"WHICH" usage !!

[mmslf75]

Given its authoritative coverage of other science topics, the textbook's chapter on genetics is surprisingly tentative, which leads one to doubt the author's scholarship in that particular area.
:
1)the textbook's chapter on genetics is surprisingly tentative, which leads
2)the chapter of the textbook on genetics is surprisingly tentative, leading
3)the textbook contains a surprising and tentative chapter on genetics,which leads
4)the textbook's chapter on genetics is surprisingly tentative and leads
5)the textbook is surprisingly tentative in its chapter on genetics, leading

OA is [spoiler]5[/spoiler]

#Q1
Can Which" modify the immediately preceding noun only ?
OR
Is it that if i have a sentence of the form "A of B,which".. The "which" may refer to either A or B depending on the context ?

#Q2
Secondly, Like "that", can "which" modify the clause preceding it ?

#Q3

When to choose leading to and when to choose lead/leads ?

[madhur_ahuja]

Here are my answers

#Q1
Can Which" modify the immediately preceding noun only ?
OR
Is it that if i have a sentence of the form "A of B,which".. The "which" may refer to either A or B depending on the context ?

No. It always refers to preceding noun only.

#Q2
Secondly, Like "that", can "which" modify the clause preceding it ?


No. It can only refer to nouns.

#Q3

When to choose leading to and when to choose lead/leads ?

leading is a participle phrase. It is used when you want to describe the result of previous clause.

[mmslf75]

Thanks for the reply..
But I differ on the Q1. I beleive that of the form "XofY,which"; which must refer to X or Y depending on the context. But still would like you to throw some light on this..

To support this I found few sentences online.

The framed painting of the Statue of Liberty, which was dusty, has been removed for cleaning.

The presentation on bridges, which was informative, has really sparked interest in engineering careers.

The retail sales were slowed because of weather, which was colder and wetter than usual

[goelmohit2002]

Thanks for the reply..
But I differ on the Q1. I beleive that of the form "XofY,which"; which must refer to X or Y depending on the context. But still would like you to throw some light on this..

To support this I found few sentences online.

The framed painting of the Statue of Liberty, which was dusty, has been removed for cleaning.

The presentation on bridges, which was informative, has really sparked interest in engineering careers.

The retail sales were slowed because of weather, which was colder and wetter than usual

yes which/that or any relative pronoun can modify the A or B in A of B depending on context.

[real2008]

can anybody say what is the problem with choice 2?

[goelmohit2002]

can anybody say what is the problem with choice 2?

IMO single chapter as in #2 "Given its authoritative coverage of other science topics"...cannot be authoritative on multiple topics.

[mmslf75]

Look at this sentence,
Many builders offer rent programs that enable a family to move to new housing.

# q1
One of the option is Many builders offer rent programs; that enable a family to move to new housing.
Will THAT refer to first part of the sentence fully or is it that it refers only to programs.

#q2

Yet another option is Many builders offer rent programs, that enable a family to move to new housing.

Will THAT refer to first part or PROGRAMS ?

#q3


Yet another option is Many builders offer rent programs that enable a family to move to new housing

Undoubtedly, THAT here will refer to PROGRAMS
Had this sentence been of the form "X of Y (NO comma) that" will that refer to CLAUSE or PROGRAMS
"X [preposition ] Y,that " rule here.

[goelmohit2002]

Many builders offer rent programs that enable a family to move to new housing.

# q1
One of the option is Many builders offer rent programs; that enable a family to move to new housing.
Will THAT refer to first part of the sentence fully or is it that it refers only to programs.
IMO That cannot refer to entire previous clause. This is wrong usage.

#q2

Yet another option is Many builders offer rent programs, that enable a family to move to new housing.

Will THAT refer to first part or PROGRAMS ?

That is wrongly used here....that when preceded by comma and when used as pronoun is always wrong in GMAT.

#q3


Yet another option is Many builders offer rent programs that enable a family to move to new housing

Undoubtedly, THAT here will refer to PROGRAMS
Had this sentence been of the form "X of Y (NO comma) that" will that refer to CLAUSE or PROGRAMS
"X [preposition ] Y,that " rule here

Can you please give example what you want to say here....in general relative pronoun can refer to noun/noun phrase depending on context....

There is one example in OG-10....bygone styles of furniture...that probably will help clear this confusion of yours....

[mmslf75]

Refer question 55 in OG 12.
The explanation states that " THAT " refers to a clause...

[mani090406]

Why the problem with 4. Please can someone help me out?
Thanks in advance !!

[umaa]

Given its authoritative coverage of other science topics, the textbook's chapter on genetics is surprisingly tentative, which leads one to doubt the author's scholarship in that particular area.
:
1)the textbook's chapter on genetics is surprisingly tentative, which leads
2)the chapter of the textbook on genetics is surprisingly tentative, leading
3)the textbook contains a surprising and tentative chapter on genetics,which leads
4)the textbook's chapter on genetics is surprisingly tentative and leads
5)the textbook is surprisingly tentative in its chapter on genetics, leading

OA is [spoiler]5[/spoiler]

The textbook gives authoritative coverage of other science topics. Not the Chapter on genetics.

C is wrong. Because WHICH refers to GENETICS not the CHAPTER.

E is kind of confusing. But its correct when comparing other choices.
A, B and D are wrong. Because

[Stacey Koprince]

Received a PM asking me to respond.

"which" modifies the closest preceding main noun, which is often the noun immediately preceding the comma, but not always.

For example:
Her aura of sadness, which permeated the entire room, made everybody else depressed.

The "which" modifier here technically modifies the main noun "aura," not "sadness." The "of sadness" phrase is a necessary descriptor of "aura," so it's okay to have that in between "aura" and "which."

So, you're question about "A of B, which" - yes, that CAN modify A, as long as the "of B" stuff is some sort of necessary description or definition of A.

"which" cannot modify the preceding clause - only the preceding main noun. That's why, in this one, the correct answer switches the form to ", leading" - because "comma -ing" can actually modify the preceding clause.

[goelmohit2002]

"which" cannot modify the preceding clause - only the preceding main noun. That's why, in this one, the correct answer switches the form to ", leading" - because "comma -ing" can actually modify the preceding clause.

Hi Stacey,

Thanks. But it seems that the same is not followed in the case of "including"....

For e.g the below threads does not seem to modify the entire clause but only the immediately preceding nouns...can you please tell what indeed is the case here ? Is there some special rules applicable for including. If yes, then are there any similar more words.....or if no...then kindly tell what I am missing here...

https://www.beatthegmat.com/very-difficu ... 17893.html
https://www.beatthegmat.com/reared-apart ... 40627.html

Thanks
Mohit

[mmslf75]

Thanks Stacey...

If I have a sentence of the type..

The painting hung on the wall, which was dirty was thrown out today.

Here... which may or may not refer to WALL.. How do we decide ??


The retail sales slowed due to weather, whcih was colder and wetter than ususal...

WEATHEr can be colder... so basically context matters ... I beleive right ??

Do we have such kind of cases with THAT as well...

[lunarpower]

#Q1
Can Which" modify the immediately preceding noun only ?
OR
Is it that if i have a sentence of the form "A of B,which".. The "which" may refer to either A or B depending on the context ?

from what we've seen, the gmat is actually pretty consistent on this issue.

what we've seen, so far, is:

the gmat tends to write sentences in which "which" stands for the ELIGIBLE noun that's closest to the comma.
by "eligible", i mean that the noun has to AGREE IN TERMS OF SINGULAR/PLURAL with the FOLLOWING VERB.

here's an example:

the box of nails, which is on the counter, is to be used on this project.

in this case, "which" CANNOT refer to "nails", since the verb "is" is singular. therefore, the nearest eligible noun is "box (of nails)". so, "which" unambiguously stands for that.

in our observation, the gmat has been VERY good about this.
whenever i've seen a "which" that refers to "X of Y" rather than just Y, it has ALWAYS been the case that X was singular and Y was plural (or X was plural and Y was singular), and the verb had a form that matched X and didn't match Y.

hope that helps.