KSN27 wrote:
Hi,
I have read the discussions here and most people say this here is trying to reflect the entire clause.
But, i felt this here is referring to the Noun, New Maritime code.
What is the right usage of "this" ?
If you like jargon, "this" is what's called a "determiner." Usually the jargon isn't terribly helpful, but in this case, it's a pretty apt description. "This" helps the reader determine which noun is discussed. For example:
Tim enjoys eating peanut butter out of mousetraps, and this tendency has led to some fairly serious finger wounds.
Here, "this" provides information about the "tendency," informing the reader that we're not talking about a new tendency, but rather, the one that's already been described. Put another way, we're talking about "this" tendency, rather than "that" one.
Typically, on the GMAT, when "this" appears in a correct answer, it'll come before a noun, so it's crystal clear what "this" is describing. When we see "this" standing on its own, the usage is often problematic, as it can be difficult to figure out what it's referring to. Consider another version of the previous sentence:
Tim enjoys eating peanut butter out of mousetraps, and this has led to some fairly serious finger wounds.
Now it's not so obvious what "this" is doing. This peanut butter? (As opposed to
that peanut butter?) It's not clear, so this sentence is less than ideal. Rather than think of it as a strict rule, if you encounter "this" and your first thought is "this
what?" you're likely looking at a problematic construction, if not a strict grammatical error.
Quote:
@Gmatninja- in your videos you said sometimes "it" can refer back to subject of previous clause. how do we know when it is referring to subject of previous clause or some other noun in the sentence.
Again, there's no rule here. But if you see "it" as the subject of a clause, the most logical place to look for a referent would be the subject of the previous clause. For example:
Tim's pet mouse ate too much peanut butter, and now it is too slow and chunky to escape the neighborhood's feral cats.
The subject of the first clause is "Tim's pet mouse," and it makes perfect sense for the mouse to be what's slow and chunky in the second clause. Clearly, not a pronoun error.
But just because there's a logical place to look for a referent, doesn't mean it absolutely has to be there. For example:
When Tim fed his pet mouse chocolate, it broke out in a rash.
No reasonable reader would decide that "it" might refer to "Tim." So, even though "it" is the subject of a clause and also refers to an antecedent that
isn't the subject, I wouldn't treat this as a definitive error.
Overall, here's how I'd evaluate a subject pronoun: if the subject of the previous clause has a noun that could work as the pronoun's referent, you know that the pronoun is fine. If the referent appears to be elsewhere, don't immediately treat it as an error. Rather, ask yourself: 1) is the pronoun genuinely confusing? and 2) is there another option with a clearer construction. If the answer to both questions is "yes," it's not unreasonable to use the pronoun issue as a tie-breaker between answer choices. If you're not sure, look for other, more concrete issues.
I hope that helps!
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