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aflaamM589
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can pronoun their have two antecedents?

by aflaamM589 Fri Jun 10, 2016 2:39 pm

Hello Ron,
Is following sentence correct?

In contrast to the trapeze artists, who fumbled their routine, the circus clowns
kept the audience entertained for hours with their antics
their in this sentence has two antecedents
Is this allowed?
I think this Sentence, in this form, is incorrect as their cannot have two antecedents.
Ron, Can you validate or invalidate my reasoning ?
Source is MGMAT chapter 8 page 137

Thanks
P.S: reason i am asking this question in General folder is that i might quote some related doubts from questions from GMAT prep in this thread in future and i, therefore, hope it will help students much more later on if kept here.
RonPurewal
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Re: can pronoun their have two antecedents?

by RonPurewal Tue Jun 14, 2016 3:39 am

that sentence is fine.

both pronouns have completely obvious meanings—and they're also in different clauses (= totally different subject+verb constructions).