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by smodak » Thu May 19, 2011 5:15 am
Jane and John are very concerned about their five-year-old twins, so they will be flying to Vermont, where the summer house is located, next Sunday.

The Answer Choices:
A) so they will be flying to Vermont, where the summer house is located, next Sunday
B) so they will be flying to Vermont, where their summer house is located, next Sunday
Correct:
C) so they will be flying them to Vermont, where the summer house is located, next Sunday
D) so they will be flying to Vermont, where the summer houses is located, next Sunday
E) so they will be flying them to Vermont, where the summer house is located, on Sunday.
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by amar66 » Thu May 19, 2011 6:03 am
Here emphasis is on 5-yr old twins so the correct answer choice must show it.
a)pronoun error: antecedent of "They" is not clear. "They" may refer to Jane or John OR 5-yr old twins.
b)same pronoun error
c) Correct: They-->Jane or John & them-->5-yr old twins
d)pronoun error
e)incorrect use of preposition here(You can question like "Which particular Sunday?")"On Sunday" doesn't tell the exact point of time.

Let me know in case I am wrong. Thanks
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by Frankenstein » Thu May 19, 2011 6:36 am
amar66 wrote:Here emphasis is on 5-yr old twins so the correct answer choice must show it.
a)pronoun error: antecedent of "They" is not clear. "They" may refer to Jane or John OR 5-yr old twins.
b)same pronoun error
c) Correct: They-->Jane or John & them-->5-yr old twins
d)pronoun error
e)incorrect use of preposition here(You can question like "Which particular Sunday?")"On Sunday" doesn't tell the exact point of time.

Let me know in case I am wrong. Thanks
Hi,
I don't get the way of you saying "they" is not clear when it is almost the same in all the options. I think B is correct because it specifically mentions "their" house and "They" refers to Jane and John as well as their children.
One more thing I would like is :By your logic, C could mean that parents will fly only their children, without the parents going, which is not the case.
Any expert comments would be appreciated.

Cheers!
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by aspirant2011 » Thu May 19, 2011 8:55 am
I also feel in all the options "they" is ambiguous ...........whether to consider "they equal to parents and children or to consider separate"
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by VivianKerr » Thu May 19, 2011 9:14 am
Remember that a pronoun is "ambiguous" only if it (1) has no clear antecedent, or (2) can logically refer back to more than one noun.

The construction "NOUN..VERB..., so...PRONOUN" makes it fairly clear that the pronoun is referring back to the noun.

Think of "about their five-year-old twins" as an entire prepositional phrase DESCRIBING the type of concern. We can mentally eliminate it like we would an appositive phrase.

Also, just logically, Jane and John are the ones who are "concerned" so they are likely to be doing the "flying."
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by aspirant2011 » Thu May 19, 2011 9:19 am
VivianKerr wrote:Remember that a pronoun is "ambiguous" only if it (1) has no clear antecedent, or (2) can logically refer back to more than one noun.

The construction "NOUN..VERB..., so...PRONOUN" makes it fairly clear that the pronoun is referring back to the noun.

Think of "about their five-year-old twins" as an entire prepositional phrase DESCRIBING the type of concern. We can mentally eliminate it like we would an appositive phrase.

Also, just logically, Jane and John are the ones who are "concerned" so they are likely to be doing the "flying."
thanks a lot vivian :-)
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by amar66 » Thu May 19, 2011 10:45 am
Frankenstein wrote:
Hi,
I don't get the way of you saying "they" is not clear when it is almost the same in all the options. I think B is correct because it specifically mentions "their" house and "They" refers to Jane and John as well as their children.
One more thing I would like is :By your logic, C could mean that parents will fly only their children, without the parents going, which is not the case.
Any expert comments would be appreciated.

Cheers!
Hi, Only in option C & E, antecedent of "They" is clear because of Objective pronoun "them". Since "They" is subjective pronoun it must refer subject that is "John & Jane" whereas "them" is objective pronoun so it must refer "twins".
E is incorrect due to wrong prepositional phrase so C is the only choice left.

Hope it helps. Thanks.!!
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by amar66 » Thu May 19, 2011 10:56 am
VivianKerr wrote:Remember that a pronoun is "ambiguous" only if it (1) has no clear antecedent, or (2) can logically refer back to more than one noun.

The construction "NOUN..VERB..., so...PRONOUN" makes it fairly clear that the pronoun is referring back to the noun.

Think of "about their five-year-old twins" as an entire prepositional phrase DESCRIBING the type of concern. We can mentally eliminate it like we would an appositive phrase.
Hi Vivian,
If we consider "five-year-old twins" as object instead of prepositional phrase then the use of "them" becomes necessary. Consequently option C seems to be right. Pls let me know where my understanding gone wrong.

VivianKerr wrote:Also, just logically, Jane and John are the ones who are "concerned" so they are likely to be doing the "flying."
So it means "twins" won't be flying with Jane and John. Am i correct??? Pls let me know

thanks..
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by VivianKerr » Fri May 20, 2011 11:54 am
@amar66 Since it's part of a prepositional phrase, the "twins" cannot be "they." For all three reasons: idiomatically, logic, and the fact that they are the object of the sentence, there is no pronoun ambiguity here.

The "twins" are not the ones flying since they are not the ones who are "concerned."
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