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Can we use "its" for the noun "public ?

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Can we use "its" for the noun "public ?

by bblast » Wed Jan 05, 2011 6:38 am
Based on recent box office receipts, the public's appetite for documentary films, like nonfiction books, seems to be on the rise.


like nonfiction books
as nonfiction books
as its interest in nonfiction books
like their interest in nonfiction books
like its interest in nonfiction books

answer after some discussion
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by prachich1987 » Wed Jan 05, 2011 8:29 am
Usage of like is inappropriate here.Documentary films are not like non-fiction books.Here the author is comparing the public's appetite for documentary films with public's interest in non-fiction books.

Hence we can eliminate A,D & E

According to MGMAT SC Guide -Chapter No.3-Subject Verb Agreement "ON THE GMAT COLLECTIVE NOUNS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS CONSIDERED SINGULAR"

Between B & C ,the later is clear.

IMO : C
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by bblast » Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:00 am
prachich1987 wrote:Usage of like is inappropriate here.Documentary films are not like non-fiction books.Here the author is comparing the public's appetite for documentary films with public's interest in non-fiction books.

Hence we can eliminate A,D & E

According to MGMAT SC Guide -Chapter No.3-Subject Verb Agreement "ON THE GMAT COLLECTIVE NOUNS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS CONSIDERED SINGULAR"

Between B & C ,the later is clear.

IMO : C
No prachich, here we are comparing
1>the public's appetite
2>the public's interest.
Appetite and interest are being compared here therefore Like is a must.

my doubt on its is still unanswered. I agree collective noun cannot be theirs, but it ??

OA is E, my say was D
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by arora007 » Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:12 am
is the choice D the correct answer?
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by arora007 » Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:39 am
Pushkal , I guess ur post came in before mine...so could not see the OA...aneways...

okay let me try and make something up....

The public is not happy, it wants a change!

The public is not happy, they want a change!

which sounds better? which is grammatically correct?
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by bblast » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:55 am
arora007 wrote:Pushkal , I guess ur post came in before mine...so could not see the OA...aneways...

okay let me try and make something up....

The public is not happy, it wants a change!

The public is not happy, they want a change!

which sounds better? which is grammatically correct?
Makes sense !
I think u have a point here, the use of the makes public explicitly singular, but still using IT did not go down well in my opinion, maybe some MGMAT expert will highlight as to when to use IT referring to living things.

I guess it is correct to use it with public, if we were to say "people's appetite for documentary films", then their would be appropriate, as people is plural.
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by fitzgerald23 » Thu Jan 06, 2011 7:07 am
I think for the GMAT you almost always have to take collective nouns as singular because they are assumed to be acting as a unit. There are instances where they will use some collective nouns as plural (I believe Manhattan refers mainly to "A number of" vs "The number of" as one of the instances where you take it as plural).

In general I think the only time that you take collective nouns as plural is if the people are taking individual actions. For example:

The team faces its toughest opponent
The team changes out of their uniform

The difference is that collectively the team is playing the game, but they change their clothes as individuals. I dont think the GMAT would ever go into anything like this though. I think that is beyond the scope of what they test.
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