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Can the object of preposition be the antecedent of a personal pronoun?
In OG 2019, Q761 has all answer choices with a singular pronoun (it) rejected, with the explanation that a pronoun cannot take an object of preposition as an antecedent. In the sentence "Fossils of the arm of a sloth...", any reference to the sloth should be restated according to OA.
However in OG 2019, Q761 has the phrase "The eyes of the elephant seal...", and the OA contains "... allowing it to hunt efficiently", with "it" referring to the "elephant seal" that also happens to be the object of a preposition. The OA also explicitly states that 'it" has the correct antecedent (elephant seal).
What is the rule governing the antecedent of personal pronoun wrt object of preposition?
ps: I am aware that object of prepositions can be the antecedent of relative pronouns (which / that). Asking specifically for personal pronouns (it / she / he). I also got both questions right based on other grammatical rules. Want to know specifically about this contradiction(?) in OA.
Quoted segments of OG below for your easy reference.
Thanks in advance!
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[OG 2019] 759. Fossils of the arm of a sloth found in Puerto Rico in 1991, and dated at 34 million years old, made it the earliest known mammal of the Greater Antilles Islands.
A. Wrong: Because sloth is the object of a preposition and not the subject of the sentence, there is no reasonable antecedent for the pronoun it, in this construction, the subject of made is fossils, but it makes no sense to say that the fossils made it the earliest known mammal.
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[OG 2019] 761. The eyes of the elephant seal adapt to darkness more quickly than do those of any other animal yet tested, allowing it to hunt efficiently under the gloomy conditions at its feeding depth of between 300 and 700 meters.
A: Correct. The subject of the comparative phrase is correctly those of any other animal yet tested, the plural verb do correctly agrees with this subject (those), and the singular pronoun it correctly agrees with its antecedent (elephant seal).
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According to the Chicago Manual of Style, a possessive (=adjective) can serve as the antecedent of a pronoun, potentially economizing the sentence expression. In your case, the elephant seal in the possessive "the elephant seal's eye" can be the antecedent of the "it" in the present participle phrase, but the sloth in the possessive "the sloth arm's fossil" ambiguously serve as the antecedent of the "it" in the predicate. Maybe it's the weak reference in addition to the poorly coordinated past participle phrases that makes choice (A) in OG759 unfavorable.
59. Fossils of the arm of a sloth found in Puerto Rico in 1991, and dated at 34 million years old, made it the earliest known mammal of the Greater Antilles Islands.
A. Wrong: Because sloth is the object of a preposition and not the subject of the sentence, there is no reasonable antecedent for the pronoun it, in this construction, the subject of made is fossils, but it makes no sense to say that the fossils made it the earliest known mammal.
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That explanation is poorly written.
The issue is not that "sloth" is the object of a preposition. A pronoun can refer to the object of a preposition.
The issue is that the meaning conveyed is illogical. That sentence version conveys that the fossils made the sloth the earliest known mammal. Fossils would not make an animal the earliest known mammal.
I often hear from students the idea that a pronoun can't refer to the object of a preposition. Maybe they all get that idea from this busted explanation.
The official explanation for the sloth question could have been clearer, but it isn't wrong.
It does not say that a pronoun cannot refer to the object of a preposition.
What it says is that "there is no reasonable antecedent for the pronoun it."
And the reason why there is no reasonable antecedent is this: because "it makes no sense to say that the fossils made it the earliest known mammal."
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