pronoun

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confuse mind: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 462; Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:08 pmFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 10 times

by confuse mind » Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:01 pm

i found an option in MGMAT tests which they have claimed to be correct

By applying optimization techniques commonly used to plan operations, a company’s managers can determine how much effort should be dedicated to each of the company’s products in order to meet its short and long term goals

I have an issue regarding the highlighted its
What is it referring to ? - product / company

If 'company', then how can it refer to company since company is in possessive mode and thus I feel that company is not the correct antecedent for its.

or is it a possessive - possessive case???

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:01 pm

smackmartine: Legendary Member; Posts: 516; Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 3:22 pmFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 112 times

by smackmartine » Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:12 pm

you can use third person personal pronoun "its" to refer possessive noun (company's) . If you have doubt, replace the pronoun with noun and check its soundness as well as its logical meaning.

By applying optimization techniques commonly used to plan operations, a company’s managers can determine how much effort should be dedicated to each of the company’s products in order to meet company’s short and long term goals.

its,hers,mine,yours,his,ours,theirs etc are also called possessive pronouns ,and hence, can refer to possessive nouns.

VivianKerr: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1035; Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 amFollowed by: 365 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 474 times

by VivianKerr » Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:01 pm

Just logically, "its" refers to the "company" since products do not have goals.

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