Irish poet Seamus Heaney has won a number of prizes for his work, including the Nobel Prize in Literature and two Whitbread Book of the Year awards.



A-Irish poet Seamus Heaney has won a number of prizes for his work, including

B-The number of prizes won by Irish poet Seamus Heaney include

C-Irish poet Seamus Heaney has won numbers of prizes for his work, including

D-The numbers of prizes won by Irish poet Seamus Heaney include

E-Seamus Heaney's Irish poetry has won a number of prizes for him, including

OA-A but not able to eliminate E..What r the concepts tested here.Experts pl help.

E has a meaning problem. It's more logical to write that Seamus Heaney has won prizes for his poetry, than to write that his poetry has won prizes for him. (E almost makes it sound as though the poetry is a conscious entity doing favors for Seamus Heaney. Metaphysical arguments about the nature of art and inspiration aside, this is not the sentence's intended meaning.) E also gives the impression that Seamus Heaney has written both Irish poetry, which has won awards, and other kinds of poetry, which have not.

Hi David,
Thanks for replying.I am still not clear on meaning.Can u pl discuss each option and reasons to eliminate it.?

Hi David,
Thanks for replying.I am still not clear on meaning.Can u pl discuss each option and reasons to eliminate it.?

Sure thing:

A-Irish poet Seamus Heaney has won a number of prizes for his work, including
correct

B-The number of prizes won by Irish poet Seamus Heaney include
First, there is subject/verb disagreement. "The number... include." Moreover, this construction is illogical - the poet's prizes include the Nobel and the Whitbread awards, not the number.


C-Irish poet Seamus Heaney has won numbers of prizes for his work, including
The poet hasn't won numbers of prizes. (Is he playing the lottery?) He's won a number of prizes


D-The numbers of prizes won by Irish poet Seamus Heaney include
This one combines errors from B and C. "numbers of prizes" we already know is incorrect. And it's not the numbers that include, it's the prizes.


E-Seamus Heaney's Irish poetry has won a number of prizes for him, including
This sounds like the poetry is a conscious entity doing a favor for Seamus Haney. That's illogical. Secondly, "him" seems to have the possessive antecedent, Seamus Heaney's. "Him," can refer to Seamus Heaney, but not to "Seamus Heaney's."