In his book, Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith,

Question

In his book, Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith, generally regarded as the father of economics, defines 'economics' as the 'science of wealth'. A. In his book, Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith, generally regarded as the father of economics, defines B. Adam Smith, generally considered to be the father of economics, in Wealth of Nations , defines C. In Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith, generally regarded to be the father of economics, defines D. Adam Smith, generally regarded the father of economics, in his book, Wealth of Nations , defines E. The father of economics, Adam Smith, defines 'economics', in his book Wealth of Nations as :roll:

pqhai · Accepted Answer

Excellent job by TirthankarP.

However, I have another way to solve this question, because some time I can't remember correct idioms.

The idea of this question is that   Adam smith   defines   X   as Y   in his book.   Let analyze basic components of the sentence.
- Subject: Adam Smith
- Object: "economics' -- OR - X.
- Preposition: "in his book" is a preposition phrase of place.

The rule is  NEVER put preposition of time/place  between  Subject and Object.  This is a basic grammar rule in English.

In his book,  Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith, generally regarded as the father of economics, defines   'economics' as the 'science of wealth'.

A. In his book,  Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith, generally regarded as the father of economics, defines
 Correct.  
- Regarded as ... --> correct idiom
- Preposition of place is put at the right position.

B. Adam Smith, generally considered to be the father of economics, in Wealth of Nations , defines
 Wrong.  
- B violates the rule by putting preposition between S and O --> readers may understand that Adam Smith is generally regarded as the father of economics in his book.
- "consider to be" is wrong idiom. The correct one is "consider X Y".

C. In  Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith, generally regarded to be the father of economics, defines
 Wrong.  
- "Regarded to be" is wrong idiom.
- C omits "his" in the phrase "in his book" --> changes meaning, because readers may understand that Adam Smith defines XYZ.... in the book Wealth of Nations, which may not be his own book.

D. Adam Smith, generally regarded the father of economics, in his book,  Wealth of Nations , defines
 Wrong.  Same error as in B. Putting preposition of place between S and O always creates ambiguity.

E. The father of economics, Adam Smith, defines 'economics', in his book  Wealth of Nations  as
 Wrong.  Same error as in B. Putting preposition of place between S and O always creates ambiguity.

Hope it helps.

TirthankarP · Answer

In his book,  Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith, generally regarded as the father of economics, defines   'economics' as the 'science of wealth'.

A. In his book,  Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith, generally  regarded as  the father of economics, defines  --> CORRECT 
B. Adam Smith, generally  considered to be  the father of economics, in Wealth of Nations , defines  --> "considered" is not followed by any preposition 
C. In  Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith, generally  regarded to be  the father of economics, defines  --> Correct idiom is "regarded as" 
D. Adam Smith, generally  regarded  the father of economics, in his book,  Wealth of Nations , defines  --> Same as C 
E. The father of economics, Adam Smith, defines 'economics', in his book  Wealth of Nations  as  --> Here Adam Smith is used as a non-essential appositive, which is incorrect

Supernova29 · Answer

“Challenges are what make life interesting 8-)

and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful :wink:

.”- Joshua J. Marine

Supernova29 · Answer

Thanks a ton tirthankar p and Pqhai. The explanation is pretty clear. :-)

Posted from my mobile device

arjunperiyasamys · Answer

In his book, Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, generally regarded as the father of economics, defines  'economics' as the 'science of wealth'.

A. In his book, Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, generally regarded as the father of economics, defines
B. Adam Smith, generally considered to be the father of economics, in Wealth of Nations, defines
C. In Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, generally regarded to be the father of economics, defines
D. Adam Smith, generally regarded the father of economics, in his book, Wealth of Nations, defines
E. The father of economics, Adam Smith, defines 'economics', in his book Wealth of Nations as

Can some one explain ??

sukanyar · Answer

This seems to be idiom based question and is testing on two idioms: regard as and consider. So, consider to be etc. are incorrect.

sayantanc2k · Answer

B. The idiom  consider X Y  is correct. The usage  consider X to be Y  is a suspect.
I consider you my friend... correct
I consider you to be my friend......suspect

Moreover it is a bit awkward to place the prepositional phrase  in Wealth of Nations  in between the subject (Adam Smith) and the verb (defines). It would be better if we placed the phrase either before the subject or after the verb.

C. The usage  regarded to be  is wrong. The correct idiom is  regarded as .

D. The preposition  as  is missing after  regarded .  Regard X as Y  is the correct usage.  Regard X Y  is wrong.

E. completely senseless option:  'economics' as  is repeated in the sentence - it occurs twice. 
Moreover it is a bit awkward to place the prepositional phrase  in Wealth of Nations  in between the subject ( Adam Smith ) and the verb ( defines ). It would be better if we placed the phrase either before the subject or after the verb.

A. Correct.  Regarded as   is the correct idiom. The prepositional phrase  In his book, Wealth of Nations  is correctly placed before the subject.

AliciaSierra · Answer

sayantanc2k , why it is awkward to place prepositional phrase between subject and verb. I eliminated B because of "consider to be" but couldn't see ur reasoning. could you provide more detail please.

VerbalBot · Answer

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In his book, Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith,

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In his book, Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith,

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