Possessive pronouns

Question

Hi All - a question on possessive pronouns for you.

When using "her", "her" can be both a regular and possessive pronoun, correct? This is different to him/his, where his is always possessive. In cases with her, we just need to be clear on whether "her" is functioning as a regular or possessive pronoun, correct?

- Madeline's books are very well reviewed, and many critics consider her works to be future classics.  Antecedent is possessive and so is "her"

- The writing style employed by Madeline is exemplary, and many critics consider her to be one of the greatest writers of our time.  Antecedent is not possessive and neither is "her".

Cez005 · Answer

Hi!

When using her, "her" can be both a regular and possessive pronoun, correct? This is different to him/his, where his is always possessive. In cases with her, we just need to be clear on whether "her" is functioning as a regular or possessive pronoun, correct?

- Madeline's books are very well reviewed, and many critics consider her works to be future classics.  Antecedent is possessive and so is "her"

- The writing style employed by Madeline is exemplary, and many critics consider her to be one of the greatest writers of our time.  Antecedent is not possessive and neither is "her".

GMATNinja · Answer

Interesting question, Cez005. Everything you said here is basically correct.

Quote:

- Madeline's books are very well reviewed, and many critics consider her works to be future classics. Antecedent is possessive and so is "her"

Yes -- both "her" and "Madeline's" are possessive, so you're all good here.

Quote:

- The writing style employed by Madeline is exemplary, and many critics consider her to be one of the greatest writers of our time. Antecedent is not possessive and neither is "her".

Also correct. In this case, "her" is an object pronoun, not a possessive, and it refers unambiguously to Madeline.

So how do they test this on the GMAT? The most common error on the GMAT is when a subject pronoun (he, she, it, they) tries to refer back to a possessive noun. Example: "Amber's husband eats so much that she calls him a pig." In this case, "she" is trying to refer back to "Amber's" -- but that's a no-no on the GMAT, since "Amber's" is possessive.

Another discussion on this topic can be found here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/possessive-p ... 00496.html.

RK007 · Answer

Could you please explain why is D(which has "she") the correct answer for this question in GMAT official guide 2018:

805. 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.
Idiom; Verb form; Logical predication
Th e sentence misuses the locution the better poet .
It is acceptable to say a better poet than but not
the better poet than . If you have already mentioned
two poets X and Y , and you want to say that X is
better than Y , you can either say X is a better poet
than Y , or simply , X is the better poet.
A Th is version of the sentence misuses the
idiom the better poet , most likely confusing it
with the idiom a better poet than .
B   as considered among her contemporaries
as is awkward and unnecessarily creates a
potential misreading (she was considered to
be among her contemporaries).
C Th e subject here is Elizabeth Barrett
Browning’s poetry , not Elizabeth Barrett
Browning , so the antecedent of her in
her husband could comically be taken to
be Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry .
Furthermore, the tense of had been considered
pairs oddly with Later overshadowed . Each
seems to be in reaction to some particular time
T —later than T and earlier than T , but when
T was or its signifi cance is never indicated.
D Correct. Th is version avoids the problems
of the other versions.
E Th is sentence comically compares Elizabeth
Barrett Browning’s poetry to her husband.
Th e correct answer is D.

Brego · Answer

GMATNinja

"So how do they test this on the GMAT? The most common error on the GMAT is when a subject pronoun (he, she, it, they) tries to refer back to a possessive noun. Example: "Amber's husband eats so much that she calls him a pig." In this case, "she" is trying to refer back to "Amber's" -- but that's a no-no on the GMAT, since "Amber's" is possessive."

Wasn't this rule no longer applicable because in one of OG questions "she" was referring to possessive noun: https://gmatclub.com/forum/although-she ... 08881.html

Is it now safe to say that "he, she, it" can refer to possessive pronouns given there is no ambiguity in reference?

Ex - John's knowledge was appreciated by followers, and he was happy to help them

Thank you very much for all the contributions you have made. Your comments helped me numerous times!

GMATNinja · Answer

Thank you for the kind words, Brego ! Glad to hear that some of our stuff has helped a bit.

In all honesty, I think I was wrong in my earlier post in this thread. Historically, the GMAT seemed to frown on sentences in which a non-possessive noun referred back to a possessive noun, and a lot of us (myself included) overreacted to that. When we talk about GMAT "rules", we're mostly inferring them based on what we see in official questions; a lot of things that are considered "wrong" in test-prep guides aren't necessarily wrong in real life. It's just that those things SEEM to be wrong on the GMAT, given the official questions that have been publicly released. So given some of the official questions that we've seen recently, I think the answer to your question is yes: ... though that last part is important. As long as the pronoun is not ambiguous or illogical in some way, it's probably fine. For more on this topic, check out this outstanding post by generis , or this less useful rant about potential ambiguities in these constructions. I hope this helps!

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Possessive pronouns

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