Hello Brett Etheridge here with you again.
And in this video we're going to take a look at a nuance of sentence corrections pertaining to modifiers
and specifically the difference between which and that.
And actually we are going to dive even deeper and look at a 700 plus level concept regarding the word
which that I think will be really eye opening for you and anybody enable you to get some of the harder
questions correct.
So is towhead Diven now the major difference between which and that has to do with whether or not the
modifying information that they're introducing is essential or non-essential essential modifiers provide
necessary information and we use the word that to provide that modifying information in other words
that introduces modifiers that are essential to understanding the meaning of the word or noun phrase
that it is modifying.
You don't use commas between essential modifiers and there are nouns.
And here's an example.
The amusement park that just recently opened has the fastest roller coaster in the state.
Of course that introduces additional modifying information.
It's telling us about the amusement park.
It's the amusement park that just recently opened and what's implied here is that I need that information
to distinguish the amusement park that we are talking about.
In other words maybe there's multiple amusement parks and therefore that and modifying information is
necessary.
Hence we use the word that.
Contrast that with situations where we use the word which which introduces non-essential modifiers that
provide extra information to non essential information.
We do use commas to kind of offset that non-essential modifying information hint.
The bracketing technique is useful we already looked at that in the bracketing technique video in the
sentence correction lessons.
But here's an example.
Right so this is a variation of the sentence we just looked at.
But what's the difference.
So here we have the amusement park but now we have a comma and we use the word which which just recently
opened has the fastest roller coaster in the state.
And by the way both sentences are correct.
It really comes down to the meaning that we're trying to get across in the sentence here.
We offset that modifying information with commas.
We use the word which.
And what that means is that the fact that it recently opened is extra information it's kind of good
to know thanks for telling me that but it's not essential to knowing which amusement park we're talking
about.
Perhaps it's the case that there's only one amusement park in the state.
And so we're not confused as to which amusement park we're talking about.
It's just nice to know a little bit of information about that amusement park.
Oh by the way it just recently opened.
So that's the major difference.
And we can bracket it out.
So on sentence correction we know if you're testing subject verb agreement for example you bracket out
that modifying information between the commas.
We can completely eliminate this information and not alter what we know about the sentence.
We're not confused.
Whereas if we're trying to bracket out that same modifying information introduced by the words that
in the previous sentence we would lose some meaning because we may not be clear on which amusement park
we're talking about.
So that's the difference kind of a nuance between which versus that even really it's unlikely to be
the deciding issue for any choice on the G-Mac when you're looking at G-Mac sentence corrections.
It's good to know specifically if he see the commers.
You'll notice that it's non-essential modifying information.
But the difference between which is that is very likely to be the deciding difference.
However there is a concept around the word which and modifiers in general that I want to spend the rest
of this video talking about.
That's that kind of 700 plus level understanding.
It's something that will be tested and you are likely to see as potentially the distinguishing feature
in a sentence that will get you the right answer.
And it has to do with the difference between using which and the present participle on harder questions.
So let me explain.
But first let's use this example as kind of context or we'll talk about it together because it illustrates
the point that we're talking about.
Go ahead.
Press Pause give it a try on your own.
Then I'm going to teach you something and then we'll come back and talk about it together.
So go ahead press pause give it a try.
All right.
So how do you do.
Well let's take a quick look at the concept first and a quiz to begin.
Right so I'm going to give you two sentences.
I simply want you to tell me whether or not they're correct or incorrect and think about why.
So here's the first example.
And by the way maybe they're both correct and maybe they're both incorrect but this first example is
that the gene that comma which tests in grammar rules is an important part of the business school admissions
process.
That sentence correct grammatically.
If so why did we use the word which correctly.
Yes it is correct.
So well then if you got that come back and I'll mention something about this in a moment.
But take a look at the second example as well.
And how might this be different than that sentence.
The example reads our air conditioner broke on the hottest day of the summer which caused us a great
deal of discomfort.
Is that sentence correct or incorrect.
Certainly sounds good doesn't it.
This is an example of a sentence when we read it.
It doesn't betray our year and we wouldn't stumble on it if somebody said it to us in casual conversation.
But is it grammatically correct.
The answer is No.
It is incorrect.
And why not.
You might be very surprised to learn that that is not correct.
But the reason it's not correct is going to be crucial for you getting right answers on 700 plus level
sentence correction questions that test this concept and here's the rule.
The rule says that you use which only to refer to the noun immediately preceding it never to an entire
clause.
So go ahead and get get a pen here.
Look at example number one which introduces modifying information specifically that tests annoying grammar
rules.
So what tests annoying grammar rules.
What if I'm going to use the word which that modifying information must be referring back to the noun
immediately before it immediately before the comma.
And it does in this case right.
That makes perfect sense.
It is actually the G-Mac a noun that we are saying tests annoying grammar grammar rules.
Now that information is extra information right.
There's no doubt about what jumat we're talking about there's only one gene that I'm just providing
extra information.
So I use the word which That's all correct and the key here again the important aspect is that it's
modifying the noun immediately before it.
That's different from the second example right because in the second example what caused us a great
deal of discomfort.
That's the modifying information isn't it.
And if we are going to use the word which according to this rule which is a rule you need to learn and
know I must be modifying the noun or noun phrase immediately before it.
So did the summer cause us a great deal of discomfort.
No.
The summer did not cause us a great deal of discomfort.
Even the hottest day of the summer.
Right if I expand the noun the hottest day of the summer that didn't cause us a great deal of discomfort.
The air conditioner didn't cause us a great deal of discomfort.
What did the whole thing isn't it.
The breaking of the air conditioner.
The episode of vent that is what caused us a great deal of discomfort.
And so I can't use which to refer to an entire clause.
And so that is why example Number two is incorrect.
So we'll look at how this applies to that example you just looked at.
Real quickly though.
How might you correct a sentence in this case where which incorrectly is referring to an entire class.
Well first is to first turn the first thought into a noun phrase.
So remember our incorrect example our air conditioner broke on the hottest day of the summer which caused
us a great deal of discomfort.
It's wrong because it's not referring back to just the noun of the summer.
So what if we reword it and make it the breaking of our air conditioner which is in fact the episode
that is causing us great discomfort when we reword it that way and we word it as an entire noun phrase.
Now that thing caused us a great deal of discomfort that makes perfect sense.
So that's a way to deal with this.
The second way is to insert some additional information to make clear that we're referring to the entire
incident the entire clause.
Right so we restate the thought and use the word that instead as you see here our air conditioner broke
on the hottest day of the summer an occurrence.
That's right.
So now I'm just I'm not just using the word which Right.
I can't just use the word which we know that is not allowed.
But by saying an occurrence that it's clear that it's the entire situation the breaking of the air conditioner
that caused this great deal of discomfort and that resolves the issue as well.
And finally the third way I'm going to put a star next to this one because this is the way you are most
likely going to see it resolved on the mat.
So when you see a situation where you have which that is incorrectly referring to an entire clause you
want to look for answer choices that replace the word which with the present participle the present
participle of course is the I enjoy the verb form.
So here we are again with our example and look how we rectified the sentence in this case our air conditioner
broke on the hottest day of the summer.
And it used to reel which cause it us a great deal of discomfort we know that's not allowed.
So we'll get rid of the word which is what we do is we change the verb to the present participle the
IHG verb form causing us a great deal of discomfort.
And that's very clean the present participle by the way is a very flexible verb form.
And so just part of speech and so look for that right answer choices on the GM.
But here this is very often the way that you would resolve this issue in a correct answer or on hard
sentence correction questions.
So with that said let's turn our attention back to this question and now that I've taught you the rule
and I've given you a few illustrations see if that helps you and see if maybe that changes your mind
about the correct answer here.
Don't press pause again maybe give it another try.
Right but so what's going on.
Clearly this exact situation we were just talking about right according to the National Post Association
per capita consumption in the United States which has already been approaching 19 pounds a year.
What has been approaching 19 pounds a year.
Well if I'm going to use the word which I must be referring back to the noun immediately before it the
United States.
But that clearly doesn't make sense right.
It's not the United States that has been approaching 19 pounds a year.
It is the consumption of pasta per capita consumption of pasta that has been approaching 19 pounds a
year.
So we can get rid of and so choice a because the original is not correct.
Do any other answer choices have the same error and not answer choices be answered choice C has the
same issue which introducing modifying information that in theory should refer back to the United States
but clearly doesn't see is out.
And then how might we resolve this problem.
Right.
So we can move consumption of pasta to right in front of the comma.
We could do what I suggested which is to get rid of the word witch and stick with just the present participle
approaching.
And actually that's what ENTRAR choice B does.
It sticks with already approaching the present participle and actually it just kind of moves it to the
beginning of the sentence.
And that's actually fine.
Right.
So already approaching 19 pounds a year the national pasta Association predicts that per capita consumption
of pasta will reach 30 pounds a year.
What's wrong with that.
And we think well this violates kind of the rule that we talked about in the modifier video in sentence
Corrections about the common kind of set up that the G-Mac likes to throw at you where they'll give
you kind of the modifier upfront front modifying clause maybe an action a war you know in this case
a description a modifier what was approaching 19 pounds a year in the United States.
And we know that what comes immediately after the Ka'bah needs to be what is being modified by that
introductory clause that introductory modifier phrase rather introductory modifying phrase.
So what was approaching 19 pounds a year.
The National pasta association.
No the national pasta Association was an approaching 19 pounds a year.
So we have a misplaced modifier.
It's the consumption that's approaching 19 pounds a year so that should have come right after the comma
so b introduces its own new issues even though it tried to resolve the issue.
It did it in KREVLIN it has another misplaced modifier error so we can't obviously have that going on
in a correct answer or choice into toys.
DS says that by the year 2030.
OK that's fine.
The National pasta Association predicts that this is a misplaced modifiers and this makes it sound like
the National pasta Association will be sitting around twiddling its thumbs waiting until a year 2030
to make its prediction.
See that.
So that's the issue here again.
Placement of modifiers is so important.
It's really you know it's crucial that you pick up on that.
So by the year 2030 the national pasta Association predicts that know what's going to happen is it predicts
that per capita consumption will reach 30 pounds a year by the year 2030.
So by the year 2030 should be right here at the end of the sentence so that it's right next to what
it's modifying.
And so that we don't have any ambiguity so d is incorrect for that reason and meaning reason which leaves
us with the correct answer.
Answer choice eat so well that if you got that and we change 10 colors really quickly.
And this essentially resolves it kind of the third way that I talked about the clean way using the present
participle according to the national pasta Association per capita consumption.
So that's what we're talking about is already approaching 19 pounds a year is already so he just got
rid of the word which entirely.
We don't need the word which we use a present participle is approaching 90 pounds a year and will reach
30 pounds a year by the year 2030.
Boom.
Nice and clean.
All the modifiers are right where they're supposed to be.
We use the present part of Sopore here to make clear that we're talking about per capita consumption.
And in fact we didn't do a comma.
So kind of the method I suggested was to use a comma and then just use the present participle.
Like already approaching or approaching here just get rid of the comma and used a verb is.
That actually is even better because that makes it a very active voice sentence which we know we like
that.
So there's really nothing to pick at there.
It goes a step further to make clear that the correct answer is Ganser choice.
So well-done hopefully you really understand what I'm saying here and this is a concept that is a nuance
to modifiers and specifically the word which even more important than understanding the difference between
which is that we want to make sure you understand the difference between which and when you need to
use that present participle when referring back to an entire clause and not just the noun before it
so internalized this lesson.
And now you're in a much better position to get those harder.
Jim that sentence correction questions right so that you can go out and dominate the GNN.