Sentence Correction : Chapter 4 : Q15

by **gmat_jul** Wed Jul 02, 2008 11:33 pm

Q 15 - "Only pack the clothes that you are planning to wear"

In this, is use of pronoun that okay? Shouldn't "that" be replaced by "those" as clothes is plural?

by **esledge** Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:37 pm

I see your point. After all, you would refer to the clothes as "those clothes" not "that clothes." For example, this sentence could be changed to "Think of the outfits you plan to wear, and only pack those clothes."

But here are some other examples of a "that" relative clause following a plural noun:

The dogs that are barking have disrupted the neighborhood.
I took the babies that are crying out to the lobby.

Notice that within each "that" clause, the verb still must match the modified noun (dog ARE barking, babies ARE crying). But when "that" is used as a relative pronoun, it can follow either a singular or plural noun because the noun is not an antecedent.

by **gmat_jul** Sat Jul 12, 2008 5:27 pm

Thanks Emily

by **nishant** Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:51 am

I have doubt regarding the same question. How come the statement "Only pack the clothes that you are planning to wear" is CORRECT?

On GMAT every pronoun must refer to a stated (not assumed) antecedent. But in the above mentioned statement there is no antecedent for pronoun 'You'. Thus it is incorrect?

Can anyone help me out?

by **rfernandez** Sat Aug 09, 2008 1:23 am

Nishant, that sentence, which is used in our strategy guide as a learning tool, is written in the second person. You will notice that official problems are written in the third person, so you don't have to worry about resolving the antecedents for any "you" pronouns.