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rajechP
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rajechP
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Zarrolou
rajechP
I wish to know when to use possessive form vs. other form (I do not know name for it). See the ex..

Ex 1. Which one is correct?

1.Laptop of executive was stolen. ( What form is this?)
2. Executive's Laptop was stolen. ( possessive form)

Ex 2. Which one is correct?

1.. Due to encroachment by agents, the reservation centre was packed( What form is this?)
2. Due to agents' encroachment, the reservation centre was packed . ( possessive form)

Pl. help.

In the first example both are fine: "Laptop of the executive " = "the executive's Laptop" and the GMAT won't make you choose between those two forms only.

In the second example both are not correct, in the GMAT world keep in mind that "due to" can be replaced by "caused by" if used correctly. Your sentence seems to say that the "the reservation center was caused by the encroachment ..."=> no sense.

You can recognize a possessive form when you see you can replace the " 's" with "of", as in your first example
"the laptop of executive" = "the executive's Laptop"
"Marc's car" = "car of Marc"
and so on

hope it's clear

Thanks for this.

Could you pl. tell me what is the best way to convey intended meaning for ex. 2?

Also, for the example- Laptop of executive was stolen; What is the name for this grammatical form?
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The meaning in the second example changes a bit

Due to encroachment by agents <== this means that the agents caused the encroachment
Due to agents' encroachment <== this means that the encroachment was of (possessive) the agents.

In normal English both are fine, but in the GMAT we want to be precise and methodical.

Personally I would change 2 into: "the reservation center was packed because of the encroachment by agents"

For the grammatical form of ex 1 refer here:
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-possessive.htm
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Possessive shows clear ownership thus the executive's laptop clearly shows that the executive owns the laptop. However the second form, the laptop of the executive is also technically correct, but it is more wordy and difficult to understand so the possessive is prefereable. However the GMAT is not going to make you choose.

In the second example is different the word by does not indicate possession, instead it indicates that the agents did the encroaching. In choosing between a sentence in which the encroachment was owned by the agents or the agents did the encroaching, the by is preferable. If the sentence had used "of the agents" then it would have been more difficult to choose, and actually I think both may have been incorrect.

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