<ol>
<li>The historian argued that [we ought] to learn [more about] the process by which individuals like Sam Houston [were identified by] others [as leaders].</li>
</ol>
<p>I picked error "were identified by" because I thought the subject was singular (subject is "the process"). Why is the answer E?</p>
<p>The subject is individuals for that verb.</p>
<p>Isolate the relative clause that begins with that: we ought to learn the process by which individuals like Sam Houston were identified by other as leaders. Eliminate the prepositional phrases: we ought to learn the process by which individuals like Sam Houston were identified. Since “like” in this sentence is a preposition, we can eliminate that too: we ought to learn the process by which individuals were identified. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>We can now rearrange the sentence because “which” refers to the process: by the process individuals were identified. If you eliminate the “by the process,” you get “individuals were identified.” This is a valid sentence, therefore D is not an error.</p></li>
<li><p>More simply, “by which” is a conjunction: This is the process by which I eat lunch is a valid sentence. The “This is the process” connects “I eat lunch.” Similarly, “We ought to learn” connects “Individuals were identified.” These sentences are also valid.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Whoa you lost me at the rearrange the sentence. If you don’t mind… can you explain it a bit more?</p>
<ol>
<li>The historian argued that [we ought] to learn [more about] the process by which individuals like Sam Houston [were identified by] others [as leaders].</li>
</ol>
<p>I picked error “were identified by” because I thought the subject was singular (subject is “the process”). Why is the answer E? </p>
<p>the “by which” “in which” “whereby” “of which” structures are the most commonly confused structures for not only non-native speakers but even for native speakers of English and is often confused with WHICH OR THAT</p>
<p>to understand the structure of BY WHICH, you should first understand the difference between WHICH and IN WHICH </p>
<p>There is a movie WHICH is fun.
There is a movie IN WHICH my favorite actor comes out.</p>
<p>You will often see students incorrectly use “which” in the second sentence, saying something like that</p>
<p>There is a movie which my favorite actor comes out.</p>
<p>SO THINK OF THIS SIMPLE RULE WITHOUT GETTING INTO THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF GRAMMAR</p>
<p>if you see a verb after WHICH, it’s usually ok
if you see a COMPLETE SENTENCE or ANOTHER SUBJECT after IN WHICH, it’s usually ok</p>
<p>Now by which is similar to in which…and it is used to explain that something occurs as a reuslt of a means, method, or process of something else…for instance,</p>
<p>This is the car BY WHICH I will travel. I will travel by this car. </p>
<p>In the sentence above…</p>
<p>it is saying basically that</p>
<p>Individuals were identified by others as leaders BY A PROCESS WHICH historians argue that we should learn about.</p>
<p>hope that helps</p>
<p>Whoa.</p>
<p>That’s deep.</p>
<p>AND THAT SOLVES SO MANY PROBLEMS AND QUESTIONS.</p>
<p>thankyousomuch!!!</p>