Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow inves

[jlucero]

Glad it helped.

[manhhiep2509]

Hello.
The correct choice D:
Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow fees of investment officers to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations have begun paying their investment advisers a small basic fee, with a contract promising higher fees if the managers perform well.

Does "their" refer to "corporations"?

I am not sure but I think "investment officers" is equivalent to "investment advisers", so it seems to me that "their" refers to corporation, not the officers.

Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

Yes, "their" = corporations. That's pretty clear from the context, as you seem to realize. Is there an issue?

[manhhiep2509]

The correct choice D:
Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow fees of investment officers to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations have begun paying their investment advisers a small basic fee, with a contract promising higher fees if the managers perform well.

Does "their" refer to "corporations"?

I am not sure but I think "investment officers" is equivalent to "investment advisers", so it seems to me that "their" refers to corporation, not the officers.

Sorry I did not explain my question clearly.
I see that "they" refers to investment officers, but "their" refers to "corporations". So in the same sentence can "they" and "their" refer to different nouns?

[tim]

Well, as Ron said, you seem to realize that "their" means "corporations". You agree with me, Ron, and the OG. What is the issue?

[manhhiep2509]

Well, as Ron said, you seem to realize that "their" means "corporations". You agree with me, Ron, and the OG. What is the issue?

Well, I think you may overlooked my question.

Sorry I did not explain my question clearly.
I see that "they" refers to "investment officers", but "their" refers to "corporations". So in the same sentence can "they" and "their" refer to different nouns?

[RonPurewal]

First, there's no hard rule saying what you're thinking here. If real confusion is created by the presence of distinct pronoun references, then you've got a problem. No confusion, no problem.

If the pronouns occur in separate clauses, then it's especially unlikely that such confusion will be created.
E.g., if I write Tim spends more money on his dogs than Barry spends on his children, then it's pretty obvious that the first "his" stands for Tim's dogs and the second for Barry's children. Note that these pronouns are in different clauses (different subject-verb-object constructions).

The pronouns here are also in separate clauses -- and it's perfectly obvious what each one means -- so there's no issue.

Remember -- Do not complicate the issue of pronouns. With pronouns, you should think about only three things:
1/ What is the pronoun supposed to stand for?
2/ Is there a noun for that thing/person?
3/ Do the pronoun and noun match in terms of singular/plural?

If the answer to #1 is obvious, and the answers to #2 and #3 are yes and yes, then you're good to go. Don't create problems where none exist.

[RonPurewal]

Oh, and, you're talking about the correct answer to an official problem.

Correct answers are correct. If you're asking whether something in one of them is incorrect, the answer is "No."

[manhhiep2509]

First, there's no hard rule saying what you're thinking here. If real confusion is created by the presence of distinct pronoun references, then you've got a problem. No confusion, no problem.

If the pronouns occur in separate clauses, then it's especially unlikely that such confusion will be created.
E.g., if I write Tim spends more money on his dogs than Barry spends on his children, then it's pretty obvious that the first "his" stands for Tim's dogs and the second for Barry's children. Note that these pronouns are in different clauses (different subject-verb-object constructions).

The pronouns here are also in separate clauses -- and it's perfectly obvious what each one means -- so there's no issue.

Remember -- Do not complicate the issue of pronouns. With pronouns, you should think about only three things:
1/ What is the pronoun supposed to stand for?
2/ Is there a noun for that thing/person?
3/ Do the pronoun and noun match in terms of singular/plural?

If the answer to #1 is obvious, and the answers to #2 and #3 are yes and yes, then you're good to go. Don't create problems where none exist.

Before seeing the question and your explanation, if I had seen the non-underlined part have a pronoun and found the same pronoun in the underlined part, I would have thought that they must refer to the same noun.
Now, it turns out I was lucky when solving the problem related to the pronoun issue.

Thank you Ron.

[jlucero]

This is exactly why it's worth reviewing every problem- even if you get a question right. Glad that you learned something.

[gauravtyagigmat]

Hi Ron,

In sentence correction Manhattan Gmat book in pronoun chapter under "pronoun ambiguity topic" on page 72, Its is written that every it and its must refer to the same antecedent .Every they,them,their must refer to the same plural antecedent .

In that case how to apply above rule in Gmat questions as above mentioned rule doesn't follow in this question

[RonPurewal]

you should ignore 'pronoun ambiguity' completely. you will not need it to solve the problems.

[JbhB682]

Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment officers' fees to be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations began paying their investment advisers a small basic fee, with a contract promising higher fees if the managers perform well.


(C) that fees of investment officers be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations have begun

(D) fees of investment officers to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations have begun

Hi experts - could you please confirm

In C - the modifier in the pink is in the active voice or passive voice ? i think its passive voice [command subjunctive - passive voice]

In D -- the modifier in the blue is the passive voice [reason - the word TO BE in the underline, implies the modifier in the blue is passive voice]

I think TO BE, indicates passive voice for infinitive non command construction , verbs like want, forbd ,persuade, allow, advise]

Could you please confirm

[Whit Garner]

Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment officers' fees to be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations began paying their investment advisers a small basic fee, with a contract promising higher fees if the managers perform well.


(C) that fees of investment officers be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations have begun

(D) fees of investment officers to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations have begun

Hi experts - could you please confirm

In C - the modifier in the pink is in the active voice or passive voice ? i think its passive voice [command subjunctive - passive voice]

In D -- the modifier in the blue is the passive voice [reason - the word TO BE in the underline, implies the modifier in the blue is passive voice]

I think TO BE, indicates passive voice for infinitive non command construction , verbs like want, forbd ,persuade, allow, advise]

Could you please confirm

Hiya!

So this is neither active nor passive, this is the command form of verbs. And really, this is more about the idiom. For exmple, all of the following are correct.

We allow people TO DO something. (We allow you to leave early.)
We forbid people FROM DOING something. (We forbid you from parking there.)
We suggest THAT people DO something. (We suggest that you do your homework.)
We demand THAT people DO something. (We demand that you arrive on time.)

And many more.

But note, the GMAT does not test Active vs Passive - they are both FINE!

[ScottD643]

Greetings Whit,

I hate to be “one of those.”

However, is it not the case that the GMAT prefers the construction:

“forbid (noun) TO DO (something)”

ex: “The law forbids citizens to drive without a license”

However, if the object is just the thing forbidden and the sentence is not written to forbid anyone in particular:

ex: “The college forbids parking on the grass.”

Thankfully, Idioms aren’t as hot a topic as they once were.

The usage still sounds jarring to my ear.

At the moment, I can’t seem to find any official answers to confirm. However, what are your thoughts?

All the best and thank you!

Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment officers' fees to be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations began paying their investment advisers a small basic fee, with a contract promising higher fees if the managers perform well.


(C) that fees of investment officers be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations have begun

(D) fees of investment officers to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations have begun

Hi experts - could you please confirm

In C - the modifier in the pink is in the active voice or passive voice ? i think its passive voice [command subjunctive - passive voice]

In D -- the modifier in the blue is the passive voice [reason - the word TO BE in the underline, implies the modifier in the blue is passive voice]

I think TO BE, indicates passive voice for infinitive non command construction , verbs like want, forbd ,persuade, allow, advise]

Could you please confirm

Hiya!

So this is neither active nor passive, this is the command form of verbs. And really, this is more about the idiom. For exmple, all of the following are correct.

We allow people TO DO something. (We allow you to leave early.)
We forbid people FROM DOING something. (We forbid you from parking there.)
We suggest THAT people DO something. (We suggest that you do your homework.)
We demand THAT people DO something. (We demand that you arrive on time.)

And many more.

But note, the GMAT does not test Active vs Passive - they are both FINE!