Taste buds are onion-shaped structures

[vikram4689]

yeah, that is wordiness but my concern is whether underlined portion is grammatically correct. i know particple can be used in place of modifier. i am only interested in knowing whether i can use relative clause in place of modifier

[tim]

this is not an issue of wordiness. that you thought it was means you did not actually do what i suggested. literally remove the "of them" and ask yourself if what's left is grammatically correct. if not, then the whole example is grammatically incorrect for exactly that reason..

[sheetal_virmani]

Hi all

I am not sure if I am allowed to reproduce other problems under this thread, hence, not typing the entire question.

As per the official guide (Q106, 13th edition), "called proton-induced x-ray emission" should be placed next to what it modifies ("a technique") and should not be set off by commas.

However, we are placing a comma before "called" in this particular question discussed in the thread.

Would be great if the moderators could throw some light on this and help solve the contradiction.

Thanks so much!

[jlucero]

Hi all

I am not sure if I am allowed to reproduce other problems under this thread, hence, not typing the entire question.

As per the official guide (Q106, 13th edition), "called proton-induced x-ray emission" should be placed next to what it modifies ("a technique") and should not be set off by commas.

However, we are placing a comma before "called" in this particular question discussed in the thread.

Would be great if the moderators could throw some light on this and help solve the contradiction.

Thanks so much!

There are lots of rules when modifiers need commas and don't need commas, but do know that acing the GMAT doesn't require you to know comma rules. Behind every comma issue, there is a meaning issue that's arguably more important to learn.

In this case, there are a different set of commas, commas used to offset a separate (less-important) thought:

Taste buds are onion-shaped structures with between 50 and 100 taste cells, each of which has fingerlike projections poking through the opening, (called the taste pore), located at the top of taste bud

If you didn't have "called the taste pore" here, you wouldn't use a comma:

Taste buds are onion-shaped structures with between 50 and 100 taste cells, each of which has fingerlike projections poking through the opening located at the top of taste bud.

[MARSHALLM603]

neither.

in fact, the entirety of the following is the modifier:
each of which has fingerlike projections poking through the opening, called the taste pore, located at the top of taste bud

the underlined part is actually a modifier within a modifier. if you remove that, it becomes much easier to see that what's left is ALL a modifier:
each of which has fingerlike projections poking through the opening located at the top of taste bud

therefore, the remaining skeleton sentence is just
Taste buds are onion-shaped structures with between 50 and 100 taste cells.

crazy stuff.

Dear Ron:

Thought that GMAT hates this kind of modifying structures -- XXX, (modifier 1), (modifier 2). Both modifiers are modifying one subject.

In this question, don't we pick C because all other options have serious mistakes?

[RonPurewal]

there are plenty of times in life when something is followed by more than one modifier. quite often the modifiers are longer than these ones, too -- see OG DIAGNOSTIC problem #50, for instance (NOT #50 in the SC chapter).

there is no such thing as "the GMAT hates this" or "the GMAT likes that".
in each problem, there are four wrong answers and one right answer. your job is to eliminate the four wrong answers, for reasons that are OBJECTIVE.
if you start adding in imaginary things that don't actually exist (like "hates" and "likes" and "preferences"), then SC is going to become a LOT harder than it needs to be.

[MARSHALLM603]

there are plenty of times in life when something is followed by more than one modifier. quite often the modifiers are longer than these ones, too -- see OG DIAGNOSTIC problem #50, for instance (NOT #50 in the SC chapter).

there is no such thing as "the GMAT hates this" or "the GMAT likes that".
in each problem, there are four wrong answers and one right answer. your job is to eliminate the four wrong answers, for reasons that are OBJECTIVE.
if you start adding in imaginary things that don't actually exist (like "hates" and "likes" and "preferences"), then SC is going to become a LOT harder than it needs to be.

Thanks Ron! But I just remember that some threads talk about this kind of rule:

XXX, modifier 1, modifier 2.

It is acceptable that modifier 1 modifies the subject, and that modifier 2 modifies 1.
It is usually not ok when both modifiers are modifying the subject.

[RonPurewal]

"usually not ok"...
(:
right there, you are saying this isn't actually a rule.

[YashG889]

Hi ,

Sorry for bumping an old thread. Just a basic question.

How do we know that" each of them...." is a complete sentence and not a dependent clause.

Thanks

[RonPurewal]

i don't know what a "dependent clause" is... so, inasmuch as that part matters, i can't answer the question.

in any case, though, you should be able to tell that "each of them" is the subject of a whole sentence (= NOT a modifier)... just by analogy to other constructions.
All of them...
Two of them...
Both of them...
^^ you can write a sentence with any of these constructions as the subject. "each of them" acts the same way.

("each of which..." would be a modifier)

[JbhB682]

Hi Sage -

If my understanding is accurate, the red in C / D and E are all subordinate modifiers starting with relative pronouns ("Which")

But i did not think they were subordinate modifiers because it is coupled with the pairing "each of which"

While "which" is certainly listed as a marker for a relative pronoun to begin a subordinate clause,

"EACH OF WHICH" is not listed as a marker for a relative pronoun

Isn't "EACH OF WHICH" different than the relative pronoun "Which"

ii) If not, what is the function of "Each of" when coupled with "Which" == is it an adjective perhaps to the relative pronoun "Which" ?



Taste buds are onion-shaped structures with between 50 and 100 taste cells, each of them has fingerlike projections poking through the opening located at the top of the taste bud called the taste pore.


(A) them has fingerlike projections poking through the opening located at the top of the taste bud called the taste pore
(B) them that have fingerlike projections that poke through an opening located at the top of the taste bud, which they call the taste pore
(C) which has fingerlike projections poking through the opening, called the taste pore, located at the top of taste bud
(D) which having fingerlike projections that poke through an opening, which is called the taste pore, located at the top of the taste bud
(E) which have fingerlike projections that are poking through an opening located at the top of the taste bud called the taste pore

[JbhB682]

Also, Instead of "Each of" , what if there were other pairings like :

- some of WHICH
- none of WHICH
- all of WHICH
- half of WHICH
- quarter of WHICH
- two of WHICH
- three of WHICH

Would all of these be considered subordinate clauses with relative pronouns

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

You're using a grammatical terms such as 'subordinate modifier' and 'subordinate clause' that might not be helping out. To make sure we understand each other, I'll keep things as nontechnical as possible. I'm sure that you noticed the word 'which' and thought - that looks like a modifier, it's providing some extra information about something mentioned in the sentence. I encourage you to think how the meaning works.

For example, I could say: I live with 4 dogs, which bark at night. The modifier 'which bark at night' gives information about the dogs. However, what if only 1 of the dogs barked at night? Then I can say: I live with 4 dogs, one of which barks at night. The word 'which' is still referring back to 'dogs' - it's still a 'which modifier' - but I've managed to squeeze more meaning into the sentence in quite a precise and efficient way.

[JbhB682]

I live with 4 dogs, one of which barks at night.

Thank you Sage

Just out of curiosity, in your example -- what is the function of "one of" ...is it an adjective ?

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

No need to keep reposting the whole message above. The word 'one' is a noun. I'm not too strong on grammar terminology, but it's part of the modifier modifying 'dogs'. In Chapter 10 of the SC strategy guide we call these 'subgroup modifiers'.