I can follow Karl's logic, but what it seems to come down to is that it's an error because people whose use of language matters generally say it that way.  My own inclination is to think the pattern of using "those" derives from shortening a noun phrase in which "those" functions as determiner.  "By those people who do not approve of it" becomes "by those who do not approve of it." You can't use "them" as determiner (at least in standard English).  It's interesting that there are three passives in the sentence, none problematic. 

Does anyone believe for a moment that someone who sees this as an error is better prepared for college than someone who doesn't? Every time I look at these tests, I wonder whether they are doing much more harm than good. Whoever designs them seems to be looking for tricky little ways to catch people. Is our primary purpose for studying language to avoid error? What exactly makes an error an error, especially if usage differs? Why don't we test knowledge about language directly? Shouldn't we, as proponents of TEACHING grammar, be arguing constantly for that? Catching people on some obscure (and questionable) error diminishes the subject. 



Craig



 

-----Original Message-----

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karl Hagen

Sent: Monday, January 05, 2015 12:51 PM

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: Re: SAT question



This problem has nothing directly to do with who/whom (a distinction that the SAT does not test).



You can’t just look at the single word following “by.” The object of the preposition is “them/those who did not approve it,” and the required word has to do with how it functions in this unit, which is a noun phrase headed by them/those.



The relative clause “who did not approve it” modifies them/those. But “them,” as a personal pronoun, virtually always stands alone in the noun phrase. It doesn’t take modifiers like the relative clause. I won’t get into a detailed analysis of “those," as modern accounts differ from a traditional analysis and the differences aren’t to the point here. Suffice it to say that “those” isn’t a personal pronoun and doesn’t have the same restriction.



> On Jan 5, 2015, at 9:34 AM, Jane Saral <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> 

> A recent SAT "ID the error" question reads:

> 

> Although it is widely regarded as a masterpiece now, when it was built

>                             A                                                  B

> 

> the Eiffel Tower was compared to a "ridiculous smokestack" by them who did

>                                                                                             C

> 

> not approve of it.        No error

>             D                       E

> 

> 

> C just sounds wrong.  I would say "by those who did not approve of it."  But isn't the "them/those" word the stand-alone O.P. of by, unaffected by the relative clause that follows?  This does not seem to be dealing with the who/whom question;  "who" is correctly the subject of "did not approve."  

> 

> So why is this an error? 

> 

> Jane Saral

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