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For the first time

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RonPurewal
 Post subject: Re: For the first time
 Post Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 7:06 am 
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anupa, george -- you guys are both missing the point.

anupa_panjari wrote:
Hi Ron

Sorry to start this thread again, but I would like to know what 'it' in the E does not refer to the 'the population of the state'. If I replace that 'it' with 'the population of the state' and read option E, it reads as
'amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from what the population of the state (replacing it) was a decade ago by nearly three-quarters'

which lets me that it refers to 'the population of the state'.

Could you please tell me why is this ambiguous


the reason why this pronoun reference is incorrect is not that it's ambiguous; the reason is that it's totally WRONG.

the meaning of the sentence is that the percentage of california's population that consists of white people has fallen from its previous level. there is no noun corresponding to this idea, so the pronoun is incorrect.

according to your interpretation, the population of the state itself has fallen; that's not the meaning of the sentence.

you can't judge pronouns without understanding the meaning of the sentence!
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gmatango
 Post subject: Re: For the first time
 Post Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 11:26 pm 
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Sorry for touching this long discussed thread again.

Had a question about the antecedent of the last modifier (down from what it was a decade ago by nearly three-quarters). Is this modifier an absolute phrase or an appositive ? As this modifier seem to refer to "% of california's population that is white".

Just want to understand the construction of this modifier ?

Thanks!
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RonPurewal
 Post subject: Re: For the first time
 Post Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:24 am 
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akshayanand05 wrote:
Sorry for touching this long discussed thread again.

Had a question about the antecedent of the last modifier (down from what it was a decade ago by nearly three-quarters). Is this modifier an absolute phrase or an appositive ?


it's neither; "down" is an adjective, so it's ... um ... an adjective modifier.
i don't actually know whether it's really called that (dirty secret: i hardly know any grammatical names at all, unless i google them before posting), but it works in the same way as other modifiers that start with adjectives. these are somewhat flexible and can modify either the subject of the sentence or a noun that's closer, depending on context.
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sabharwal.bhavna
 Post subject: Re: For the first time
 Post Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 2:23 pm 
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Quote:
(dirty secret: i hardly know any grammatical names at all, unless i google them before posting)

you are funny ron...
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RonPurewal
 Post subject: Re: For the first time
 Post Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 8:15 am 
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sabharwal.bhavna wrote:
Quote:
(dirty secret: i hardly know any grammatical names at all, unless i google them before posting)

you are funny ron...


not really intended to be funny.
learning the formal names of grammatical constructions -- with the exception of the most basic elements of a sentence, such as nouns, verbs, etc. -- is at best a waste of your time, and at worst a distraction from the stuff that actually solves the problems.
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zhongshanlh
 Post subject: Re: For the first time
 Post Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 4:30 am 
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RonPurewal wrote:
akshayanand05 wrote:
Sorry for touching this long discussed thread again.

Had a question about the antecedent of the last modifier (down from what it was a decade ago by nearly three-quarters). Is this modifier an absolute phrase or an appositive ?


it's neither; "down" is an adjective, so it's ... um ... an adjective modifier.
i don't actually know whether it's really called that (dirty secret: i hardly know any grammatical names at all, unless i google them before posting), but it works in the same way as other modifiers that start with adjectives. these are somewhat flexible and can modify either the subject of the sentence or a noun that's closer, depending on context.


i am still not completely understand the use of this phrase here.

actually, this is the first time i encounter such kind of construction--->COMMA ADJ

in general, it is quite often for us to come up with the adjective open modifier without subject at the beginning of a main clause, and in that situation, the adjective phrase applies to the subject of the following clause.

however, i am quite confused about this kind of construction--->COMMA ADJ
so,Ron, would you please tell us more about this kind of modifier?if with examples, that will be much better.
thank you so much in advance.
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mylittled2008
 Post subject: Re: For the first time
 Post Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 9:28 am 
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For the first time in the modern era, non-Hispanic Whites are officially a minority in California, which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters only a decade ago.

D. amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters a decade ago
E. amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from what it was a decade ago by nearly three-quarters

There is a difference between D and E: "down from xxx"
E. "it" doesn't have an antecedent.
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