basic SC question (antecedent of a pronoun)

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voodoo_child: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 405; Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 1:44 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times

by voodoo_child » Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:49 pm

In the following sentence, what's the antecedent ? (I am not concerned about logical antecedent but GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT ANTECEDENT)

Maria and I brought a lot of vegetables, and we used a knife to cut them.

Them refers to vegetables or "Maria and I" ?

Thanks

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:49 pm

bblast: Legendary Member; Posts: 1077; Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2010 1:44 amFollowed by: 33 members; Thanked: 118 times; GMAT Score:710

by bblast » Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:54 pm

Your. sentence is altogether faulty.

It would be correct if it read.

I bought a lot of vegetables and later used a knife to cut them.

Because the plural them cannot refer back to I.

In your sentence. you should write,

and we used a knife to cut those vegetables.

Last edited by bblast on Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

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cans: Legendary Member; Posts: 1309; Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:34 amFollowed by: 123 members; Location: India; Thanked: 310 times; GMAT Score:750

by cans » Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:57 pm

them refers to lot of vegetables.
For Maria and I, us/ourselves should be used.
(we used a knife to cut ourselves)

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Frankenstein: Legendary Member; Posts: 1448; Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 9:55 amFollowed by: 53 members; Location: India; Thanked: 375 times

by Frankenstein » Sun Jun 05, 2011 9:18 pm

voodoo_child wrote:In the following sentence, what's the antecedent ? (I am not concerned about logical antecedent but GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT ANTECEDENT)

Maria and I brought a lot of vegetables, and we used a knife to cut them.

Them refers to vegetables or "Maria and I" ?

Thanks

Hi,
I think your sentence makes sense. You have already taken care of 'Maria and I' by using 'we'. So, I think 'them' can refer to 'lot of vegetables'(object of brought).

Expert comments would be appreciated.

Cheers!

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HSPA: Legendary Member; Posts: 1101; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 7:26 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 47 times; GMAT Score:640

by HSPA » Sun Jun 05, 2011 10:02 pm

+1 for Frank

First take: 640 (50M, 27V) - RC needs 300% improvement
Second take: coming soon..
Regards,
HSPA.

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itsmebharat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 150; Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:36 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: gurgaon; Thanked: 8 times

by itsmebharat » Sun Jun 05, 2011 10:56 pm

@Cans : (we used a knife to cut ourselves) , I guess thats totally incorrect.

I just rephrased the sentence, hope that helps in understanding.

Ram and Sham brought a lot of vegetables and used knife to cut them,
Ram and Sham brought a lot of vegetables and they used knife to cut them
Ram and I brought a lot of vegetables and we used know to cut them.

I am not an Expert, please feel free to suggest if there is an error.

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cans: Legendary Member; Posts: 1309; Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:34 amFollowed by: 123 members; Location: India; Thanked: 310 times; GMAT Score:750

by cans » Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:19 am

@itsmebharat: here them refers to vegetables.
i was trying to say what if I wanted to write that Maria and I wanted to cut themselves (instead of vegetables)

If my post helped you- let me know by pushing the thanks button

Contact me about long distance tutoring!
[email protected]

Cans!!

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siddus: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 87; Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:36 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times

by siddus » Mon Jun 06, 2011 2:03 am

+1 for Frankenstein

Maria and I (Subject) brought a lot of vegetables (Object), and we (subject) used a knife to cut them (object).

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voodoo_child: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 405; Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 1:44 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times

by voodoo_child » Mon Jun 06, 2011 5:56 am

siddus wrote:+1 for Frankenstein

Maria and I (Subject) brought a lot of vegetables (Object), and we (subject) used a knife to cut them (object).

I have seen an exception, I believe.....

The basketball fell onto the glass table, and it shattered.

Here, table is object of the verb fell. basketball is the subject. It should then refer to table....right ?

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Jim@Grockit: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 641; Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:07 pmFollowed by: 45 members; Location: Madison, WI; Thanked: 162 times; GMAT Score:760

by Jim@Grockit » Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:10 am

Cans is right, "them" cannot possibly refer back to "Maria and I"; the reflexive pronoun "ourselves" would need to be used in that case. Even in the "Ram and Sham" example, you cannot use "them" to refer back to the subject; it would again require the reflexive "themselves."

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voodoo_child: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 405; Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 1:44 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times

by voodoo_child » Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:55 am

Jim@Grockit wrote:Cans is right, "them" cannot possibly refer back to "Maria and I"; the reflexive pronoun "ourselves" would need to be used in that case. Even in the "Ram and Sham" example, you cannot use "them" to refer back to the subject; it would again require the reflexive "themselves."

Thanks Jim! Can you please let me know what is the antecedent of "it" in:

The basketball fell onto the glass table, and it shattered.

Thanks!

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Jim@Grockit: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 641; Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:07 pmFollowed by: 45 members; Location: Madison, WI; Thanked: 162 times; GMAT Score:760

by Jim@Grockit » Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:46 pm

voodoo_child wrote:
Jim@Grockit wrote:Cans is right, "them" cannot possibly refer back to "Maria and I"; the reflexive pronoun "ourselves" would need to be used in that case. Even in the "Ram and Sham" example, you cannot use "them" to refer back to the subject; it would again require the reflexive "themselves."
Thanks Jim! Can you please let me know what is the antecedent of "it" in:

The basketball fell onto the glass table, and it shattered.

Thanks!

In your sentence, "it" could refer to either "basketball" or "table". Context would suggest "table" to most people, as glass is more likely to shatter than a basketball.

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