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apolo
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Repeat Rule of pronouns (from Manhattan SC book) does not work here 10 Feb 2015, 01:45
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You might know the repeat rule of pronouns explained by Manhattan SC book (in 5th Edition, page 72)

Every it and its must refer to the same singular antecedent.

But, see this problem from Verbal Review of GMAC, 2nd edition, SC, number 92:

Schistosomiasis, a disease caused by a parasitic
worm, is prevalent in hot, humid climates, and it has
become more widespread as irrigation projects have
enlarged the habitat of the freshwater snails that are
the parasite’s hosts for part of its life cycle.

The correct answer is the original sentence. However, in this sentence 'it' refers to 'Schistosomiasis' and 'its' to 'parasite'.

Why?!

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Repeat Rule of pronouns (from Manhattan SC book) does not work here 10 Feb 2015, 04:02
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apolo
You might know the repeat rule of pronouns explained by Manhattan SC book (in 5th Edition, page 72)

Every it and its must refer to the same singular antecedent.

But, see this problem from Verbal Review of GMAC, 2nd edition, SC, number 92:

Schistosomiasis, a disease caused by a parasitic
worm, is prevalent in hot, humid climates, and it has
become more widespread as irrigation projects have
enlarged the habitat of the freshwater snails that are
the parasite’s hosts for part of its life cycle.

The correct answer is the original sentence. However, in this sentence 'it' refers to 'Schistosomiasis' and 'its' to 'parasite'.

Why?!
Show more


"its" here refers to parasite's and not just parasite....parasite's hosts is the object in the clause in the last line starting with "that are the parasite's hosts..." and its is also the object of the preposition "of" hence its (possessive pronoun) has a clear referrant "parasite's" (possessive noun).
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apolo
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Repeat Rule of pronouns (from Manhattan SC book) does not work here 10 Feb 2015, 06:52
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fireinbelly
apolo
You might know the repeat rule of pronouns explained by Manhattan SC book (in 5th Edition, page 72)

Every it and its must refer to the same singular antecedent.

But, see this problem from Verbal Review of GMAC, 2nd edition, SC, number 92:

Schistosomiasis, a disease caused by a parasitic
worm, is prevalent in hot, humid climates, and it has
become more widespread as irrigation projects have
enlarged the habitat of the freshwater snails that are
the parasite’s hosts for part of its life cycle.

The correct answer is the original sentence. However, in this sentence 'it' refers to 'Schistosomiasis' and 'its' to 'parasite'.

Why?!


"its" here refers to parasite's and not just parasite....parasite's hosts is the object in the clause in the last line starting with "that are the parasite's hosts..." and its is also the object of the preposition "of" hence its (possessive pronoun) has a clear referrant "parasite's" (possessive noun).
Show more

Thanks fireinbelly for your answer,

However,
1. Do you think that whether parasite or parasite's is the antecedent of 'its' makes any difference? (I do not think so; I know that parasite's is a possessive noun and that 'its' is a possessive pronoun. But does (and how does) this has any bearing on this problem?)

2. I think that "parasite's hosts" is not the object of the clause you mentioned, but rather it is a subject complement. Just like 'the student in this sentence: He is a student. 'He' is subject and 'student' is a subject complement. In the clause that you mentioned, 'that' is the subject and 'the parasite's hosts' is the subject complement. A subject complement is a word that follows a linking verb)

3. The explanation given by book indicates as if the parasite is the antecedent of 'its'.

4. Finally, and most importantly, regardless of what 'its' refers to (either "parasite or "parasite's"), this sentence violates the Repeat rule explained in Manhattan book, as in this sentence 'it' refers to 'Schistosomiasis', and 'its' refers to 'parasite('s)'.

Repeat rule according to Manhattan SC book, 5 Edition, page 72:

Every 'it' and 'its' must refer to the same singular antecedent.
Every they, them, and their must refer to the same plural antecedent

So?
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Repeat Rule of pronouns (from Manhattan SC book) does not work here 10 Feb 2015, 23:25
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apolo
fireinbelly
apolo
You might know the repeat rule of pronouns explained by Manhattan SC book (in 5th Edition, page 72)

Every it and its must refer to the same singular antecedent.

But, see this problem from Verbal Review of GMAC, 2nd edition, SC, number 92:

Schistosomiasis, a disease caused by a parasitic
worm, is prevalent in hot, humid climates, and it has
become more widespread as irrigation projects have
enlarged the habitat of the freshwater snails that are
the parasite’s hosts for part of its life cycle.

The correct answer is the original sentence. However, in this sentence 'it' refers to 'Schistosomiasis' and 'its' to 'parasite'.

Why?!


"its" here refers to parasite's and not just parasite....parasite's hosts is the object in the clause in the last line starting with "that are the parasite's hosts..." and its is also the object of the preposition "of" hence its (possessive pronoun) has a clear referrant "parasite's" (possessive noun).

Thanks fireinbelly for your answer,

However,
1. Do you think that whether parasite or parasite's is the antecedent of 'its' makes any difference? (I do not think so; I know that parasite's is a possessive noun and that 'its' is a possessive pronoun. But does (and how does) this has any bearing on this problem?) - It does not make any difference in otherwise however in this case "its" has a possessive referrant, which is "parasite's". A possessive pronoun can refer back to a non-possessive pronoun in general however in this case we have a possessive case referrant hence I mentioned it.

2. I think that "parasite's hosts" is not the object of the clause you mentioned, but rather it is a subject complement. Just like 'the student in this sentence: He is a student. 'He' is subject and 'student' is a subject complement. In the clause that you mentioned, 'that' is the subject and 'the parasite's hosts' is the subject complement. A subject complement is a word that follows a linking verb) - but I think Subject complements are indirect objects only. Isn't it? If not then you are right.

3. The explanation given by book indicates as if the parasite is the antecedent of 'its'. - Well may be they are taking parasite or parasite's to equal in this case because ultimately they are talking about the same pronoun. My only question is - if we clearly have a possessive referrant, why would we need to call the subjective referrant as the referrant for a possessive pronoun.

4. Finally, and most importantly, regardless of what 'its' refers to (either "parasite or "parasite's"), this sentence violates the Repeat rule explained in Manhattan book, as in this sentence 'it' refers to 'Schistosomiasis', and 'its' refers to 'parasite('s)'. - There are times when we need to pick the logical referrant for a pronoun based on meaning if deriving a logical referrant is not too tough. In this sentence, here having a possessive noun helps in reaching that logical referrant more easily and also if we consider meaning then we have a clear referrant.

I have not really seen this question in the book so don't know what the other answer options available for this question are - however this might be the best options available among given options. May be your question is still valid and we can construct this sentence in a more grammatically air-tight manner however in GMAT we are supposed to pick the best of the available options. You may want to check the other answer options for this question, there is a higher probability of them having more apparant grammatical or other relevant mistakes.

Repeat rule according to Manhattan SC book, 5 Edition, page 72:

Every 'it' and 'its' must refer to the same singular antecedent.
Every they, them, and their must refer to the same plural antecedent

So?
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Please find my comments highlighted in the red colour above. Thanks.
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apolo
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Repeat Rule of pronouns (from Manhattan SC book) does not work here 11 Feb 2015, 00:50
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Just as a quick answer:
My question is not that why this choice is correct, rather I wanted to show that that rule is not absolute and has some exceptions.
Have you seen that rule that I have mentioned in Manhattan SC book?!
So, that this choice is correct shows that that rule is not absolute and people should be careful when applying it.

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Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
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