Striking differences

[arun.israel]

The striking differences between the semantic organization of Native American languages and that of European languages, in both grammar and vocabulary, have led scholars to think about the degree to which differences in language may be correlated with nonlinguistic differences.

A. that of European languages, in both grammar and vocabulary, have
B. that of European languages, including grammar and vocabulary, has
C. those of European languages, which include grammar and vocabulary, have
D. those of European languages, in grammar as well as vocabulary, has
E. those of European languages, both in grammar and vocabulary, has

OA is A. I chose C b/c I thought differences is plural hence we need "those" instead of that.

Please explain.

[prengasn]

We need to make a comparison to "the semantic organization" which is singular. Thus we must choose a singular referent: That instead of those. It's as saying:
"The striking differences between the semantic organization of ....and that(the semantic organization) of......."

Hope that helps

[RonPurewal]

We need to make a comparison to "the semantic organization" which is singular. Thus we must choose a singular referent: That instead of those. It's as saying:
"The striking differences between the semantic organization of ....and that(the semantic organization) of......."

Hope that helps

right on.

well explained.

[byuwadd]

Okay, what if the author had left off "that of?"

The striking differences between the semantic organization of Native American languages and European languages, in both grammar and vocabulary, have led...

Do we need the 'that of' there?

[jlucero]

Okay, what if the author had left off "that of?"

The striking differences between the semantic organization of Native American languages and European languages, in both grammar and vocabulary, have led...

Do we need the 'that of' there?

No, because of there being 2 parallel markers: The differences between X and Y. X and Y must be parallel unless we change it to: The differences in X between Y and Z. The differences in organizations between NA languages and E languages.

[ajithalexjacob]

What are your thoughts on the usage of "in both grammar and vocabulary" vs "which include grammar and vocabulary" in choices A and C?

Is it alright to use either of them?

[RonPurewal]

What are your thoughts on the usage of "in both grammar and vocabulary" vs "which include grammar and vocabulary" in choices A and C?

Is it alright to use either of them?

the latter ("...include...") creates a sentence with a nonsense meaning.

that construction yields a sentence that says "the striking differences between xxxxx and yyyyy languages, which include grammar and vocabulary..."
the problem is that grammar and vocabulary themselves are not actually "included" in this group.

[jyothi h]

Other than "has" , is "including" in B incorrect ? It seems to refer to european languages as opposed to "differences in ". Just checking .

Thanks!

[tim]

normally an -ing word that follows a comma is an adverbial modifier, but this is not an absolute rule, and i certainly would not eliminate B on that issue alone..

[jyothi h]

normally an -ing word that follows a comma is an adverbial modifier, but this is not an absolute rule, and i certainly would not eliminate B on that issue alone..

Thanks Tim !

[jlucero]

Glad it helped.

[mcmebk]

normally an -ing word that follows a comma is an adverbial modifier, but this is not an absolute rule, and i certainly would not eliminate B on that issue alone..

Hi Tim/Ron

I think including is a special case of verb+ing - Including is indeed a new word and is used as prep rather than a present participle.

One thing I am a little uncertain about is, when we use including, should it always immediately follow the noun?

I enjoy all different kinds of movies including actions and horrors.

can we say, various types of movie are produced nowadays, including actions and horrors?

Thanks.

[RonPurewal]

One thing I am a little uncertain about is, when we use including, should it always immediately follow the noun?

I enjoy all different kinds of movies including actions and horrors.

can we say, various types of movie are produced nowadays, including actions and horrors?

Thanks.

See, this is the kind of question you don't have to think about. Don't forget that the problems are multiple-choice!

If you face this issue, just take the choice that places "including" as close as possible to the thing it's describing.

I.e., if you faced a choice between your version (given here) and "various types of movies, including xxxxx, are produced nowadays", then you'd take the latter.

[HanzZ]

We need to make a comparison to "the semantic organization" which is singular. Thus we must choose a singular referent: That instead of those. It's as saying:
"The striking differences between the semantic organization of ....and that(the semantic organization) of......."

Hope that helps

right on.

well explained.

---
Hello Ron,

I feel like the 'senmantic organzation' here is a non-countable noun. I feel it's talking about some kind of strucutre/arrangement of the languages. This is how I decided to use 'that' of.

For example,

The difference between his bag and those of the students is that ....

Here even though bag is singular, I don't see how we can use that of the students. If so, it would imply that all the students share one bag.

Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

I feel like the 'senmantic organzation' here is a non-countable noun. I feel it's talking about some kind of strucutre/arrangement of the languages. This is how I decided to use 'that' of.

No. The choice between "that of" and "those of" is 100% singular/plural, and 0% anything else.

Don't take simple things and make them complicated.

For example,

The difference between his bag and those of the students is that...

This is wrong, because "those" (plural) can't stand for "bag" (singular).

If that's how you want the sentence to work, then, unfortunately, you need to use another noun.
The difference between his bag and the other students' bags is...
Oh well.

Go look at #60 in OG12, or #61 in OG13. Specifically, compare choices (B) and (E).