Okonkwo, the protagonist of Chinua Achebes novel Things Fall Apart

Question

Okonkwo, the protagonist of Chinua Achebe’s novel  Things Fall Apart , is a colonial-era Nigerian man  who was left behind by a society that is now dominated by stronger, better-informed, and more modern people than him .

(A) who was left behind by a society that is now dominated by stronger, better-informed, and more modern people than him
(B) who had been left behind by a society that is now dominated by more strong, informed, and modern people than him
(C) who had been left behind by a society now dominated by stronger, better-informed, and people more modern than he was
(D) left behind by a society now dominated by stronger, better-informed, and more modern people than he
(E) left behind by a society now dominated by more strong, informed, and modern people than him

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zhanbo · Accepted Answer

My answer is (D) . It took me 02:24. In formal English, “than” is a conjunction and not a preposition, and that the following pronoun should be in the nominative case – “he,” not “him.” (Read more at https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2008 ... n-him.html) "than he is/was" sounds much better than "than he" does. Still, “than he” is correct and can be used for the most formal occasions. (A) "than him" should be "than he" or "than he was". (B) "than him" should be "than he" or "than he was". Past perfect tense does not make sense when there is no simple past tense used elsewhere. (C) Past perfect tense does not make sense. Also, "stronger, better-informed, and people more modern" is poorly constructed. (D) "than he" is correct. Ideally, "than he was" should be used. But the question author strives to make the question harder. (E) "than him" should be "than he" or "than he was". more strong is nonstandard; "stronger" should be used.

gloomybison · Answer

than he or him, Some says both are correct some says not... Here is a similar discussion https://gmatclub.com/forum/than-he-40797.html

Bunuel · Answer

Experts' Global Official Explanation:

Comparison + Tenses + Pronouns + Redundancy/Awkwardness

• Comparison must always be made between similar elements. 
• Any elements linked by a conjunction (“and” in this sentence) must be parallel.
• Information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense. 
• The simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past. 
• The past perfect continuous tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had/have been") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past and one action is in the greater past as well as continuous in nature; the helping verb "had been" is used with the action that is in the greater past and continuous in nature.

A. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense phrase “who was left behind” to refer to information that is permanent in nature; remember, information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past. Further, Option A incorrectly compares “more modern” to “him (Okonkwo)” rather than with “how modern Okonkwo was”; please remember, comparison must always be made between similar elements.

B. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect continuous tense phrase “who had been left behind” to refer to information that is permanent in nature; remember, information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the past perfect continuous tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had/have been") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past and one action is in the greater past as well as continuous in nature; the helping verb "had been" is used with the action that is in the greater past and continuous in nature. Further, Option B incorrectly compares “more strong, informed, and modern” to “him (Okonkwo)” rather than to how strong, informed, and modern “he (Okonkwo)” was; please remember, comparison must always be made between similar elements. Additionally, Option B uses the unidiomatic construction “more strong” rather than the idiomatic construction “stronger”.

C. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect continuous tense phrase “who had been left behind” to refer to information that is permanent in nature; remember, information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the past perfect continuous tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had/have been") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past and one action is in the greater past as well as continuous in nature; the helping verb "had been" is used with the action that is in the greater past and continuous in nature. Further, Option C fails to maintain parallelism between “stronger, better-informed” and “people more modern than he was”; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction (“and” in this sentence) must be parallel.

D. Correct.  This answer choice modifies the simple present tense verb phrase “is a colonial-era Nigerian man” with the past participle (“left” in this sentence) phrase “left behind by…”, correctly using the simple present tense to convey information that is permanent in nature – that in the novel  Things Fall Apart  Okonkwo is a man who was left behind by society. Further, Option D correctly compares “more modern people” with “he (Okonkwo) (was)”. Additionally, Option D correctly uses the idiomatic construction “stronger”.

E. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly compares “more strong, informed, and modern” to “him (Okonkwo)” rather than to how strong, informed, and modern “he (Okonkwo)” was; please remember, comparison must always be made between similar elements. Additionally, Option E uses the unidiomatic construction “more strong” rather than the idiomatic construction “stronger”.

D is the best answer choice.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Okonkwo, the protagonist of Chinua Achebes novel Things Fall Apart

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