kewldude Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 Among the objects found in excavated temple were small terra-cotta effigies left by supplicants who were either asking the goddess Bona Dea's aid in healing physical and mental ills or thanking her for such help. A) in healing physical and mental ills or thanking her for such help. B) in healing physical and mental ills and to thank her for helping. C) in healing physical and mental ills and thanking her for helping. D) to heal physical and mental ills or to thank her for such help. E) to heal physical or mental ills or thanking her for such help. The Official Answer given by OG is A. But I have a few questions : i) how can one ask something to BonaDea's aid. i.e., "...who were either asking the goddess Bona Dea's aid..." Shouldn't this be something like "...who were either asking the goddess Bona Dea to aid" I assume 'aid' alone here acts as a verb..and supplicants were asking BonaDea to aid ...Its really awkward to see someone asking 'BonaDea's aid ' something ..as that (BonaDea's aid ) is not a person. ii) Ignoring i) problem above if we move ahead ... "...BonaDea's aid ....thanking her for such help." In the correct sentence above (A) - 'her' ( which is not possesive pronoun) is trying to refer back to possesive noun Bona Dea's) .. How can this be possible..? Only A possesive pronoun can refer back to possessive noun. and as far as I know in english there are only 7 possessive pronouns..they are ---mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs, plus the obsolete possessive pronoun thine--- Hence 'her' whih is not a possesive pronun (but a Object pronoun) cant refer back to BonaDea's ( possesive noun).. According to me it should have been "thanking BonaDea(using full noun instead of her) for such help" Its really unbelievable that neither OG nor Erin has pointed out this. So I am sure I am wrong in my explanation/understanding. So please point where I am wrong. Thanks, Sridhar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewldude Posted June 7, 2008 Author Share Posted June 7, 2008 Reposting it --as previous message was not indented properly --- Question: Among the objects found in excavated temple were small terra-cotta effigies left by supplicants who were either asking the goddess Bona Dea's aid in healing physical and mental ills or thanking her for such help. A) in healing physical and mental ills or thanking her for such help. B) in healing physical and mental ills and to thank her for helping. C) in healing physical and mental ills and thanking her for helping. D) to heal physical and mental ills or to thank her for such help. E) to heal physical or mental ills or thanking her for such help. The Official Answer given by OG is A. But I have a few questions : i) how can one ask something to BonaDea's aid. i.e., "...who were either asking the goddess Bona Dea's aid..." Shouldn't this be something like "...who were either asking the goddess Bona Dea to aid" I assume 'aid' alone here acts as a verb..and supplicants were asking BonaDea to aid ...Its really awkward to see someone asking 'BonaDea's aid ' something ..as that (BonaDea's aid ) is not a person. ii) Ignoring i) problem above if we move ahead ... "...BonaDea's aid ....thanking her for such help." In the correct sentence above (A) - 'her' ( which is not possesive pronoun) is trying to refer back to possesive noun Bona Dea's) .. How can this be possible..? Only A possesive pronoun can refer back to possessive noun. and as far as I know in english there are only 7 possessive pronouns..they are ---mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs, plus the obsolete possessive pronoun thine--- Hence 'her' whih is not a possesive pronun (but a Object pronoun) cant refer back to BonaDea's ( possesive noun).. According to me it should have been "thanking BonaDea(using full noun instead of her) for such help" Its really unbelievable that neither OG nor Erin has pointed out this. So I am sure I am wrong in my explanation/understanding. So please point where I am wrong. Thanks, Sridhar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yogesh_kkk Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 sridhar the sentence is of the form either X or Y where X and Y are parallel. so either asking or thanking are parellel. So we are left with A and E .... C is awkward "helping" does not go well. In e to heal is not correct. If it was not possesive form BonaDea's aid e was than appropriate answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewldude Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 None of the questions i have asked are answered . Please try answering the questions that I am asking rather giving other reasons why u think what the right answer is . The reason behind me putting the question across forums is to clarify MY doubts. OG anyway has given the explanation of why the right answer is right. please dont re iterate the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eqkwon Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 The sentence has Ask + obj + obj format, so "her" you raised the issue refer back to the goddness, not bona Dea. i guess this solve your both problem.. hope this helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewldude Posted June 9, 2008 Author Share Posted June 9, 2008 hmm..Yeah i also interpreted so, but the sentence still is awkward ..as.. after word 'godess' they have not put the name of the goddess but instead the possessive form of her ie., 'Bonadea's aid' ..this makes me feel as if the Godess name is not BonaDea...and 'Bonadea's aid ' is like some medical aid or or some other aid. Thanks for replying .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manasdas Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 'aid in' is the right usage.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eqkwon Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 i think you went to deep on this problem.. we dont care bona dee is godness's son or cousin~ to be honest we dont even know if the buda dee is female... subject is only asking the godness for some kind of aid from some one. i used to miss many Qs by thinking too deep.... i am sure you too have that kind of experience.... hopefully you find satisfied answer... and plz let me know when you find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt_n_blue Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 @kewldude..!! grammar has no hard and fast rules and most of the time u will see (even OG questions) violate them.. I can point u to number of questions in OG where 1. 'which' refers to the preceding noun --- 'which' refers to the subject of preceding clause 2. 'participle phrase' modified the preceding subject (which is correct) --- 'participle phrase' modifies the preceding noun (when they are no commas) 3. pronoun referring to only the subject -- when in fact they are many nouns in the preceding clause ( only when that pronoun matches the subject in number and case ) Now important ques is what to do..!! If u find such question, where there could be ambiguity, look at the options. Is there a one that correctly places the commonly held rule? or if all of them ignore that rule as in the case above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
800Bob Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Hence 'her' whih is not a possesive pronun (but a Object pronoun) cant refer back to BonaDea's ( possesive noun).. According to me it should have been "thanking BonaDea(using full noun instead of her) for such help" There are indeed some usage guides and grammar teachers who maintain that "a nonpossessive pronoun cannot take as an antecedent a noun in the possessive case." This "rule," however, does not reflect actual usage and is not tested on the GMAT. Here are three correct answers from 1000SCs that violate this supposed rule: Frances Wright’s book on America contrasted the republicanism of the United States with what she saw as the aristocratic and corrupt institutions of England. Joplin’s faith in his opera “Tremonisha” was unshakable; in 1911 he published the score at his own expense and decided to stage the work himself. On stage, the force of Carrick’s personality and the vividness of his acting disguised the fact that he was, as his surviving velvet suit shows, a short man. Those who insist on this stricture are out of touch with the real world. It's one of those rules whose sole purpose is to separate the in-the-know elite from the ignorant masses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
800Bob Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 For an interesting story about this pseudo-rule and another test (the PSAT) check out the following: The Bloody Crossroads of Grammar and Politics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aadityan Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Sridhar...please replace aid with help and try to read the question once again. That will clear your doubt regarding issue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ludo_100 Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 I also choose E ,but got the meaning of aid...please go for the link below...i got dis from some thread.... aid - Definition from Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English The OA is A ... and is correct.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
targetsep08 Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 In case you refer to Manhattan Sc guide, it lists her as a possessive pronoun. Her is both a object pronoun as well as a possessive pronoun. Manhattan book also says that subject and object pronouns may not refer to possessive nouns but it does not say "cannot".. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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