Pronouns to Possesives

[Levent-g]

Hi,
I have a question, based on a SC problem (Question 92) in the OG Verbal Review book. I have a build a similar case not to use or refer to the official question.

What is the correct pronoun for following case and why?

1) The antilopes that are the wolfe's preys for part of their life.

2) The antilopes that are the wolfe's preys for part of its life.

The pronouns their/its are refering obviously to wolf and not to the preys (based on the OG explanation). Therefore it should be its rather than their.

I have some problems with this constellation. What about these examples:

3) The buildings that are the people's homes for part of their/its life.

Would be "its" still correct in this question? It's sounds strange to me, but I am not a native speaker.

Can I assume that for singular possesive noun phrases always singular pronouns are correct?

Thanks in advance

[Willy]

3) The buildings that are the people's homes for part of their/its life.

Here 'their' must be the right answer as 'people' is plural, so we need plural pronoun - their. Possessive pronouns can refer to possessive nouns.

Can I assume that for singular possesive noun phrases always singular pronouns are correct?

Yes, i believe same singular/plural pronoun rules must be applicable for possessive pronouns also.

[Levent-g]

Thanks Willy.

Actually that was a bad example, as I was looking for a singular noun. So what about this?

3) The buildings that are the man's homes for part of his life.

So man is a singular noun and therefore the right possessive pronoun would be "his", though it sounds strange?!?!

[Willy]

Thanks Willy.

Actually that was a bad example, as I was looking for a singular noun. So what about this?

3) The buildings that are the man's homes for part of his life.

So man is a singular noun and therefore the right possessive pronoun would be "his", though it sounds strange?!?!

I am not sure but I think HIS will be correct here. Also, I don't think such sentence will occur on GMAT as 'buildings' are plural and then 'man' is singular and as written such sentence will mean all the buildings belong to one man. If this is the meaning of the sentence then I believe Yes, HIS is correct no matter it sounds odd.

Experts please?

[tim]

ok, the OG explanation is nonsense on this point. the pronoun can totally refer to either depending on the parity. here's what you do: look at the pronoun first, then see if there is ANYTHING in the sentence that makes sense with that pronoun. if there is, then don't eliminate that answer choice. using this analysis, either pronoun COULD be acceptable, so you would not eliminate any answer choices based on pronoun issues. fortunately there are other issues you can use to eliminate the four wrong answers..

[Levent-g]

Ok, thanks Tim.

[tim]

my pleasure, and sorry the OG explanation was confusing. that's what we're here for though! :)