From an English grammar standpoint I can say there is not a hard and fast rule about not using a possessive with inanimate objects. There is certainly evidence that there is a preference toward avoiding possessives with inanimate objects but reputable grammar books allow for this usage and there are plenty of examples out there where possessives are used with inanimate objects.

I haven't seen this issue come up on the GMAT. If anyone has I would be interested to know about it.

KW

Posted from my mobile device
_________________

1st step: Check if the Subject and the verb agree.
In this case, there is no Subject verb agreement error.
Use the Acronym, VIPMPS to check for the common grammatical errors tested on the GMAT.
V: Verb Tense
I: Idioms
P: Pronouns
M: Misplaced Modifier
P : Parallelism
S : Subject Verb Agreement.
This acronym is not in a hierarchical order; you always check for the Subject Verb agreement first.
We will now use the Process of Elimination to eliminate wrong answers and hold on to the right one.

A. an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system’s ability to deal. (Correct Answer.) The subject and verb agree and it is clear that the Pronoun ‘it’ refers to ‘ sulphur dioxide and not acid rain, as ‘ a major contributor to acid rain’ is a modifying phrase which modifies Sulphur Dioxide. ‘Ability to’ is the correct idiom usage.

B. an especially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system’s capability of dealing (“ because of diminishing” is not a correct usage as ‘because of” is usually followed by a Noun phrase which gives a reason for something.) “capability of ……...ing is unidiomatic

C. an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system in dealing-Can be knocked off) “capability in …………………….. Ing is not the correct idiomatic usage

D. a specially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system to deal: This option can be knocked off as : “Specially” means in a special way and therefore is incorrect here. In the context of this sentence, “Especially”, which means ‘in particular’ or ‘ than the others’ should be used
E. a specially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system’s ability to deal: This option can be knocked off for two reasons: “Specially” means in a special way and therefore is incorrect here. In the context of this sentence, “Especially”, which means ‘in particular’ or ‘ than the others’ should be used” AND “ because of diminishing” is not a correct usage as ‘because of” is usually followed by a Noun phrase which gives a reason for something.) “capability of ……...ing is unidiomatic

CORRECT ANSWER: A

Hi GMATNinja,
is option D wrong because it uses specially instead of especially?
i don't think Capability of the respiratory system is making this option incorrect. am i right?

Regards,
Kshitij

I didn't understand Ron's point #2 & #3, that are,

GMAT will tolerate pronoun ambiguity if
2. the PRONOUN is PARALLEL to the INTENDED NOUN
3. the PRONOUN is NOT PARALLEL to the other NOUNS (s)

He said: in the first clause:
Sulphur Dioxide is the subject ; acid rain is the object of preposition
In the second clause: ’it’ is the subject; 'diminishes' is the verb;
Hence satisfies #2 condition - CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN HOW?

Unfortunately there are no black and white rules governing pronoun ambiguity. All we know for sure is that pronoun ambiguity is sometimes okay, so you always want to look for other decision points and see if the meaning is clearer in some answer choices than others.

That said, I think you might be referring to the following scenario: if the subject of the second clause is a pronoun, it CAN refer back to the subject of the first clause -- even if there are a ton of other potential referents in the sentence. For more on that, check out this post (and the video referenced in that post).

I hope that helps a bit!
_________________

[quote="saurya_s"]Sulfur dioxide, a major contributor to acid rain, is an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system's ability to deal with all other pollutants.

(A) an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the respiratory system's ability to deal

(B) an especially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system's capability of dealing

(C) an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system in dealing

(D) a specially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system to deal

(E) a specially serious pollutant because of diminishing the respiratory system's ability to deal

This question is based on Diction and Idiomatic Usage.

A vertical scan of the first word of every option shows us that Options A, B, and C start with ‘especially’ and Options D and E start with ‘specially’. These words are used interchangeably in some contexts and are very close in meaning.
E.g.: During this pandemic, people with diabetes and a heart condition have been told to stay away from crowded places, especially/specially movie theatres and malls.

However, there is a difference in meaning between the two words and they are used differently in most contexts. ‘Especially’ means particularly or markedly. ‘Specially’ means having a specific purpose.

In this sentence, we need the meaning of particularly or markedly because it describes how serious a pollutant sulfur dioxide is. On this basis, we can rule out Options D and E.

Option B is not very clear because of the participle phrase in the middle – diminishing the respiratory system’s capability of dealing.
The phrase ‘capability of dealing with’ is not as graceful as the phrase ‘capability to deal with’.
On the basis of these two errors, we can rule out Option B.

There are inappropriate word and idiomatic usages in Option C. The phrase ‘capability to deal with’ is more appropriate than ‘capability of the respiratory system in dealing with’.
The options also give us a choice between the words ‘ability’ and ‘capability’.
The dictionary defines ‘ability’ as the power to do or act physically, mentally, legally etc.
The word ‘capability’, on the other hand, is used to convey the meaning of potential or qualities that can be used or developed.
In this sentence, the word ‘ability’ is more appropriate.

Therefore, Option C, which contains the word 'capability' can be ruled out.

A is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.
_________________

Hi experts,

I can't seem to definitively rule out C. On test day, I would more than likely choose A since it's more direct. But how would you confidently rule out C?

In the below, there seems to be some discussion around the difference between "capability" and "ability." But is there something more definitive?

(C) an especially serious pollutant because it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system in dealing with all other pollutants.

While "capability" is the wrong word to use in this context, there is another issue.

Notice that the (C) version says, "it diminishes the capability of the respiratory system in dealing with all other pollutants.

"capability in dealing with" does not make sense.

What does that mean exactly? How is the capability "in" dealing with pollutants? It wouldn't be.

So, there is a clear meaning issue in this version.
_________________

Can somebody please explain why capability of the respiratory system is wrong?

(PS it came down to A and C and i just sort of chose A. No reason since I was confused between the two)

Need a line of reasoning.

Thanks in advance
Nik