Last visit was: 18 Nov 2025, 18:59 It is currently 18 Nov 2025, 18:59
Home
GMAT
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Rewards
Chat
My Profile
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
   1   2   3   4   5   6 
655-705 Level|   Comparisons|   Idioms/Diction/Redundancy|   Parallelism|   Pronouns|                           
User avatar
jabhatta2
User avatar
Joined: 15 Dec 2016
Last visit: 21 Apr 2023
Posts: 1,294
Own Kudos:
317
Given Kudos: 188
Posts: 1,294
Kudos: 317
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 07 Nov 2022, 06:14
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Quote:
egmat

Let me try with a simpler analogy

In my screenshot - i dont see any difference between the two sentences.

Is (b) really different than (a) ? in my simpler analogies


Hey jabhatta2

Your analogy says, "one's success was later overshadowed by another's success". However, the original question said "she was later overshadowed by her husband's success".

The success of individuals from two different eras can be compared. But, when you say "a person was overshadowed", it refers to the time the person was living. This is why your analogies work, while the original official sentence does not.

So, please read my previous examples again. I'm sure you'll get the point. Else, please revert.

Abhishek
Show more

Hi Abhishek egmat

I agree that
- Brian Lara was overshadowed by Tendulkars success == is wrong
- Brian Lara's success was overshadowed by Tendulkar's success == right

But my question, using the the screenshot, was a bit different.

My question is regarding this comment from you

Quote:

1. Whenever dealing with a contrast, ask yourself which of the two ideas is the subordinate idea and which is the main idea, LOGICALLY. In other words,
a. Although Elizabeth was considered by her contemporaries the better poet, she was later overshadowed by her husband's success? or
c. Although she was later overshadowed by her husband's success, she was considered by her contemporaries the better poet?
Which of the above makes more sense?
Show more

Using advanced meaning analysis, I dont see the difference between
Athough X, Y
vs
Although Y, X
avatar
TheUltimateWinner
avatar
Schools: Harvard '24 Judge '23 LBS '24 McCombs '24 Mendoza Tepper '24 Ross '24 Cox Marshall '24 Fisher Kelley '24 Jones McDonough '24 Owen '24 Terry BU Simon '24 Katz GWU Mason Babson Gabelli Foster '24 Goizueta '24 Scheller Stern '23 CBS '23 Booth '23 Haas '25 Wharton '25 Stanford '26 Johnson'23 Fuqua '23 Kellogg '23 Kenan-Flagler'23 INSEAD Aug 22 intake Olin '23 Said '23 Sloan '23 Carey Arizona "22 Yale '23 UC Davis Madison '23 Anderson '23 Carroll Carlson '23 Darden '23
Posts: 2,489
Kudos: 2,387
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 15 Nov 2022, 10:33
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Quote:
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.

(A) Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.
(B) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning was considered among her contemporaries as a better poet than her husband, she was later overshadowed by his success.
(C) Later overshadowed by the success of her husband, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry had been considered among her contemporaries to be better than that of her husband.
(D) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her husband, among her contemporaries she was considered the better poet.
(E) Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry was considered among her contemporaries as better than her husband, but her success was later overshadowed by his.
Show more
Hi Experts,
In choice E, the ‘than’ is a comparable word. One of the prominent experts in gmatclub said in another post that we can’t compare adjective with noun. Can we cross out choice E as adjective (better) is compared with noun (her husband)? I know that 'Browning's poetry' is compared with 'her husband' in real sense, but if we just look at the highlighted part it seems that the comparable things are 'better' and 'her husband'. Choice C also seems the same thing [i.e., adjective (better) with noun (poetry)]
User avatar
egmat
User avatar
e-GMAT Representative
Joined: 02 Nov 2011
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,108
Own Kudos:
32,884
 [1]
Given Kudos: 700
GMAT Date: 08-19-2020
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,108
Kudos: 32,884
 [1]
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 15 Nov 2022, 22:24
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
jabhatta2

Using advanced meaning analysis, I dont see the difference between
Athough X, Y
vs
Although Y, X
Show more


Hey jabhatta2

Happy to help.

First, allow me to explain the difference between a subordinate idea and a main idea using the construct "Although X, Y", with the help of a few examples:

A. Although he was incorrectly described therein as a medical doctor, his name was mentioned in the article.
B. Although his name was mentioned in the article, he was incorrectly described therein as a medical doctor.

In sentence A, the main idea is that 'his name was mentioned in the article'. Such a sentence will be used in a context in which the author wishes to emphasize the fact that this person's name was mentioned.

In sentence B, the main idea is that 'he was incorrectly described as a medical doctor'. Such a sentence will be used in a context in which the author wishes to emphasize or highlight the flaw in the article.

So, these two sentences are NOT interchangeable. The context usually decides which clause should be used as the main clause and which the subordinate.



Now, on a separate note, let's look at choice A, and try to make sense of it:

A: Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.

The primary source of confusion here is the word 'later'. If Elizabeth was considered among her contemporaries the better poet than her husband (this applies to Elizabeth's lifetime), how can Elizabeth be "later" overshadowed by someone or something else? "Overshadowed" means "to make somebody/something seem less important, or successful". So, if Elizabeth was overshadowed by her husband, it would had to have happened while she was alive and not 'later'. This is why this version of the sentence seems to convey an illogical meaning.


D: Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her husband, among her contemporaries she was considered the better poet.

By, first of all, comparing Elizabeth's success with her husband's success, we eliminate that "time constraint", because the success of one individual can be compared with the success of another, across timelines.

Second, by making "Elizabeth Barrett Browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her husband" the subordinate contrasting idea, we create a logical sentence. Even though her husband became more successful later, Elizabeth was considered the better poet among her contemporaries. - Makes sense.

Let's reverse D to - Although among her contemporaries she was considered the better poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her husband. Ask yourself, 'does this make sense?'.

The answer is "NO". Why?

It is because there's no logical contrast. Even though A was considered better than B among A's contemporaries, B's success could very easily overshadow A's success over a period of time. There's no reason to be surprised about it, because the things that the success of a poet depends on can change over time. The success depends on the number of readers of the poet, the tastes of those readers, and even on how prolific the poet is. The "SURPRISE" or "CONTRAST" is created only when we say, "Even though A's success was later overshadowed by B's success, A was considered among A's contemporaries the better poet than B."


I hope you see it now.


Happy Learning!


Abhishek :)
User avatar
egmat
User avatar
e-GMAT Representative
Joined: 02 Nov 2011
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,108
Own Kudos:
32,884
Given Kudos: 700
GMAT Date: 08-19-2020
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,108
Kudos: 32,884
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 15 Nov 2022, 22:58
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
TheUltimateWinner
Quote:
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.

(A) Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.
(B) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning was considered among her contemporaries as a better poet than her husband, she was later overshadowed by his success.
(C) Later overshadowed by the success of her husband, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry had been considered among her contemporaries to be better than that of her husband.
(D) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her husband, among her contemporaries she was considered the better poet.
(E) Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry was considered among her contemporaries as better than her husband, but her success was later overshadowed by his.
Hi Experts,
In choice E, the ‘than’ is a comparable word. One of the prominent experts in gmatclub said in another post that we can’t compare adjective with noun. Can we cross out choice E as adjective (better) is compared with noun (her husband)? I know that 'Browning's poetry' is compared with 'her husband' in real sense, but if we just look at the highlighted part it seems that the comparable things are 'better' and 'her husband'. Choice C also seems the same thing [i.e., adjective (better) with noun (poetry)]
Show more

Hey TheUltimateWinner

Happy to help.

Although you're right that we do not compare an adjective with a noun, answer choice E does NOT compare an adjective with a noun. Allow me to elaborate with examples:

    a. Tony is smarter than Rocky.
Ask yourself, what are the things being compared in the example above? Is it "smarter" and "Rocky"? Or is it "Tony" and "Rocky"?

I hope you see that the things being compared are "Tony" and "Rocky". "Smarter" is merely the aspect of comparison.


Use this tool:

When we say "X is more Z than Y":

    a. X and Y are being compared.
    b. X is similar/ dissimilar to Y.
    c. X is like/unlike Y.
    d. Z is the aspect of comparison - or X and Y are being compared in the aspect of Z.
    e. Z is the similarity or dissimilarity between X and Y.


Applying the above to choice E - Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry was considered among her contemporaries as better than her husband - we get:

    X = Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry
    Y = her husband
    Z = Quality (better)

So, choice E is incorrect because of:

    a. Illogical comparison between 'poetry' and 'husband'
    b. Incorrect idiom "considered as" (we don't use 'as' after 'considered')
    c. Illogical association "among her contemporaries" - Elizabeth's poetry cannot be included in Elizabeth's contemporaries, only Elizabeth can be included among her contemporaries


I hope this helps improve your understanding.

Happy Learning!


Abhishek :)
avatar
TheUltimateWinner
avatar
Schools: Harvard '24 Judge '23 LBS '24 McCombs '24 Mendoza Tepper '24 Ross '24 Cox Marshall '24 Fisher Kelley '24 Jones McDonough '24 Owen '24 Terry BU Simon '24 Katz GWU Mason Babson Gabelli Foster '24 Goizueta '24 Scheller Stern '23 CBS '23 Booth '23 Haas '25 Wharton '25 Stanford '26 Johnson'23 Fuqua '23 Kellogg '23 Kenan-Flagler'23 INSEAD Aug 22 intake Olin '23 Said '23 Sloan '23 Carey Arizona "22 Yale '23 UC Davis Madison '23 Anderson '23 Carroll Carlson '23 Darden '23
Posts: 2,489
Kudos: 2,387
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 17 Nov 2022, 14:49
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
ENGRTOMBA2018
srikrishnans92
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.

A, Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.
B, Although Elizabeth Barrett Brwoning was considered among her contemporaries as a better poet than her husband, she was later overshadowed by his success.
C, Later overshadowed by the success of her husband, Elizabeth Barrett Brwoning's poetry had been considered among her contemporaries to be better than that of her husband.
D, Although Elizabeth Barrett browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her husband, among her contemporaries she was considered the better poet.
E, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry was considered among her contemporaries as better than her husband, but her success was later overshadowed by his husband.

The correct idiom is Consider x y and not consider x as y or consider x to be y or consider x as y or any other form.

Text in green: correct
Text in red: reasons due to which those particular options were incorrect.

A, Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.
B, Although Elizabeth Barrett Brwoning was considered among her contemporaries as a better poet than her husband, she was later overshadowed by his success.
C, Later overshadowed by the success of her husband, Elizabeth Barrett Brwoning's poetry had been considered among her contemporaries to be better than that of her husband.
D, Although Elizabeth Barrett browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her husband, among her contemporaries she was considered the better poet.
E, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry was considered among her contemporaries as better than her husband, but her success was later overshadowed by his husband.

Additional reasons for eliminating incorrect options:

When you start a sentence with Although....., [X] .... ; [X] must logically and grammatically link with the part in "Although.....". This eliminates A as the first word after comma should be Elizabeth Barrett.

Similarly, C makes an illogical comparison between EBB's poetry and success of her husband. Does not make sense. Option E makes a similar logic error by comparing poetry with her husband (and not her husband's poetry!!).
Show more
Hi ENGRTOMBA2018,
Poetry to poetry ?
Or poetry to success?
Which one?
avatar
TheUltimateWinner
avatar
Schools: Harvard '24 Judge '23 LBS '24 McCombs '24 Mendoza Tepper '24 Ross '24 Cox Marshall '24 Fisher Kelley '24 Jones McDonough '24 Owen '24 Terry BU Simon '24 Katz GWU Mason Babson Gabelli Foster '24 Goizueta '24 Scheller Stern '23 CBS '23 Booth '23 Haas '25 Wharton '25 Stanford '26 Johnson'23 Fuqua '23 Kellogg '23 Kenan-Flagler'23 INSEAD Aug 22 intake Olin '23 Said '23 Sloan '23 Carey Arizona "22 Yale '23 UC Davis Madison '23 Anderson '23 Carroll Carlson '23 Darden '23
Posts: 2,489
Kudos: 2,387
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 22 Nov 2022, 11:43
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AjiteshArun
Skywalker18
To eliminate option B, do we use
1. idiom(Consider X Y) ?
2. Comparison issue - she was later overshadowed by his success? (We also have a similar construction in option A, though A is incorrect because Although.. should be followed by EBB)

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , MagooshExpert , GMATGuruNY , VeritasPrepBrian , MartyTargetTestPrep , DmitryFarber , VeritasKarishma , generis , EducationAisle , other experts - please enlighten
Hi Skywalker18,

I'd go with the meaning issue that you mention in (2), as I try to start with something other than idiomatic usage (especially consider X Y!). By the way, option A also has the better poet than. The better poet is fine, as is a better poet than, but the better poet than is incorrect.
Show more
Hello AjiteshArun,
Would you mind if I wish to have a little clarification on the following issue?
What’s the reason to say ‘the better poet than’ is wrong but ‘the better poet’ and ‘a better poet than’ is right?
avatar
TheUltimateWinner
avatar
Schools: Harvard '24 Judge '23 LBS '24 McCombs '24 Mendoza Tepper '24 Ross '24 Cox Marshall '24 Fisher Kelley '24 Jones McDonough '24 Owen '24 Terry BU Simon '24 Katz GWU Mason Babson Gabelli Foster '24 Goizueta '24 Scheller Stern '23 CBS '23 Booth '23 Haas '25 Wharton '25 Stanford '26 Johnson'23 Fuqua '23 Kellogg '23 Kenan-Flagler'23 INSEAD Aug 22 intake Olin '23 Said '23 Sloan '23 Carey Arizona "22 Yale '23 UC Davis Madison '23 Anderson '23 Carroll Carlson '23 Darden '23
Posts: 2,489
Kudos: 2,387
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 23 Nov 2022, 13:41
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
EducationAisle
raj44
But doesnt choice D have a pronoun problem? there's no noun for her/she to refer to , and also the noun that it intends to refer to appears in Apostrophe and pronoun cannot refer to a noun in an apostrophe?
This question has a historical significance in the annals of GMAT anthology :) .

For the first time in the available official sources, was it evident that GMAT is perfectly fine with a subject pronoun referring to a possessive noun.

It had been known for quite some time that GMAT was ok with an object pronoun referring to a possessive noun; however, most GMAT instructors continued to believe that GMAT would not be ok with a subject pronoun referring to a possessive noun.

This question proved otherwise and hence, continues to be a very cited question for this reason.
Show more
EducationAisle
Can you share the possessive and non-possessive issues that GMAC tolerate now a days, please?
User avatar
EducationAisle
User avatar
Joined: 27 Mar 2010
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 3,891
Own Kudos:
3,579
Given Kudos: 159
Location: India
Schools: ISB
GPA: 3.31
Expert
Expert reply
Schools: ISB
Posts: 3,891
Kudos: 3,579
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 28 Nov 2022, 20:27
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
TheUltimateWinner

EducationAisle
Can you share the possessive and non-possessive issues that GMAC tolerate now a days, please?
Show more
Pretty much everything seems to be tolerated by GMAC, in this aspect.

However, I continue to suggest that options in which a subject pronoun referring to a possessive noun, should not be your first choice. Only if other options have significant errors, should you circle back to the option in which in which a subject pronoun referring to a possessive noun.

The sentence in question is actually the only official sentence I have come across so far, in which a subject pronoun referring to a possessive noun.
User avatar
Mandeep1357
User avatar
Joined: 07 Oct 2019
Last visit: 19 Dec 2022
Posts: 26
Own Kudos:
19
 [1]
Given Kudos: 6
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 26
Kudos: 19
 [1]
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 29 Nov 2022, 04:06
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
If we compare options vertically,

we have a difference of

"consider", "consider....as...." and "consider...to be..."

In GMAT,

do not use "as" or "to be" with "consider", "pronounced" and 'Declare"

In A and C, "consider...to be..." is used...Eliminate

In B and E, "consider .....as...." is used....Eliminate


Hence, D is correct
User avatar
jabhatta2
User avatar
Joined: 15 Dec 2016
Last visit: 21 Apr 2023
Posts: 1,294
Own Kudos:
317
 [1]
Given Kudos: 188
Posts: 1,294
Kudos: 317
 [1]
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 29 Nov 2022, 08:08
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Meaning Analysis

Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband,
later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.

The sentence presents a contrast, as the word ‘although’ suggests. It says:

Even though Elizabeth was considered among her contemporary poets a better poet than her husband, her husband later became more successful than her.

Error Analysis

The sentence has two errors:

(1) When comparing two entities in a regular comparison “better.. than”, we do not use the article “the”; we use “a”.

In other words, we do not say “X is the better person than Y”; we say “X is a better person than Y”.

If you think about it, the rule makes sense given the general use of the articles “a” and “the”.

Saying “X is the better person than Y” would mean that there is only one person better than Y, and that person is X.

However, we do not want to mean that X is the only person better than Y. Therefore, it makes sense that we say “X is a better person than Y”.

(2) “Overshadow” means “more prominent or more important”. Therefore, it is a form of a comparison.

The original sentence says “Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success”.

Thus, we are comparing a person with another person’s success. Such a comparison is not correct.

Either we should compare a person with a person (Elizabeth was overshadowed by her husband) or we should compare the success of one with that of another (Elizabeth’s success was overshadowed by her husband’s success)

Option Analysis

(A) Incorrect. As discussed above.

(B) Incorrect. For two reasons:

(1) “consider X Y” and “consider X to be Y” are significantly more preferred idioms than “consider X as Y”. If there are two exactly same options in all other terms: one with “consider X as Y” and the other with “consider X Y”, always choose the latter one.

(2) It has the same comparison error as option A (compares Elizabeth with her husband’s success)

(C) Incorrect. For the below reason:

The sentence starts with a verb-ed modifier “overshadowed…”. The subject of the sentence is “poetry”. Since “Elizabeth Barrett Browning” is in the possessive form, it is acting as an adjective to poetry. Therefore, given the structure of the sentence, it means that her poetry was overshadowed by the success of her husband. Clearly, we have an illogical comparison here. We are comparing poetry of one person with success of another person

(D) Correct. The comparison is correct. We are comparing the success of one person with the success of another person. Besides, when the two parties of a comparison have been mentioned earlier, we can say “X is the better poet”. The reason is that in this case, only one person (from the two) is better than the other. Therefore, it makes sense to use “the”.

(E) Incorrect. For the below reasons:

(1) The use of “considered as” – as explained in option B

(2) In this option, we are comparing “Elizabeth’s poetry” with her husband. Clearly, illogical.

(3) Even though logically, the antecedent of “her” is clear, the structure seems to indicate that “her” refers to “poetry”. Even though I wouldn’t suggest that one reject an option statement just for this structural issue, I would say that one should always prefer an option with a better structure than this one.

Additional Notes
This question is one of the precedent-setting questions.

In the correct option D, “she” – a pronoun – refers to “Elizabeth Barrett Browning”, which only appears in the possessive or the adjective form. Therefore, in this question, a pronoun is referring to anything other than a noun. Such a use had been considered an error before this question.
avatar
TheUltimateWinner
avatar
Schools: Harvard '24 Judge '23 LBS '24 McCombs '24 Mendoza Tepper '24 Ross '24 Cox Marshall '24 Fisher Kelley '24 Jones McDonough '24 Owen '24 Terry BU Simon '24 Katz GWU Mason Babson Gabelli Foster '24 Goizueta '24 Scheller Stern '23 CBS '23 Booth '23 Haas '25 Wharton '25 Stanford '26 Johnson'23 Fuqua '23 Kellogg '23 Kenan-Flagler'23 INSEAD Aug 22 intake Olin '23 Said '23 Sloan '23 Carey Arizona "22 Yale '23 UC Davis Madison '23 Anderson '23 Carroll Carlson '23 Darden '23
Posts: 2,489
Kudos: 2,387
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 29 Nov 2022, 10:59
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
EducationAisle
TheUltimateWinner

EducationAisle
Can you share the possessive and non-possessive issues that GMAC tolerate now a days, please?
Pretty much everything seems to be tolerated by GMAC, in this aspect.

However, I continue to suggest that options in which a subject pronoun referring to a possessive noun, should not be your first choice. Only if other options have significant errors, should you circle back to the option in which in which a subject pronoun referring to a possessive noun.

The sentence in question is actually the only official sentence I have come across so far, in which a subject pronoun referring to a possessive noun.
Show more
EducationAisle
Thanks for the suggestion. I think we should not care about this issue as GMAC is flexible now a days.
User avatar
jabhatta2
User avatar
Joined: 15 Dec 2016
Last visit: 21 Apr 2023
Posts: 1,294
Own Kudos:
317
 [2]
Given Kudos: 188
Posts: 1,294
Kudos: 317
 [2]
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 29 Nov 2022, 16:23
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
SC Misconception #1 – A regular pronoun cannot refer to a noun in possessive form

This article is the first in a series of articles on SC Misconceptions. In this series, I’m going to address many misconceptions prevalent among GMAT aspirants.

The misconception addressed in this post is:

A regular pronoun (a.k.a - Subject pronoun - see list below) cannot refer to a noun in the possessive form.

For example, according to this rule, the following sentence is incorrect since ‘he’ cannot refer to ‘Raj’ since Raj is in a possessive form Raj’s.

Although Raj’s parents are wealthy, he has financial struggles.

However, this rule was violated in an SC question that appeared in an official guide that was released not 1 or 2 but 5 years back. Even five years after this rule was violated in an official SC question, many people continue to believe in it.

Here’s the official question I’m referring to:

Quote:
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.

(A) Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.
(B) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning was considered among her contemporaries as a better poet than her husband, she was later overshadowed by his success.
(C) Later overshadowed by the success of her husband, Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry had been considered among her contemporaries to be better than that of her husband.
(D) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s success was later overshadowed by that of her husband, among her contemporaries she was considered the better poet.
(E) Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry was considered among her contemporaries as better than her husband, but her success was later overshadowed by his.

Show more

The correct option is D.

As you can notice that in the correct option, the pronoun ‘she’ is referring to the noun Elizabeth Barrett Browning, even though the noun appears in the possessive form.

Thus, don’t mind if a subject pronoun refers to a noun in possessive form. This usage is acceptable in English and has appeared in an official SC question that has continued to be a part of all official guides since OG 2016.
Attachments

screenshot 3.jpg
screenshot 3.jpg [ 35.74 KiB | Viewed 2281 times ]

User avatar
Shrirupa
User avatar
Joined: 02 Dec 2021
Last visit: 09 Feb 2024
Posts: 150
Own Kudos:
48
Given Kudos: 14
Schools: ISB '25 (A)
Schools: ISB '25 (A)
Posts: 150
Kudos: 48
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 22 Dec 2022, 08:03
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Although ( conjuction ) she ( Pronoun referring to Elizabeth ) was considered ( verb phrase ) among her contemporaries ( prepositional phrase modifying the verb phrase ) to be the better poet than her husband ( comparison structure ), later Elizabeth Barrett Browning( Main subject ) was overshadowed ( verb phrase ) by his success.


(A) Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success ( elizabth was overshadowed by someone's success is wrong, the better is wrong

(B) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning was considered among her contemporaries as a better poet than her husband, she was later overshadowed by his success. ( was considered as a better poet is wrong, the meaning wise the contrast does not make much sense. she ( should have been her success ) was overshadowed by his success is wrong

(C) Later overshadowed by the success of her husband, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry had been considered among her contemporaries to be better than that of her husband. ( The contrast that is needed is not present here, poetry is overshadowed by success is wrong )

(D) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her husband, among her contemporaries she was considered the better poet. ( Correct )

(E) Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry was considered among her contemporaries as better than her husband, but her success was later overshadowed by his. ( poetry was considered than her husband is wrong )
User avatar
vishalgaurav4444
User avatar
Joined: 15 Oct 2022
Last visit: 20 Jun 2024
Posts: 20
Own Kudos:
10
Given Kudos: 48
Location: India
Concentration: Finance, Entrepreneurship
Posts: 20
Kudos: 10
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 09 Jun 2023, 07:04
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
srikrishnans92
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.


(A) Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.

(B) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning was considered among her contemporaries as a better poet than her husband, she was later overshadowed by his success.

(C) Later overshadowed by the success of her husband, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry had been considered among her contemporaries to be better than that of her husband.

(D) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her husband, among her contemporaries she was considered the better poet.

(E) Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry was considered among her contemporaries as better than her husband, but her success was later overshadowed by his.



Question No.: SC 805


Show Spoiler
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

(A) Comparison / Idiom (the better poet than)

(B) Idiom (considered as)

(C) Modifier / Meaning (Later overshadowed …)

(D) CORRECT

(E) Idiom (considered as); Comparison (X is better than Y)

First glance

The entire sentence is underlined. Full-underline problems often test one of the Big 4 topics: Structure, Meaning, Modifiers, and Parallelism.

Issues

(1) Comparison / Idiom: the better poet than

Comparison: X is better than Y

The better poet than is not a proper comparison construction.

One person can be a better poet than another person. When speaking of two people, you can also say that one person is the better poet. Starting the phrase with the word the (instead of a) indicates that you have already mentioned the two people in question. Since this is the case, you do not need to make a full comparison (this person is a better poet than the other person). You can just say that, of the two people, this person is the better poet. Eliminate choice (A).

The other four choices do not make this specific mistake, but choice (E) does introduce a different comparison error. Browning’s poetry was … better than her husband. Comparisons must compare similar things—poetry to poetry or person to person. In this choice, though, poetry is compared to a person (her husband). Eliminate choice (E).

(2) Idiom: considered as

The answers differ in their treatment of the word considered. Choices (A) and (C) use considered … to be X, choices (B) and (E) use considered … as X, and choice D uses considered X.

It is correct to say considered X (She considers him funny). It can be acceptable to say considered to be X (She considers him to be funny), though the to be is not necessary and, in some cases, is considered wrong. If you see considered to be X, be suspicious, but look for something more solid to eliminate that choice.

Considered as X (She considers him as funny) is almost always incorrect. You can eliminate answer choices based on this construction. In this case, eliminate choices (B) and (E).

(3) Modifier / Meaning: Later overshadowed …

Choice (C) begins with an opening modifier: Later overshadowed by the success of her husband, Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry had been …

This choice compares her husband’s success to her own poetry. The comparison should be either between her husband’s success and Browning’s success (Later overshadowed by the success of her husband, Browning’s success …) or between the poetry of each person (Later overshadowed by the success of her husband’s poetry, Browning’s poetry ….). Eliminate (C) for a faulty comparison.

The Correct Answer

Correct answer (D) properly compares Browning’s success to that [the success] of her husband. It also uses the later comparison idiom correctly: she was considered the better poet.
Show more



Is it correct to say that the proper comparison would be between the success of both husband and wife? Only D maintains that. A, B, and C compare Elizabeth herself to her husband's success. While E doesn't mention by his what?
User avatar
Deep32470
User avatar
Joined: 06 Apr 2023
Last visit: 12 Sep 2023
Posts: 85
Own Kudos:
4
Given Kudos: 283
Location: India
Posts: 85
Kudos: 4
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 09 Jun 2023, 22:00
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.


(A) Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.

(B) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning was considered among her contemporaries as a better poet than her husband, she was later overshadowed by his success.

(C) Later overshadowed by the success of her husband, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry had been considered among her contemporaries to be better than that of her husband.

(D) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her husband, among her contemporaries she was considered the better poet.

(E) Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry was considered among her contemporaries as better than her husband, but her success was later overshadowed by his.

Took 1:14 minutes for this. One rule which i know is consider is not followed by 'as' or 'to be', hence i didn't read all other options fully (just saw where as or to be is there after consider & eliminated them) and thus left with D.
However this can backfire when questions are somewhat trickier.

Regards,
Deepak B
User avatar
GMATking94
User avatar
Joined: 16 Jan 2022
Last visit: 18 Apr 2025
Posts: 180
Own Kudos:
75
Given Kudos: 125
Status:Do or Die
Location: India
Schools: IIMB '25 (A) IIMC '25 (A) IIMA '25 (D) ISB '25 (I)
GMAT 1: 700 Q48 V37
GPA: 4
WE:Operations (Energy)
Products:
My Reviews
Schools: IIMB '25 (A) IIMC '25 (A) IIMA '25 (D) ISB '25 (I)
GMAT 1: 700 Q48 V37
Posts: 180
Kudos: 75
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 04 Jul 2023, 09:07
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
srikrishnans92
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.


(A) Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better poet than her husband, later Elizabeth Barrett Browning was overshadowed by his success.

(B) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning was considered among her contemporaries as a better poet than her husband, she was later overshadowed by his success.

(C) Later overshadowed by the success of her husband, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry had been considered among her contemporaries to be better than that of her husband.

(D) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her husband, among her contemporaries she was considered the better poet.

(E) Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry was considered among her contemporaries as better than her husband, but her success was later overshadowed by his.



Question No.: SC 805

Show more

Hi Experts,

I get the logic of using the possessive noun form Elizabeth Barrett Browning's but would want to clear a basic doubt.

Let's consider the correct answer choice -

(D) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her (Elizabeth Barrett Browning's) husband, among her (Elizabeth Barrett Browning's) contemporaries she (Elizabeth Barrett Browning's) was considered the better poet.

Does the possessive noun form fine for the pronoun "She"...?

Please through some light on this.

GMATNinja KarishmaB MartyTargetTestPrep AjiteshArun
User avatar
MartyTargetTestPrep
User avatar
Target Test Prep Representative
Joined: 24 Nov 2014
Last visit: 11 Aug 2023
Posts: 3,476
Own Kudos:
5,579
Given Kudos: 1,430
Status:Chief Curriculum and Content Architect
Affiliations: Target Test Prep
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V51
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V51
Posts: 3,476
Kudos: 5,579
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 04 Jul 2023, 09:17
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
GMATking94
Hi Experts,

I get the logic of using the possessive noun form Elizabeth Barrett Browning's but would want to clear a basic doubt.

Let's consider the correct answer choice -

(D) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her (Elizabeth Barrett Browning's) husband, among her (Elizabeth Barrett Browning's) contemporaries she (Elizabeth Barrett Browning's) was considered the better poet.

Does the possessive noun form fine for the pronoun "She"...?

Please through some light on this.
Show more
The pronoun "she" has to refer to "Elizabeth Barrett Browning" rather than ""Elizabeth Barrett Browning's."

So, even though only "Elizabeth Barrett Browning's" appears before "she" in the sentence, "she" is understood to mean "Elizabeth Barrett Browning," with "Elizabeth Barrett Browning's" serving as a loose representation of what "she" refers to.
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,949
Own Kudos:
5,080
Given Kudos: 732
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 5,949
Kudos: 5,080
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 04 Jul 2023, 20:26
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
GMATking94
Hi Experts,

I get the logic of using the possessive noun form Elizabeth Barrett Browning's but would want to clear a basic doubt.

Let's consider the correct answer choice -

(D) Although Elizabeth Barrett Browning's success was later overshadowed by that of her (Elizabeth Barrett Browning's) husband, among her (Elizabeth Barrett Browning's) contemporaries she (Elizabeth Barrett Browning's) was considered the better poet.

Does the possessive noun form fine for the pronoun "She"...?

Please through some light on this.

GMATNinja KarishmaB MartyTargetTestPrep AjiteshArun
Show more
Hi GMATking94,

Yes, we can use pronouns that refer to the noun even when the antecedent is a possessive noun.

1. Clinton's experience ended up weakening her candidature. ← Her is a possessive pronoun here.
is the same as
2. Clinton's experience ended up weakening Clinton's candidature.

3. Clinton's experience worked against her, because she was seen as being part of the "swamp". ← She is a subject pronoun, and her is an object pronoun here.
is the same as
4. Clinton's experience worked against Clinton, because Clinton was seen as being part of the "swamp".

Some (very few!) people think that sentence 3 is not possible, but this is very common usage.
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 18,835
Own Kudos:
986
Posts: 18,835
Kudos: 986
Although she was considered among her contemporaries to be the better 11 Oct 2024, 01:57
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
   1   2   3   4   5   6 
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7445 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
234 posts
miag
188 posts