SC: noun modifier 'which'

[PavanK217]

Hi,

I came across a question in the Manhattan SC guide involving usage of noun modifier 'which'.

As per the theory in the modifiers chapter, which is always a noun modifier - no concerns here!

comma+ which is a non-essential noun modifier - okay I get this as well.

Consider this example,

INCORRECT: People who are well informed know what Bordeaux is a French region whose most famous export is the wine which bears its name

CORRECT: People who are well informed know what Bordeaux is a French region whose most famous export is the wine that bears its name

Am I right that the presence or the absence of a 'comma' does not matter when using noun modifiers such as 'while,who etc' as these modifiers tend to create a non-essential meaning to the sentence?

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

GMAT is pretty consistent in using a comma before a 'which' modifier and no comma before a 'that' modifier. However, there are very few problems that test the difference between essential and non-essential modifiers. And comma usage is not tested on GMAT - I've never seen an official problem in which you can eliminate an answer for a "wrong comma".

Watch out for words such as 'whose', 'who', 'in which' etc. These can be used without a comma. After all, there's no equivalent of 'whose' for 'that'. And for people we need to use 'who', not 'that'.