 8:33 am
shekhar.kataria wrote:HI Patanjali

IMO your point about the usage of That is wrong. That should modify the immediately pressing noun unless you see a that clause.

"THAT" and ",WHICH" , They must modify the immediately precedding noun.

However, the point you raised is correct in only one form i.e X of Y, that or which. Now here it can modify X or Y, depending upon the context.

Here is the rule for X of Y cons :- If you modifier modifies X then you will see that the OF Y added to the noun acts a necessary modifier of X and because it is necessary,you cannot keep it in commas like X,of Y,

But in the sentences A and D there is no ambiguity such as X of Y const. and THAT in both the sentences modify the immediately noun before that.

HTH
Lets take a GMATPREP example:

correct sentence: After decreasing steadily in the mid-1990's, the percentage of students in the United States who finished high school or earned equivalency diplomas increased in the last three years of the decade, to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and 84.8 percent in 1998

Here, WHO...DIPLOMAS modifies NOT 'THE UNITED STATES' but STUDENTS (or THE PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS). Therefore, the rule whether THAT MODIFIERS depends on CONTEXT - it not necessarily modifies immediately preceding noun

another example: A series centered on celebrity gossip and popular movies that is inspiring readers to send record volumes of fan mail to newspapers across the country. (not MODIFIING MOVIES, but rather far away noun A SERIES)
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by eagleeye » Sun Jul 15, 2012 8:41 am
shekhar.kataria wrote:HI Eagleeye

Can you please confirm your solution for the sentence C. I think you misinterpret it. I have quoted the red part which is enclosed inside the commas. So IMO sentence is correct in saying ( excluding the modifier )

Dennis wrote about the trip in his diary, which his mother is currently reading.

Please confirm.
eagleeye wrote:
karthikpandian19 wrote:Let me know what's exactly wrong with each of these sentences with GMAT eye:
How about the "Eagle" eye? just kidding. Let's get on with it.

(A) Veronica emptied the trash in the kitchen that had been sitting in the house for a week.
Modifier position error. "that had been sitting" seems to modify kitchen. It should modify trash.

(B) The pond on which Greg learned to ice-skate with his family which is full of algae is finally frozen.
"which" seems to modify family. It should modify pond.

(C) Dennis wrote about the trip, which included a tour of Europe, in his diary, which his mother is currently reading.
modifier error again. It seems as if Dennis did the tour of Europe in his diary. "In his diary" should modify "about the trip" and not "a tour of Europe".

(D) When my alarm rang in the morning that I set for 6:30, I woke up.
"that I set for" seems to modify morning; it should modify alarm.

(E)Agnes roasted the pumpkin as an appetizer, which she picked from a local patch.
which should modify pumpkin.
Here's a possible correction:

Agnes roasted the pumpkin, which she picked from the local market, as an appetizer.

Let me know if this helps :)
I agree with you guys. C is correct. I misinterpreted it. On second look, it seemed fine.

p.purpose:
A and D are incorrect because the modifiers there are adjective clauses. And adjective clauses must be preceded by the noun they modify.
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by karthikpandian19 » Sun Jul 15, 2012 9:40 pm
Answer choice C is the only correct one because "which included a tour of Europe" correctly modifies the words immediately preceding it ("the trip") and "which his mother is currently reading" correctly modifies the words immediately preceding it ("his diary"). All of the other answer choices contain misplaced modifiers.
Regards,
Karthik
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