<p>The racing champion had made no mention in his speech of the mechanics on whom his success had depended. No error.</p>
<p>what’s your question?</p>
<p>Change had made to made?
Why is there only one choice?</p>
<p>What is wrong with had made? It sounds fine to me.</p>
<p><a href=“A”>b</a>** is the correct answer (you are correct).</p>
<p>You use “had” to distinguish between the past tense and the even further back past tense. </p>
<p>“I made a speech about how he had helped me.” That sentence conveys that I made a speech in the past, and the speech was about an action (him helping me) that occurred even further back. It’s the same with the sentence you posted. If you use had twice, you’re not distinguishing between the time period of the speech and the time period of the “mechanics on whom his success had depended.”</p>
<p>Wait…the mechanics on WHOM his success had depended? Sure it didn’t say “which”?</p>
<p>Because the mentioning of the speech was made AFTER having depended on the mechanics, or only after having depended on the mechanics did he make his speech, so you need to say he MADE no mention of the mechanics on whom his success HAD depended. I don’t know if that makes sense</p>
<p>Ok I get it. I learned I shouldn’t just trust my ear.</p>
<p>^Sometimes, you actually do need to trust your ear. Just be careful when you do, though.</p>
<p>Pencilboxes, what you said makes sense because “had made” is past perfect, which is two actions that happened in the past but one action before the other action. So if there’s already a “had” before depended. Then you don’t need “had” before depended.</p>
<p>Correct ways to write the sentence:
- The racing champion had made no mention in his speech of the mechanics whom his success had depended on.
OR - The racing champion made no mention in his speech of the mechanics on whom his success had depended.</p>
<p>
“which” is used for non-people nouns; “who” (in this case “whom” since it’s the object of the preposition “on”) is used for people. They function the same way.</p>
<p>^Wait Crazybandit, I thought an independent clause always have to follow whom whenever it is used?</p>
<p>I just realized “whom” of course should be “which” since it modifies “mechanics,” which isn’t a person. Never mind. This means this question is faulty. You shouldn’t use non-College Board material to study.</p>
<p>Also, there is an independent clause. The implication is “his success had depended on the mechanics.” In his speech he didn’t talk about the mechanics on which his success had depended. “which” represents “the mechanics,” so the idea is this: “on the mechanics his success had depended” = “the mechanics his success had depended on” = “his success had depended on the mechanics.”</p>
<p>The racing champion had made no mention in his speech of the mechanics whom his success had depended on.</p>
<p>Why is the sentence correct with “on” at the end?</p>
<p>It is not, even adding the prep does not make it right. Had made is the incorrect tense.</p>