The loan company announced it would soon lend money to borrowers with proven records of their not paying back their loans on time, collectively known as the subprime lending market.
A. Of their not paying back their loans on time,
B. Of not paying back their loans on time, a group
C. Of not paying back their loans on time, with such a group
D. That they do not pay back their loans on time,
E. That they do not pay back their loans on time, such a group
What does this question test?
This question tests your understanding of pronoun usage. It also tests your knowledge of how various modifiers modify.
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What does this sentence mean?
This sentence explains the announcement made by the loan company. The company will start lending money to a certain type of borrowers. These borrowers have proven records of not paying back their loans on time. Such lending is part of a group collectively known as the subprime lending market.
What are the errors in the original sentence?
The loan company announced it would soon lend money to borrowers with proven records of their not paying back their loans on time, collectively known as the subprime lending market.
This sentence has 2 errors.
Pronoun Usage: The pronoun “their” refers to “borrowers”. The pronoun or antecedent is not required at this location. Let’s see the sentence with the antecedent:
The loan company will soon lend money to borrowers with proven records of borrowers’ not paying back their loans on time.
The expression “borrower’s not paying back” is incorrect. This should be corrected by simply deleting this occurrence of “their”. The sentence will make complete sense if it states – with proven records of not paying their loans”
Modifier Error: The modifier – collectively known as – is a verb-ed modifier. This modifier appears to modify the preceding noun – time. But this modification is non-sensical since “time is not known as subprime lending market”.
This can be corrected by changing the nature of modifier. Note that the modifier is worded such that it adds to the idea of the preceding clause. This clause talks about an action that is then named in this modifier. – subprime lending market. Thus, the modifier should be reworded as the modifier than can modify the preceding clause.
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Answer Choice Analysis:
Choice A: This choice has pronoun usage error and modifier error.
Choice B: No errors. In this choice, the modifier has been converted into “noun + noun modifier”. Such modifier has the capability to extend or describe the idea presented in the preceding clause.
Choice C: Modifier error: It is not clear what the modifier “with such a group” modifies. In other words, it is not clear “who” or “what” is “with such a group”.
Choice D: This choice has two errors:
Modifier Error as in choice A
Idiom Error: “records that they do not…” is not idiomatic construction.
Choice E: This choice has two errors:
Idiom error as in choice D.
Wordy & Ambiguous: It is not clear what “such” refers to.
Thus, Choice B is the correct answer.
What are the key take-away messages?
- Verb-ed modifiers can only modify preceding noun.
- If the intended meaning requires extending the thought presented in preceding clause, then modifier of the form “noun + noun modifier” can be used.
- Use pronouns only when necessary. Unnecessary use of pronouns renders the sentence incorrect.
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