Repeating Pronouns referring to same Antecedent

Question

Hi,

As per MGMAT advanced SC, if a pronoun repeats in a sentence, then all instances are assumed to refer to same antecedent!
Now consider this sentence in the same MGMAT edition: "When the guests finished talking to their friends they were brought plates of salad"
This is said to be ambiguous because THEY can refer to either GUESTS or to FRIENDS..
but using the REPEATING rule:
1. THEIR and THEY are repeating pronouns
2. THEIR refers unambiguously to GUESTS;
3. From 1 and 2, THEY should also refer to GUESTS!

So, is the above pronoun use ambiguous or not??

aditya8062 · Answer

"When the guests finished talking to their friends they were brought plates of salad"

who has told u that this sentence is wrong ? there is no ambiguity

but using the REPEATING rule:
1. THEIR and THEY are repeating pronouns
2. THEIR refers unambiguously to GUESTS;
3. From 1 and 2, THEY should also refer to GUESTS!

pronoun ambiguity is not an absolute rule !!

wazzawayne · Answer

Hey aditya,

Thanks for clarifying that the ambiguity is not an absolute rule;;

This example was given in Manhattan SC as an example of how the placement of a pronoun can lead to ambiguity over its antecedent... as per the book, THEY is closer to friends than it is to Guests; so leads to ambiguity!

So I justed wanted to confirm that I was correct in assuming that there is actually no issue with the construction.. Thanks!

aditya8062 · Answer

This example was given in Manhattan SC as an example of how the placement of a pronoun can lead to ambiguity over its antecedent... as per the book, THEY is closer to friends than it is to Guests; so leads to ambiguity!

are u saying that manhattan book is stating that this sentence has pronoun ambiguity ? .well if that is the case then i am not sure what is the context in which they are saying . which edition of manahattan sc is it? . i guess the manhattan also talks of "proximity" as in when pronoun gets too close to the noun then the pronoun does not refer to that noun .all i can say is manhattan are seldom wrong so may be there is something that we might not be reading correctly .
my advice to u : ask this question in manhattan forum or we can wait till some instructor here makes a comment

aditya8062 · Answer

Thanks for clarifying that the ambiguity is not an absolute rule i say this coz its best not to apply pronoun ambiguity as long as we dont have all the 5 options .i have seen it very often that something which is ambiguous in one question is considered oki in other question !!

Unlimitedgmat · Answer

i say this coz its best not to apply pronoun ambiguity as long as we dont have all the 5 options .i have seen it very often that something which is ambiguous in one question is considered oki in other question !!

I believe the sentence as it is written is ambiguous because there is no clarification as to which noun the 'they' refers to. Regards of the hard and fast rules that are given, grammar such as this is more a case of context so you would need more information than is presented in order to clarify the ambiguity.

This is, however, made easier by the being able to splitting among the answer options. You might find that this would be the best answer option of a bad bunch and so correct by default.

Hope that helps.

Mo

Mo Bazazi
Founder - Unlimited GMAT
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