dorafang Posted May 12, 2003 Share Posted May 12, 2003 should it be he is one of the people who bake bread or he is one of the people who bakes bread one bakes bread people bake bread but isnt "of the people" a prepositional phrase you can remove? or is people intrinsically attached to the breadmakers? thanks Dora Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted May 12, 2003 Share Posted May 12, 2003 This question has come up three times in as many days, so I've made it a FAQ. Here's what you need to know: Here is the pattern you need to become familiar with: one of the NOUN + that/who +PLURAL VERB For example: She is one of the few people who know how to speak Esperanto. This is one of the cars that run on hydrogen. The reasoning is as follows: we are saying that this person (or thing, or whatever) is a member of a group. What group? Te group of people (or things) that do or are whatever. So far, every single time I've seen this on GMAT SC, it's been set off by "one of..." So keep an eye out for "one of"!! And this one's tricky because we become sort of trained to ignore the stuff inside of prepositional phrases, but as we've just seen, it's important to remember that a modifier can modify any noun, no matter where it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dorafang Posted May 13, 2003 Author Share Posted May 13, 2003 so then "each of the men was an engineer" is correct? or should it be "each of the men were engineers"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 Originally posted by dorafang so then "each of the men was an engineer" is correct? or should it be "each of the men were engineers"? This pattern is a bit different: Each of the men was an engineer. (The most acceptable form.) The essential parts of the sentence are in red: each... was... engineer. The "of the men" part is a prepositional phrase, and in this sentence, this prepositional phrase has no influence on the subject or verb. Remember, there are a few cases in which the prep phrase can influence the subject and verb, specifically when the subject is a pronoun that can be used with either count or non-count nouns (all of the water is/all of the people are, for example). In the original example, our situation was a bit different--we had two nouns and one modifier: He is one of the people who bake bread. Grammatically, who bake bread is an adjective clause (and therefore modifies a noun) and could grammatically modify either people or one, since these are both nouns. Let me show you two examples: [*]The woman on the bike who is talking to the security guard is a friend of mine. In this case, the adjective clause who is talking to the security guard clearly modifies woman because it is illogical to say that a bike is talking to a security guard. Let's compare a similar sentence: [*]The woman on the bike that has custom graphics is a friend of mine. In this case, the adjective clause that has custom graphics clearly modifies bike, again since it's illogical to talk about a woman having custom graphics. So again, the key here is to figure out which noun the adjective clause modifies, and as I stated in my response to your original question, this grammar point is usually used with one of. Let me know if you have any other questions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evensflow Posted May 17, 2003 Share Posted May 17, 2003 That was a great explanation Erin.. But i have a question here which is driving me nuts. Would be reallly grateful to you if you would help me clarify this. According to scientists at the University of California, the pattern of changes that have occurred in human DNA over the millennia indicate the possibility that everyone alive today might be descended from a single female ancestor who lived in Africa sometime between 140,000 and 280,000 years ago. (A) indicate the possibility that everyone alive today might be descended from a single female ancestor who (B) indicate that everyone alive today might possibly be a descendant of a single female ancestor who had © may indicate that everyone alive today has descended from a single female ancestor who had (D) indicates that everyone alive today may be a descendant of a single female ancestor who (E) indicates that everyone alive today might be a descendant from a single female ancestor who Now the official answer given for this is "D". I chose "B". Now if i see the answer from tense point of view then "D" sounds to be more better. But according to the list of examples which you explained above, the subject pattern of changes followed by relative pronoun that says that the verb comin up next should be plural since it is changes and not change. This is then rightly followed by have and not has . But later the sentence according to choice "D" fails to follow the rule, that is it says indicates which is singular and not indicate which is plural. Now this really confuses me. Is it that this rule is followed only in examples where we say one of the causes, types. Please help ....[xx(] Thanks a ton in advance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feynman Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 The noun that is in the limelight here is 'pattern' and not 'changes'. 'pattern' is singular and hence the correct verb form is 'indicates' and not 'indicate'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go2venkat Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 Feynman is correct. The noun in question is "the pattern" and in addition to it here "Changes" is not a verb but a noun too. Hence Erin's explanation holds water. Read it as "the Pattern... Indicates" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nirals1 Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Is there a rule for 'One in 5 people' What would the answer to this question be. Appreciate your help 1) One in five Americans who work shorter hours at their job in order to provide care for an elderly relative save society millions of dollars that would ordinarily be required for nursing homes or other long care facilities. A) One in five Americans who work shorter hours at their job in order to provide care for an elderly relative save B) One in five Americans working shorter hours at their jobs in order to provide care for an elderly relative saves C) The one in five Americans who work shorter hours at a job in order to provide care for an elderly relative saves D) Those Americans, approximately one-fifth of all employs, who work shorter hours at a job in order to care for an elderly relative save Should it be 'save' or 'saves' here? thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobe Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 B: One in five Americans saves society millions of dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladesigner1 Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 So, the following sentence is correct? Only one of the President's nominees was confirmed. Please advise. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Originally posted by ladesigner1 So, the following sentence is correct? Only one of the President's nominees was confirmed.Yes, this is absolutely correct. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aivoges Posted February 20, 2004 Share Posted February 20, 2004 Originally posted by ladesigner1 So, the following sentence is correct? Only one of the President's nominees was confirmed. Please advise. Thanks. tobe & lade! Do differentiate between the two patterns, the key word here is "who/that". "One of five Americans saves society millions of dollars" does not resemble "One of five Americans who save society millions of dollars is talking with Erin" [^] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacika Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 why not who works? why no s in it? I am getting confused Is it because one in five americans? and not one of five americans? so can I make a sentence like this: -One in five dogs barks every single day? -That is one of five dogs that bark every single day? Help plz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaria Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Is there a rule for 'One in 5 people' What would the answer to this question be. Appreciate your help 1) One in five Americans who work shorter hours at their job in order to provide care for an elderly relative save society millions of dollars that would ordinarily be required for nursing homes or other long care facilities. A) One in five Americans who work shorter hours at their job in order to provide care for an elderly relative save B) One in five Americans working shorter hours at their jobs in order to provide care for an elderly relative saves C) The one in five Americans who work shorter hours at a job in order to provide care for an elderly relative saves D) Those Americans, approximately one-fifth of all employs, who work shorter hours at a job in order to care for an elderly relative save Should it be 'save' or 'saves' here? thx But why are we choosing B over A? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavo Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 'Saves' coz it agrees with the singular subject 'One in five americans' What about this :- 19. To help preserve ancient Egyptian monuments threatened by high water tables, a Swedish engineering firm has proposed installing pumps, perhaps solar powered, to lower the underground water level and dig trenches around the bases of the stone walls.(A) to lower the underground water level and dig trenches (B) to lower the underground water level and to dig trenches © to lower the underground water level and digging trenches (D) that lower the underground water level and that trenches be dug (E) that lower the underground water level and trench digging Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavo Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Oa - C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gmater-1 Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 Good discussion link guys...gained a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaTum Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k2gopal Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 hmm.. I think I'm getting a hold of the concept ppl. So in that case this sentence would also be correct? One of the Presidents who speak well is a dope. My reasoning seems to go as follows: Since all of the Presidents in question "speak" well, a plural verb pointing to all presidents must be used, and since only one among the presidents in question "is" a dope, we use the singular noun ? :tup: How about this? One of the biggest loopholes in the pact is the fact that blah blah blah.... Disclaimer: No presidents of any country "were" meant to be scorned in the creation of this post! Any indirect references are purely fictitious. :whistle: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 So in that case this sentence would also be correct? One of the Presidents who speak well is a dope. My reasoning seems to go as follows: Since all of the Presidents in question "speak" well, a plural verb pointing to all presidents must be used, and since only one among the presidents in question "is" a dope, we use the singular noun ? :tup: How about this? One of the biggest loopholes in the pact is the fact that blah blah blah.... Disclaimer: No presidents of any country "were" meant to be scorned in the creation of this post! Any indirect references are purely fictitious. :whistle:Hehe, funny. Yup, your reasoning is sound. Very nice example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eshanibera Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 I need help in Verbal specifically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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