Shostakovichs Fourth Symphony had not hardly entered

Question

Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony  had not hardly entered rehearsals when the political climate turned against the composer and made him having  the piece performed impossible.

A. had not hardly entered rehearsals when the political climate turned against the composer and made him having
B. had not hardly entered rehearsals when the political climate turned against the composer and made his having
C. had hardly entered rehearsals when the political climate turned against the composer and made his having
D. had hardly entered rehearsals when the political climate turned against the composer and made him having
E. had hardly entered rehearsals when the political climate turned against the composer and made himself having

Please explain

GMAT TIGER · Answer

A/B is wrong for two negatives "not and hardly" occuring simulteneously.
C. correct for "his having". "him having is incorrect".
D and E are wrong for "him having/himself having".

x2suresh · Answer

Can you elaborate why "his" is correct ? why not "him"

bigtreezl · Answer

C for me

"his having" just sounds better

GMAT TIGER · Answer

No noun is given for him, which cannot refer to Shostakovich’s. But his can refer to Shostakovich’s.
Shostakovich’s is same as his.

ritula · Answer

It shld be C
@suresh, the subject of the sentence is possesive noun (Shostakovich’s). Hence it shlould be his and not him

x2suresh · Answer

Ohh Yaa!!! How can I forget the possessive posion..

Thanks GT and Ritula.

What if setence looks like below

Fourth Symphony of Shostakovich had hardly entered rehearsals when the political climate turned against the composer and made  him/his  having Correct

What do you choose?

JohnLewis1980 · Answer

Hi mates,

IMO  D

Firts, not and hardly should not be in the same sentence: double negation

Then, I think "him" refers to "composer": the political climate turned against the composer and made him having

OA and Source?

Cheers

ritula · Answer

In the sentence u mentioned "him" is correct bcos noun (Shostakovich) is given in the statement. Take a look at this example:
"The department of labor allows the fees of  investment officers  to be based on the performance of the funds  they  manage.

Ohh Yaa!!! How can I forget the possessive posion..

Thanks GT and Ritula.

What if setence looks like below

Fourth Symphony of Shostakovich had hardly entered rehearsals when the political climate turned against the composer and made  him/his  having Correct

What do you choose? quote]

shkusira · Answer

Well in that case Suresh..

I dont think you can still use him, because the subject is still the Fourth symphony of Sch..
NOT Sch..

I think in this case his is pretty clear so i think we should leave it to that, unless someone can clarify really properly if Him can be used in Suresh's new sentence.

sanjay_gmat · Answer

According to Grammar Smart by Princeton Review, in gerund phrases, one must always use ownership words instead of subject/object pronouns before a gerund. So, "his having" is correct and "him having" is not.

mrsmarthi · Answer

Hum...looks like there is a rule in English Grammer: -

Gerund and possessives (fused participle): Some people insist that when a gerund is preceded by a noun or pronoun, the noun or pronoun must be in the possessive case. Accordingly, it is correct to say I can understand his wanting to go, but incorrect to say I can understand him wanting to go. Here is the link.

https://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/028.html

So I will have to go with C.

patedhav · Answer

I will go with C).

"made his having" -> Reason is possessive noun always requires possessive pronoun, as a rule we cannot use the object, subject or reflexive (himself) pronoun to refer the possessive noun.

rishi081992 · Answer

Can someone explain why 'him having' is incorrect.

earnit · Answer

Ok Going by the logic as mentioned in this forum:  Gerund and possessives (fused participle): Some people insist that when a gerund is preceded by a noun or pronoun, the noun or pronoun must be in the possessive case. Accordingly, it is correct to say I can understand his wanting to go, but incorrect to say I can understand him wanting to go.

(C) is the correct choice. However if one needs to break this sentence into clauses for rather clear understanding of what role is played by which word, I am going to give it a try and would require some assistance.

"Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony had hardly entered rehearsals when the political climate turned against the composer and made his having the piece performed impossible"

Clause1:  Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony   had hardly entered  rehearsals
Clause 2: when the political  climate   turned  against the composer and made his having the piece performed impossible

NOTE: Subject is in red color. Verb is underlined.

So the confusion lies in clause 2 if " his having " is a gerund/noun then it should act as a subject and 'performed' should be the verb, thereby making it a separate clause and so requires a comma to precede 'and' ????

Would be really thankful if someone could shed some light on it.

prasi55 · Answer

Dear earnit,

You missed the verb "made". As there are just two verbs "turned" and "made" and the single subject "political climate", you do not need a comma before the "and".

"Performed" is not used as a verb. The political climate made "something" impossible -- that "something" is the complex noun phrase, "his having the piece performed". In this noun phrase, "performed" is a participle that acts as an adjective. The composer cannot have his piece and perform it too.

--Prasad

earnit · Answer

Dear Prasad,

Thank you for your response.

I got the part where you add that 'made' is a verb with respect to Subject 'political climate'. 
So what role is the gerund playing her? "his having the piece" , if this is the subject and there is no verb then it implies that the entire sentence has 2 clauses only?
How would the last sentence fit in the scheme of things?

Shostakovichs Fourth Symphony had not hardly entered

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