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by sankruth » Mon Jan 07, 2008 4:53 am
Flashcard for Phrase, Clause has the following example:

As she was leaving the bank, Evelyn's purse was stolen

The underlined portion is stated as correct. But I feel it is wrong because the pronoun she wrongly refers to Evelyn's purse.

Am I on the right track?
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by sirikesav » Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:11 pm
In this Question Whom does she refers to....

as you said it is wrong because the it is she who is coming out not the Evelyn's purse---- a Misplaced Modifier

Please correct me if I am wrong
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by beatthegmat » Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:39 pm
'As she was leaving the bank' is a clause, not a modifying phrase. Thus, it does not modify purse at all.

If we re-arrange: "Evelyn's purse was stolen as she was leaving the bank," the meaning is the same.

Be very careful with phrases vs. clauses.
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by sankruth » Wed Jan 09, 2008 1:20 am
beatthegmat wrote:'As she was leaving the bank' is a clause, not a modifying phrase. Thus, it does not modify purse at all.

If we re-arrange: "Evelyn's purse was stolen as she was leaving the bank," the meaning is the same.

Be very careful with phrases vs. clauses.
At the cost of stretching the debate on this small topic, I just have one final doubt...

The pronoun she does not have a clear antecedent noun. I feel she refers to the purse and not Evelyn.
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by Danielle » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:27 am
To second Eric, the sentence is correct because of the clause/phrase issue. The first part of the sentence is a phrase, and therefore is not modifying anything. "She" clearly refers to the girl because in English inanimate objects don't have a gender and are referred to with the pronoun "it".
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by sankruth » Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:25 pm
Thanks Danielle!
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by simplyjat » Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:13 pm
Pronoun agreement is utmost important here. It does not matter where the pronoun is: in a phrase, clause or different sentence. It is clearly mentioned in Manhattan SC as "Possessive Poison" under Pronouns strategy.

Consider this sentence from Manhattan SC

Incorrect : "Kathy's suitcase was so stuffed that she decided to pack another one"
Correct : "Kathy's suitcase was so stuffed that Kathy decided to pack another one"

Now coming to Eric's example.
Incorrect : "Evelyn's purse was stolen as she was leaving the bank"
Correct : "Evelyn's purse was stolen as Evelyn was leaving the bank"

Correct me if I am wrong, but as per my knowledge "DO NOT ASSUME that SHE is correct pronoun of EVELYN'S PURSE. "
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by beatthegmat » Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:14 pm
Thanks for that additional explanation, simplyjat!
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by jaiswaln » Sun Jan 13, 2008 5:53 am
simplejat is absolutely correct. One more example on the issue.

Incorrect: " Jose's room is so messy that HIS mother calls HIM a pig"

Correct : " Jose's room is so messy that HIS mother calls Jose a pig"


so similarly is the above example She needs to be replaced with Evelyn.
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possesive poison

by resilient » Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:35 pm
I am going over the pronoun section in the Manhattan sc book. I made a mistake and misunderstood the possessive poison section. From this thread, I am learning this it IS OK to have possessive words in a sentence but must keep the meaning of the antecedent and pronoun very clear and correct. We must do this to not change the meaning into an odd and often humorous deviation from the original meaning. Is this correct please let me know if I got the moral of the story down.

Pronouns were a problem for me but not much longer!
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by xeqtr » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:24 am
In addition, "As she was leaving the bank, Evelyn's purse was stolen " stating the sentence in this shape may very well mean some other girl was leaving the bank as Evelyn's purse was stolen. Thus in that case "she" has no antecedent at all. please correct me if I am wrong.
simplyjat wrote:Pronoun agreement is utmost important here. It does not matter where the pronoun is: in a phrase, clause or different sentence. It is clearly mentioned in Manhattan SC as "Possessive Poison" under Pronouns strategy.

Consider this sentence from Manhattan SC

Incorrect : "Kathy's suitcase was so stuffed that she decided to pack another one"
Correct : "Kathy's suitcase was so stuffed that Kathy decided to pack another one"

Now coming to Eric's example.
Incorrect : "Evelyn's purse was stolen as she was leaving the bank"
Correct : "Evelyn's purse was stolen as Evelyn was leaving the bank"

Correct me if I am wrong, but as per my knowledge "DO NOT ASSUME that SHE is correct pronoun of EVELYN'S PURSE. "
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dangling modifier

by resilient » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:17 pm
yes, XEQTR nice catch. Your point is called a dangling modifier and there is no referent at all and it is only implied. An implication is not enough for the GMAT!
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