Chapter 4 - SC 6

[Krish]

6. Some people believe that the benefits of a healthy diet outweigh that of regular exercise

This problem appears on page 65 in the GMAT Manhattan SC guide. Here the pronoun 'that' refers to 'benefits' which is a plural.

is 'that' a singular or plural pronoun ?

can you also say whether the following pronouns are plural or singular
1) which
2) who,whom
3) where

[rfernandez]

6. Some people believe that the benefits of a healthy diet outweigh that of regular exercise

This problem appears on page 65 in the GMAT Manhattan SC guide. Here the pronoun 'that' refers to 'benefits' which is a plural.

is 'that' a singular or plural pronoun ?

In this context, "that" in incorrect because it is a singular pronoun and it refers to a plural antecedent. Its plural form is "those." It should read:

Some people believe that the benefits of a healthy diet outweigh those (the benefits) of regular exercise.

can you also say whether the following pronouns are plural or singular
1) which
2) who,whom
3) where

All three of these are relative pronouns and all can refer to either singular and plural nouns. Some examples: (I show only "which". I bet you can drum up examples for the others.)

The carpets, which were woven over 100 years ago, were destroyed in the tragic fire. (which = carpets)
My office is located in building 15, which is adjacent to the parking lot. (which = building 15)

In fact, while I don't mean to confuse you, it's important to note that "that" can also serve as a relative pronoun, and therefore when used in this manner, can refer to either singular or plural nouns. Here are two examples to show this:

The files that I put away yesterday were in impeccable shape.
I repaired the car that came in this morning.

Just to clarify, in problem #6 (at the top of the post), "that" is being used as a demonstrative pronoun, referring to "the benefits." When used in this manner, then it can only refer to singular nouns. Otherwise, you must use "those."

"That" is a tricky word in that it can be used in these different ways.

[Krish]

Thanks Rey for spending your valuable time. Your explanation has given me a lot of clarity. But I still have one doubt

I am not able to find out whether in a particular sentence "that" is used as a demonstrative pronoun or a relative pronoun. Can you explain both these instances ???

[StaceyKoprince]

A relative pronoun introduces a noun modifier; the noun being modified typically sits right before the word "that."

eg, from Rey's examples, I repaired the car that came in this morning - "that came in this morning" is referring to the noun "car."

In the original example posted here, "some people believe that the benefits..." notice the difference. We no longer have a noun sitting right before the word "that" - instead, we have the verb "believe."

It might be easier to recognize this specific usage of "that" if you know that one standard structure for sentences is:
Subject verb that subject verb object.
I believe that she is smart.

You may also have other instances, such as:
That is not the best idea. Here, "that" is the subject of the sentence - it is not simply a modifier talking about something else in the sentence.

[AlstonL806]

6. Some people believe that the benefits of a healthy diet outweigh that of regular exercise

This problem appears on page 65 in the GMAT Manhattan SC guide. Here the pronoun 'that' refers to 'benefits' which is a plural.

is 'that' a singular or plural pronoun ?

In this context, "that" in incorrect because it is a singular pronoun and it refers to a plural antecedent. Its plural form is "those." It should read:

Some people believe that the benefits of a healthy diet outweigh those (the benefits) of regular exercise.

I'm confused by the answer here: On page 114 of 6th edition guide, it says" do not use that or those in place of nouns, unless you modify that or those to make them new copies. Instead, us it, they, or them". How does this rule reflect on the answer above?

[Chelsey Cooley]

You aren't allowed to use "those" by itself as a pronoun, but you are allowed to use it to refer to something slightly different from the antecedent, as we do here. You can recognize these cases because they'll generally have a "those of" or "that of" structure. That's exactly what the book means by "make them new copies."

For instance, this is good:

The color of the sky and that of the mountains are almost identical.

In this case, we're referring to something slightly different - we go from the color of the sky to something else which is also a color, but is a different color - that of the mountains.

But this is bad:

The color of the sky was beautiful, but Steve didn't have the right paint to reproduce that.

In this case, we're trying to use 'that' to refer to exactly the same thing as the antecedent - the color of the sky. Not allowed. Instead, we have to use 'it'.