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Pronouns-Possessive Poison

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by moatazyousif » Sun Feb 21, 2010 6:54 pm
In Manhattan GMAT (SC), Chapter 4, page 55

- "Jose's room is so messy that HIS mother calls HIM a pig" is incorrect
- "Jose's room is so messy that his mother calls Jose a pig" is correct

Because subject and object pronouns may NOT refer back to possessive nouns. Therefore the object pronoun "him" is used incorrectly because it may not refer back to Jose's.

In Problem Set, page 69, sentence number 15

- "Obstinate and surly, the manager's attitude prevented his staff from befriending him" is incorrect
- "The manager's obstinate and surly attitude prevented his staff from befriending him" is correct

why did we keep "him" in the first case, althought it had been replaced by the subject "Jose" in the second case?
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by harsh.champ » Sun Feb 21, 2010 6:59 pm
moatazyousif wrote:In Manhattan GMAT (SC), Chapter 4, page 55

- "Jose's room is so messy that HIS mother calls HIM a pig" is incorrect -Since over here,"him" can also denote the room.
- "Jose's room is so messy that his mother calls Jose a pig" is correct-Correct usage-Jose is a pig,not the room

Because subject and object pronouns may NOT refer back to possessive nouns. Therefore the object pronoun "him" is used incorrectly because it may not refer back to Jose's.

In Problem Set, page 69, sentence number 15

- "Obstinate and surly, the manager's attitude prevented his staff from befriending him" is incorrect-Not clear what "Obstinate and surly" denotes over here-hence incorrect.
- "The manager's obstinate and surly attitude prevented his staff from befriending him" is correct-Staff is plural,attitude is a quality,hence use of "him " for the manager is appropriate/

why did we keep "him" in the first case, althought it had been replaced by the subject "Jose" in the second case?
Hope it is clear now.
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by moatazyousif » Sun Feb 21, 2010 9:06 pm
Hello,
Thanks for your reply, but this didn't answer the question.

It has been mentioned in Manhattan GMAT that Possessive pronouns (his) can refer back to possessive nouns (Jose's or manager's ). However, subject and object pronouns (him) may NOT refer back to possessive nouns. Therefore the object pronoun (him) is used incorrectly because it may not refer back to Jose's.

Subject and object pronouns (him) may only refer back to subject and object nouns (Jose or manager).

but this is not what happened in the case#2.

I hope you got my point.
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by rockeyb » Sun Feb 21, 2010 11:11 pm
moatazyousif wrote:In Manhattan GMAT (SC), Chapter 4, page 55

- "Jose's room is so messy that HIS mother calls HIM a pig" is incorrect
- "Jose's room is so messy that his mother calls Jose a pig" is correct

Because subject and object pronouns may NOT refer back to possessive nouns. Therefore the object pronoun "him" is used incorrectly because it may not refer back to Jose's.

In Problem Set, page 69, sentence number 15

- "Obstinate and surly, the manager's attitude prevented his staff from befriending him" is incorrect
- "The manager's obstinate and surly attitude prevented his staff from befriending him" is correct

why did we keep "him" in the first case, although it had been replaced by the subject "Jose" in the second case?
I agree with you and the apparent confusion , and it seems even Manhattan GMAT too is not much confident about this .

I say it because the example that you have put in is from Manhattan SC 2003 Edition and in later edition that is 2009 Edition they have removed both the examples .

So I would say the example in 2003 edition is controversial and would you to follow the latest edition.

But if any one has an explanation I would love to hear .
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