quot;take the pizza out of the box and put it on the

Question

"take the pizza out of the box and put it on the table" --> "it" refers to "pizza" since both are direct objects)

why does it refer to pizza and not box ?

Thanks

ravsg · Answer

take the pizza out "of the box" and put it on the table

Of the box - prep. phrase, can be thought of as optional

take the pizza out and put it on the table

voodoochild · Answer

not sure if i get it right. what does prep phrase has to do with pronoun ambiguity. i am not following it. can you please clarify a bit ? BTW, i have copy pasted it from Ron's post.

Thanks

ravsg · Answer

I think that both are not direct objects -
"You" take the pizza out of the box ...
So, pizza is the direct object. Generally prep. phrases only provide additional information so it should refer to the object.

I am no expert on grammar rules, just trying to learn things while studying for GMAT, maybe an expert in this area can clarify.

voodoochild · Answer

Any thoughts from experts ? we really need some good help here........SAVE ....SAVE.....SAVE......

parker · Answer

Pronouns that may seem ambiguous at first can be considered clear if the structure of the sentence clues you into the intended antecedent.

The structure of the sentence is " Take   the pizza  (out of the box) and  put   it  (on the table)"

There are two parallel prepositional phrases here-- "out of the box" and "on the table"--these phrases tell you where you are "taking" and "putting" the pizza, respectively. These are modifiers, and you can ignore them both when examining the deeper underlying structure.

Ravsg, you're right that "you" is implied, and pizza is indeed the direct object. It answers the question "what should you take?."

So the core structure here is really  IMPERATIVE TRANSITIVE VERB  ( take )- OBJECT   (the pizza)  AND  IMPERATIVE TRANSITIVE   VERB   (put) -OBJECT  (it)

That parallel structure tells us that " it " refers back to the word in the same structural/functional slot ( OBJECT ), or " pizza ."

Hope this helps.

ravsg · Answer

Thanks parker for the clarification!

subhashghosh · Answer

Amazing explanation Parker

+1 Kudos to you.

quot;take the pizza out of the box and put it on the

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