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Possessive form

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Possessive form

by shankar245 » Thu Sep 15, 2011 11:54 am
what is the possessive form of lawyers?
Is it lawyers itself?

Also,is it a hard and fast rule that the possessive pronoun "their" must always refer to a possessive noun?
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by e-GMAT » Thu Sep 15, 2011 5:03 pm
1: When you have 's' at the end of a noun - i.e. for Plural form of noun, you show the possessive form by adding ' at the end.

books of lawyers = lawyers' books

2: Yes, their is a possessive pronoun. For example, the following sentence is absolutely correct:

People love their freedom.

So basically "their" can only replace a possessive noun. i.e. here it replaces - people's.

Hope this helps.

Payal
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by shankar245 » Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:21 am
The lawyers for the patent holder pressed the federal judge to impose an injunction against the hardware manf,arguing that they should take immediate action in order to prevent further economic damages against their client.


answer in a material is

immediate action should be taken to prevent their client from suffering further economic damages.

Doubt here is : their refers to lawyers (A possessive pronoun can refer back only to a possessive noun)
so is lawyers in possessive form
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by Fractal » Sat Sep 17, 2011 3:57 am
I am not sure, which form is preferred by GMAT:

example 1) Müller's career vs. the career of Müller

example 2) month of the festival vs. festival's month

I read different opinions about this issue and I wouldn't know which form to choose on the test.

thx
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by GmatKiss » Sat Sep 17, 2011 4:59 am
Fractal wrote:I am not sure, which form is preferred by GMAT:

example 1) Müller's career vs. the career of Müller

example 2) month of the festival vs. festival's month

example 3) class of English vs. English class

I read different opinions about this issue and I wouldn't know which form to choose on the test.

thx
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by Fractal » Sat Sep 17, 2011 5:41 am
GmatKiss wrote:
Fractal wrote:I am not sure, which form is preferred by GMAT:

example 1) Müller's career vs. the career of Müller

example 2) month of the festival vs. festival's month

example 3) class of English vs. English class

I read different opinions about this issue and I wouldn't know which form to choose on the test.

thx
according to GMAT:

- festival's month is an awkward and imprecise use of the possessive (OG 59)
- Müller's career is preferable to the career of Müller (OG 135)

in short, i don't see a concept :-( but in the "ultimate one minute explanations" i read: On the GMAT, it's best to avoid the use of possessives as much as possible.

Could an expert clarify?

thx a lot
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by crick » Sat Sep 17, 2011 6:27 am
Take a look at the following sentence:

John's attitude is so laid back that his teacher considers him lazy.

Ponder for a few seconds to see if the sentence is correct.

[spoiler]The sentence is incorrect. The usage of him is incorrect - it has no antecedent. Possessive pronouns (his, their etc) can refer to possessive nouns, but non-possessive pronouns( him, them, whom etc) cannot refer back to possessive nouns.
[/spoiler].

This is the reason why possessive pronouns are avoided.
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by Fractal » Sat Sep 17, 2011 6:31 am
Although this is an interesting point, I think it doesn't answer my question :-)

Do you know a question from OG, in which your mentioned point is tested?
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by crick » Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:08 am
Example of a question which uses possessive
https://gmatclub.com/forum/unlike-schoen ... 18934.html

More on the possessive poison rule..Check out the explanation by Ron.
https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/aga ... t9229.html
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by Fractal » Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:11 am
crick wrote:Example of a question which uses possessive
https://gmatclub.com/forum/unlike-schoen ... 18934.html

More on the possessive poison rule..Check out the explanation by Ron.
https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/aga ... t9229.html
I mean questions which test your point: "John's attitude is so laid back that his teacher considers him lazy."

I can't remember that I have seen such a question in OG...
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by crick » Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:35 am
This is as close as I could get :)

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/by- ... t8532.html

Crick
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