Questions on idioms and independent clause

Question

Hi,

I have a few doubts.

1. I know ''whether or  not ' is incorrect. But, what about 'whether X or Y'? Is  'or'  allowed with 'whether'?

2. I know 'mistaken for' is correct. But what about 'mistaken to be'?

3. When we have a semi-colon preceding a clause, if the clause has pronouns - is it independent?

For ex:

Anna did .......;  her brother  did not like it........ (is this correct?)
Anna did .......;  she  was ....... (Correct?)
The match was cancelled because.... ;  this  led to ..... (Is this correct?)

Confused, please help!

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Dina98 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

1) The construction " whether or not " is not 100% wrong but somewhat awkward and wordy and generally not preferred on the GMAT. The " or not " adds extra words without adding anything to the meaning. If what follows the " or " is another legitimate option, then that's 100% correct. I don't know whether she will choose pastel lime or electric pink for the dining room. I can't decide whether to stay or to return home. Whether the Mets win or the Nationals lose, Mike will be happy. Those are all perfectly correct. We certainly can use " or " with " whether ." 2) You are correct: " mistaken for " is a correct idiom. The construction " mistaken to be " is not correct. 3) If a sentence is split by a semicolon, each half always must be an independent clause. This is not true for a colon, but it is true for a semicolon. The clause before the semicolon and the clause after the semicolon always must be a full independent clause. Personal pronouns are fine. Your first two examples, both with Anna, are correct. Be careful with demonstrative pronouns. There is a pronoun mistake in the your third example. The match was cancelled because of rain; this led to a deciding playoff game after the end of the season . Think about the pronoun " this ": what is its antecedent? It is trying to refer to the act of canceling, but a pronoun cannot refer to the action of a verb. That would be a mistake regardless of whether the sentence is split by a semicolon or united as a whole. Pronouns cannot refer to the action of verbs. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

dina98 · Answer

Thanks Mike.

I found the following in one of the gmatclub tests.

In the 1980s computer books’ sales accounted for approximately 4% of operating profits of a typical publishing company; in the 2000s this proportion increased to 40%.

"this" in the second clause is correct because it refers to computer books' sales? It refers to a noun.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear dina98 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

Notice that the word " this " can be used in two different ways: 1) as a demonstrative pronoun , on its own, standing in for a noun (e.g. " The problem was this .") 2) as a demonstrative adjective , modifying a noun (" This car is illegally parked .") In my previous post, I was discussing pronoun problems, problems the word " this " had in its role as a pronoun. What you quoted here is a sentence in which " this " is used as a demonstrative adjective, and this usage is an entirely different ballgame. Here, we rely on the noun " proportion " to provide the identity (nouns can provide much more specific identity than can pronouns!), and the " this " simply has the role of assuring us that we are still talking about the same proportion. An adjective doesn't "stand for anything" the way a pronoun does. It's a completely different grammatical role. The word " this " has two roles. The word "that" has four completely different roles . Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

dina98 · Answer

Kind of... 
Since you said there are two ways and the previous example is for 'adjective', what about this? Is 'this' here a demonstrative pronoun?

The cancellation of the match was due to rain;  this  led to a deciding playoff game after the end of the season.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear dina98 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

When the word " this " comes attached to a noun, (" this person ," " this book ," " this situation ," etc.), then it's a demonstrative adjective . When the word " this " stands alone, with no noun in its vicinity, for example, when it is the subject of a clause all by itself, then it has to be the demonstrative pronoun . Now, look at the sentence you suggested. The cancellation of the match was due to rain; this led to a deciding playoff game after the end of the season . In this sentence, the word " this " is the subject of the clause after the semicolon. There is not noun next to it that it is modifying, so of course is it not an adjective of any kind. This is a demonstrative pronoun. It correctly refers to the noun " cancellation " in the first part of the sentence. Also, BTW, the idiom with " due to " is 100% correct. Does this make sense now? Mike :-)

Questions on idioms and independent clause

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