OG Next month, state wildlife officials

[AbeNeedsAnswers]

Next month, state wildlife officials are scheduled to take over the job of increasing the wolf population in the federally designated recovery area, the number of which will however ultimately be dictated by the number of prey in the area.

A. area, the number of which will however
B. area; the size of the population, however, will
C. area, however the number of wolves will
D. area; the number of which will, however,
E. area, when the size of the population will, however,

B

[NandishSS]

Bumping for experts review!!!

[ceilidh.erickson]

This question is testing SENTENCE STRUCTURE, punctuation, and logical meaning.

Next month, state wildlife officials are scheduled to take over the job of increasing the wolf population in the federally designated recovery area, the number of which will however ultimately be dictated by the number of prey in the area.

A. area, the number of which will however
- this is a run-on sentence: we have 2 independent clauses joined with a comma.
- the phrase "a number of which" should only be used directly after the noun that "which" is modifying: "... wolves, a number of which..."

B. area; the size of the population, however, will
- correct usage of a semicolon to separate 2 independent clauses

C. area, however the number of wolves will
- run-on sentence again

D. area; the number of which will, however,
- same issue with "number of which" as in A.

E. area, when the size of the population will, however,
- "when" should refer to a precise moment in time. It should not be used as a contrast marker like "whereas" or "however.

The correct answer is B.

[NandishSS]

HI Ceilidh,

Is it not The number of is singular? There are many wolves. Can we eliminate A, C & D?

Thanks
Nandish

[yxlucy321]

Hi expert!

My question is in your explanation in A, you said that the comma joined two independent clauses, why ' the number of which is ....' an independent clause when we have 'which' in the sentence?

Thanks!
Kate

[ceilidh.erickson]

HI Ceilidh,

Is it not The number of is singular? There are many wolves. Can we eliminate A, C & D?

Thanks
Nandish

Your reasoning doesn't make sense here. We can certainly use "the number of [plural word]." The phrase itself is singular, but the thing that there is "the number of" must be plural. You can't have a "a number" of just one thing!
- "the number of books on my bookshelf..." --> makes total sense
- "the number of book..." --> huh?

The problem in A and D was that it said "the wolf population... the number of which..." The "which" here could only refer back to "population" - this makes no sense. In C, "the number of wolves" is totally fine.

The singular/plural issue with "the number of" is really only relevant to the VERB that goes with this subject. Note the idiomatic difference in usage between "the number of" and "a number of":
- "The number of wolves is very high." --> the subject is "a number"
- "A number of wolves are circling me slowly, baring their teeth." --> the subject is "wolves." "A number of" is considered a modifier, like "many."

[ceilidh.erickson]

Hi expert!

My question is in your explanation in A, you said that the comma joined two independent clauses, why ' the number of which is ....' an independent clause when we have 'which' in the sentence?

Thanks!
Kate

Let's break this sentence down. MAIN SUBJECTS in blue & caps, dependent subjects in blue. MAIN VERBS in red + caps, dependent verbs in red. All modifiers in parentheses:

(Next month), (state wildlife) OFFICIALS ARE scheduled (to take over the job (of increasing the wolf population (in the (federally designated) recovery area))), the NUMBER (of which) WILL (however ultimately) BE DICTATED (by the number (of prey (in the area))).

A "which" is a relative pronoun. You will typically see it performing one of two functions:
1. starting a DEPENDENT CLAUSE that modifies the noun before it: "The book, which I read last year, won the Nobel Prize."
2. the OBJECT OF A PREPOSITION: "The book to which I am referring is on the table."

(There are other functions, notably the use in questions: "which one...?" You won't be tested on these in SC.)

In A, "which" was the object of a preposition modifying "the number." This changes nothing about the fact that "the number... will... be dictated..." is an independent clause.