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comma+which, learn from og questions

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comma+which, learn from og questions

by tanviet » Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:36 am
In this posting, I want to discuss of "comma+which". pls, do not discuss other point.

on gmat, which is used to show ONLY non-restrictive information so, "which" must alway be preceded by comma.

"which" in C and D is wrong. this point is not explained by og book.

pls , expert, member, confirm.

Schistosomiasis, a disease caused by a parasitic worm, is prevalent in hot, humid climates, and it has become more widespread as irrigation projects have enlarged the habitat of the freshwater snails that are the parasite's hosts for part of its life cycle.
A) the freshwater snails that are the parasite's hosts for part of its life cycle
B) the freshwater snails that are the parasite's hosts in part of their life cycle
C) freshwater snails which become the parsite's hosts for part of its life cycles
D) freshwater snails which become the hosts of the parasite during the parasite's life cycles
E) parasite's hosts, freshwater snails which become their hosts during their life cycles.
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by HerrGrau » Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:00 am
Hi,

In general, the GMAT SC is NOT testing comma placement. The big issues in this question are:

Pronouns: Its v. Their

Word Choice: Cycle v. Cycles

In english grammar "which" can be used for restrictive AND non-restrictive clauses. "That" is used for restrictive clauses. If the clause is non-restrictive then the clause should be surrounded with commas but again commas are usually not the central focus of GMAT SC.

I hope this helps to clear this up! Let me know if you have more questions.

HG.
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by tanviet » Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:23 pm
no,

on gmat, "which" refers to only non restrictive information. general grammar permit whith to refer to both restrictive and non restrictive. pls see this in manhantan forum
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by HerrGrau » Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:51 pm
Hi,

I bet that you are absolutely correct about the official stance of GMAC on the use which. In general though, that distinction (whether which can be used in a restrictive clause) will not be the deciding factor in a GMAT SC and neither will comma placement. Your time is better spent developing the skills to spot agreement issues, parallelism issues, and meaning shift. Your mileage may vary but I would like to hear other people's opinions on this. I know that in the two GMATs that I have taken in the year that this did not come up at all.

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by HerrGrau » Thu Jan 31, 2013 8:03 pm
Just for fun take a look at the explanation for SC #12 in OG 13. It basically says that SC questions are not decided based on the choice of using which for a restrictive clause. I would post it but I'm not sure what the rules are.

HG.
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by Tommy Wallach » Fri Feb 01, 2013 11:51 am
Hey Guys,

First thing, HerrGrau is not correct that the GMAT will not be testing commas before which/that. It is a hard and fast rule that one must use a comma before which (all relative/non-essential modifiers), and never before that. And these rules will get broken, and thus tested.

Beyond that, it's true that the GMAT doesn't generally test comma placement. Also, while there are official sentences where one can use the distinction between essential/non-essential (a.k.a. restrictive/non-restrictive) modifiers to cancel out answer choices, there is no documented example where such a distinction was the only way to get to the answer.

Hope that helps!

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by HerrGrau » Fri Feb 01, 2013 12:31 pm
Hi Tommy,

That all makes sense and I agree. I'm sorry if I didn't make my point about the commas in a clearer way. What I meant was that in general you are not going to be comparing two identical sentences with the only difference being the comma placement or the absence/presence of a comma. Clearly, there will be times when there are two lists that are improperly connected or a modifier that is constructed improperly but I can't recall a question that hinged on a comma placement. That said, it is difficult to keep the entire catalog of GMAT questions in my head and I would be curious to see if anybody is aware of a question that does hinge on a comma.

All the best,

HG.
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by tanviet » Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:03 am
the rule is simple and easy to remember, why not remember.

comma+which is used for not restrictive information
"that" is used for restrictive and things, not person
"who" is used for person and restrictive
"comma+who" is used for person and non restritive.

above is gmat standard, not general grammar standard.

gmat dose not test comma but if comma is relative to absolute phrase and preposition, gmat do test comma. in fact gmat test the entities which contain comma.

though the focus of sc is meaning distortion, we have still to learn some grammar points desiged only for gmat.
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