SC - Pronoun Antecedent error

Dumplings, which were introduced to the United States over a century ago, have been traditionally associated with Chinese cuisine, but it is also considered a staple of German cuisine.


(A) associated with Chinese cuisine, but it is also considered
(pronoun error; "dumplings" is plural)

(B) associating with Chinese cuisine; however, they are also considered as
(unidiomatic; we can simply say "consider *x* *y*" as in "I consider John my friend")

(C) associated with Chinese cuisine but are also considered
(good; "dumplings...have been...but are also..." is parallel and correct)

(D) associated with Chinese cuisine, also considered to be
(bad bad bad. The sentence would read "dumplings...have been..., also considered to be"; we could fix it by adding a conjunction and a linking verb)

(E) associating with Chinese cuisine, it is also considered
(Same pronoun error as A)

Bill@VeritasPrep wrote:
(B) associating with Chinese cuisine; however, they are also considered as
(unidiomatic; we can simply say "consider *x* *y*" as in "I consider John my friend")

Also, the usage of 'associating' distorts the meaning, suggesting that dumplings themselves have been associating with Chinese cuisine.

@Bill, Though this option, B, is wrong for idiomatic error, would the following sentence is grammatically correct ( I know that meaning is absurd)?

Dumplings, which were introduced to the United States over a century ago, have been traditionally associating with Chinese cuisine

Good catch. No, we can't use "have been associating" with dumplings as the subject; it means that the dumplings are doing the associating themselves. We need the passive "have been associated" to show that an outside agent is making the association between dumplings and Chinese cuisine.

OA is C

Bill@VeritasPrep wrote:Dumplings, which were introduced to the United States over a century ago, have been traditionally associated with Chinese cuisine, but it is also considered a staple of German cuisine.


(A) associated with Chinese cuisine, but it is also considered
(pronoun error; "dumplings" is plural)

(B) associating with Chinese cuisine; however, they are also considered as
(unidiomatic; we can simply say "consider *x* *y*" as in "I consider John my friend")

(C) associated with Chinese cuisine but are also considered
(good; "dumplings...have been...but are also..." is parallel and correct)

(D) associated with Chinese cuisine, also considered to be
(bad bad bad. The sentence would read "dumplings...have been..., also considered to be"; we could fix it by adding a conjunction and a linking verb)

(E) associating with Chinese cuisine, it is also considered
(Same pronoun error as A)

for option C i thought (,) shud hv come b4 but????
pls correct me

for option C i thought (,) shud hv come b4 but????
pls correct me

A comma before but (or any of the conjuctions FANBOYS) is needed when that conjuction is used for connecting two independent clauses. Here is the predicate after but is not a clause (a clause, like a sentence, has a subject and verb); therefore, comma shouldn't come before but in that sentence.

P.S: Search for FANBOYS (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So) in any GMAT forums for detailed explanation about coordinating conjunctions.

vk_vinayak wrote:

for option C i thought (,) shud hv come b4 but????
pls correct me

A comma before but (or any of the conjuctions FANBOYS) is needed when that conjuction is used for connecting two independent clauses. Here is the predicate after but is not a clause (a clause, like a sentence, has a subject and verb); therefore, comma shouldn't come before but in that sentence.

P.S: Search for FANBOYS (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So) in any GMAT forums for detailed explanation about coordinating conjunctions.

Good explanation.