Sentence Correction MGMAT

[Nagm]

Although reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime and that book is widely considered a masterpiece.
1- lifetime and that book
2- lifetime and it
3- lifetime, that book
4 - lifetime; it
5- lifetime; that book
I got the right answer 3.
Is use of comma before THAT is justified.

[StaceyKoprince]

Yep, the comma should be there. You might be thinking about when "that" is used to introduce a noun modifier clause. That's not what's going on here - the word "that" can function in multiple ways. In this case, it's just functioning as a straight pronoun before the word book to indicate that we are referring to the same book that was mentioned previously. (And the last part of that last sentence is an example of when that is used to introduce a noun modifier clause - no comma.)

[goelmohit2002]

Hi Stacey,

Can you please tell what is wrong with option 1 ?

Is it necessary that although clause is followed by comma ?

Thanks
Mohit

[RonPurewal]

Hi Stacey,

Can you please tell what is wrong with option 1 ?

Is it necessary that although clause is followed by comma ?

Thanks
Mohit

the problem is "and". when you use "and" in this way, you use it to connect two independent clauses (i.e., things that would be complete sentences by themselves).

"Although reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime" is not a complete sentence.

note that "but" works the same way, so here's an illustration:
Although reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime but that book is widely considered a masterpiece --> incorrect (for the same reason as above)
Reclusive author Harper Lee wrote just one book in her lifetime, but that book is widely considered a masterpiece --> correct ("but" connects 2 complete sentences here)

--

note that this is not the ONLY way to use "and" or "but" - they can also be used to connect smaller parallel elements - but you can't use them to connect 1 subordinate clause and 1 independent clause.

[thanhan.k43ftu]

Stacey, in this sentence, can we replace "that book" by "it"? Does it cause any ambiguity?

[jnelson0612]

Stacey, in this sentence, can we replace "that book" by "it"? Does it cause any ambiguity?

I think that is okay because there is no other possible antecedent for "it" besides the book.

[AbhilashM94]

Isn't ,that a redflag?

[RonPurewal]

Isn't ,that a redflag?

Totally different kind of "that".

You're thinking of "that" used to introduce a modifier.
Here, "that" is an adjective ("that book""”"”like "this book").

[AbhilashM94]

Isn't ,that a redflag?

Totally different kind of "that".

You're thinking of "that" used to introduce a modifier.
Here, "that" is an adjective ("that book""”"”like "this book").

Ron, Can you maybe elaborate w/ an example?

, that/this used as a modifier
, that/this not used as a modifier

thanks

[sg2010]

Hi there. Can a MGMAT instructor give an example of "that" as a noun modifier and that as an adjective (that is also what this post asked on June 09, 2014)). I do not understand the use of "that" as a noun modifier when you say: "And the last part of that last sentence is an example of when that is used to introduce a noun modifier clause."

[jnelson0612]

Hi there. Can a MGMAT instructor give an example of "that" as a noun modifier and that as an adjective (that is also what this post asked on June 09, 2014)). I do not understand the use of "that" as a noun modifier when you say: "And the last part of that last sentence is an example of when that is used to introduce a noun modifier clause."

Sure!

"that" as a noun modifier: "The house that is red is mine."

In this case, "that is red" is modifying "the house".

[nitoog817]

Hi Instructors

But I didn't mark the correct choice thinking: That cannot be used as a pronoun to refer to the same copy, as its referring to the same copy of the book here, I think there is some huge gap in my understanding.

Regards

[PrashantY274]

Hello, Could you please clarify a little on how can that come after a comma.

Is its usage okay?
I agree in this question its wrong but in general? is it possible?

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

That's a surprising question. That said, could you clarify a little on why putting 'that' after a comma is problematic? That example has a simple sentence structure: "Although ..... , ..... ." I suppose that you're going to say that you can't start a sentence with that. That would be just plain wrong.