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

Can which refer to a clause.??

The original sentence contains several errors. First, the opening modifier "given its authoritative coverage of other science topics" describes the textbook as a whole, yet the subject of the main clause is "the textbook's chapter on genetics." Second, the relative pronoun "which" is used here to modify the entire clause "the textbook's chapter on genetics is surprisingly tentative."
[color=#400000]"Which" must modify the immediately preceding noun only;[/color] it cannot modify the action of an entire clause, as it does here.


In the explanation stated above ( as per the mgmatCATs explanation )
"which" must always refer to a noun preceding it.
I doubt whether this statement is right! There are many other posts in this forum itself, wherein its explicitly stated that for a sentence of the type
X to Y, which... which may refer to X or Y depending on the context..

Pls explain.

i have a different question here. i remember seeing a manhattan gmat staff posting that said a pronoun, its in this case, could refer to a possessive form of the noun.

in this sentence's opening modifier "given its authoritative coverage of other science topics" - doesn't the pronoun "its" describe the textbook's authoritative coverage? if so, then can the pronoun refer to the "textbook's" in the main clause?

thanks in advance for the clarification.

IMO C

I'm unable to clearly understand what you are asking but I'll try to explain the errors.

A, B and D are wrong because the introductory clause 'Given its authoritative coverage of other science topics' must refer to the subject of the following clause and logically speaking not textbook's chapter on genetics but textbook itself can have coverage of other science topics.

In E, I can point out 2 errors:
1. adverb surprisingly is incorrectly modifying tentative
2. clause starting with 'leading' incorrectly modifying the subject of the preceding clause 'the textbook'. Not textbook itself but chapter on genetics is leading one to doubt. In C 'which' is clearly modifying the preceding noun 'chapter on genetics'.

OA please!!



No, in GMAT 'which' never refers to a clause. 'Which' always refers to its preceding noun but whether this noun is an immediate preceding noun depends on the context. So you are right that which can either refer to X or Y depending on the context. The rules of grammer are not so strict as those of maths ;)

What is the OA ?

it's perfectly ok for a possessive pronoun to refer to a possessive noun.

it's also perfectly ok for a possessive pronoun to refer to a non-possessive noun. the only thing that is apparently not ok is for a non-possessive pronoun to refer to a possessive noun.

in any case, if you are confused AT ALL about this particular rule, then you should just forget all about it.
seriously.
to date, this rule has been the deciding factor in exactly zero official problems.

"which" cannot refer to a clause. ever.

it can clearly refer to a noun.
on some occasions, it can also refer to a noun PHRASE of the sort "noun1 + preposition + noun2". for details on when this is or isn't ok, see here:
post31162.html#p31162

Stacey/Ron,

Doesn't the 'which' in the Original question answer choice (C) refer to the chapter on genetics? If so, then what is wrong in option (C)?

Just to make clear, the original answer is E.

You are correct that the "which" is incorrectly used in answer choice C. Please see the explanation of C:

The modifier issue is corrected here by making "the textbook" the subject of the main clause. However, the misuse of "which" is retained. The relative pronoun "which" is used here to modify the entire clause "the textbook's chapter on genetics is surprisingly tentative." "Which" must modify the immediately preceding noun only; it cannot modify the action of an entire clause, as it does here. Also, the phrase "surprising and tentative" implies that the chapter on genetics is both "surprising" and "tentative," two characteristics that are independent of one another. However, it is clear in the original sentence that "surprisingly" is meant to be an adverb that modifies the adjective "tentative." The chapter is "suprisingly tentative," not "suprising and tentative."

_________________
Jamie Nelson
ManhattanGMAT Instructor

Sorry to revive an old post..

I agree that option E is correct.

Referring back to Ron's post about whether which is OK here or not. Technically I think "which" is OK here because it refers back to noun1 i.e. "chapter" and the verb following the pronoun "which" i.e. "leads" agrees in number with noun1? It can't be referring to noun2 i.e. "genetics" because that noun is plural.

Just want to understand why this sentence is incorrect besides the adjective/adverb issue. Is it so because the intended meaning is better conveyed by using a modifier as in option E?

Thanks

I got a long post by Stacey and Ron on BTG after I posted this. I think my question is answered now.

For fellow students: http://www.beatthegmat.com/which-usage-t42599-30.html

Great, thanks!

_________________
Jamie Nelson
ManhattanGMAT Instructor