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Usage of which

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Usage of which

by nimbus3000 » Fri Sep 27, 2013 10:38 am
Hey,

Can some one kindly explain the usage of "which"?
I tried searching the forum but could not find what I am looking for.

Point under consideration:
Sentence 1: Issac Newton proposed the theory of gravity, one of the most widely used theories of physics.
Sentence 2: Issac Newton proposed the theory of gravity, which is one of the most widely used theories of physics.

Which is better?
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by Mike@Magoosh » Fri Sep 27, 2013 10:53 am
nimbus3000 wrote:Hey,

Can some one kindly explain the usage of "which"?
I tried searching the forum but could not find what I am looking for.

Point under consideration:
Sentence 1: Issac Newton proposed the theory of gravity, one of the most widely used theories of physics.
Sentence 2: Issac Newton proposed the theory of gravity, which is one of the most widely used theories of physics.

Which is better?
Dear nimbus3000,
First of all, the distinction between "that" and "which" is one that is sometimes called "restrictive"/"non-restrictive" or "vital"/"non-vital". See:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/that-vs-which-on-the-gmat/
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... modifiers/

In your second sentence, you correctly used a non-restrictive modifier --- the two signs:
(a) separated from the noun it modifies by a comma
(b) uses "which" instead of "that"

The first sentence is even better, because it's more concise. This uses an appositive phrase:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... e-phrases/

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
https://gmat.magoosh.com/
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by theCodeToGMAT » Fri Sep 27, 2013 11:02 am
- "WHICH" after a comma modifies the nearest eligible noun.
Example: Issac Newton proposed the theory of gravity, which is one of the most widely used theories of physics
Here, which is referring to "theory of gravity"


- "WHICH" introduces phrases that modify things; it is used to introduce a "middleman" modifier usually in between commas-- this phrase is generally a more descriptive phrase about the noun.. but non-essential
Example: Rhode Island, which is a small state, is a very beautiful place to visit.
Issac Newton proposed the theory of gravity, which is one of the most widely used theories of physics.


I will go with Sentence 1.. as both of the sentences are grammatically correct.. so I will go for the shortest sentence. after all GMAT doesn't want Wordy Answers
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by TheGmatTutor » Tue Oct 01, 2013 10:15 am
As both Mike and theCodeToGMAT pointed out, either of those sentences is grammatically correct. On the actual exam, the more concise sentence would be preferred; however, they would probably have some other error in the incorrect answer choice.

I wrote an article explaining the correct use of "which" on the exam:

GMAT Sentence Correction: How to use "which" on the exam
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