prep sc

[lindaliu9273]

The manager and the CEO agree on the cause of the acquisition failure, but both blame the other.

A. both blame the other
B. each blames the other
C. each blame the other person
D. both are blaming the other
E. each blames one another


OA: B

I choose C.
In Manhattan book page 46: each following a subject has no bearing on the verb form.
e.g.: They each are great tennis players.

I think the sentence is similar.
"The student and the president each" should be with "blame".
So I eliminated B/E. And I think "both" is a little weird. So I choose c.

What mistakes do I make?
Thank you experts!

[RonPurewal]

Here, "each" is a noun/pronoun (I'm not sure how you'd classify it) that is the subject of "blames".

E.g.,
I thought both statements were necessary to solve this DS problem, but each actually solves it individually.
each (subject) ... solves (verb)

By the way, your interpretation seems to be valid, although it is stylistically awkward. (Style is not tested on this exam.)

However, that choice is still incorrect because "the other person" doesn't work for this kind of meaning. Reciprocal relationships are described by just "the other" or "each other""”"”NOT "the other (noun)".

E.g., if we're talking about a divorcing husband and wife"”

Each blames the other for the breakdown of the marriage
"”> The husband blames the wife; the wife blames the husband.

Each blames the other person for the breakdown of the marriage
"”> Here, "the other person" is some third person"”"”presumably someone who has already been mentioned (or whose identity is obvious to the people talking). E.g., "the other person" could be someone with whom one of the spouses had an extramarital affair.
Note that, in this sentence, the husband and wife are actually agreeing about whom to blame.

[lindaliu9273]

Thank you so much!

[RonPurewal]

Thank you so much!

Sure.

[CocoL212]

Hi Ron,
My question is why A is wrong?
Is it because it is not an idiomatical way to use "both ... the other", as "each ... other..." is idiomatic?

Thanks in advance.

[RonPurewal]

this has nothing to do with idioms. just think about what the words mean.
if there are only two people and you're making a statement about BOTH of them, then there is no 'other'!

to use 'both' and 'other', you need to have at least three parties.
e.g.,
Both A and B blame the other team member, C, for the failure of the project.
this sentence is somewhat weird—i can't exactly put a finger on why, but it's not something that a good writer would write—but at least it's not nonsense.

[thanghnvn]

The manager and the CEO agree on the cause of the acquisition failure, but both blame the other.

A. both blame the other
B. each blames the other
C. each blame the other person
D. both are blaming the other
E. each blames one another


OA: B

I choose C.
In Manhattan book page 46: each following a subject has no bearing on the verb form.
e.g.: They each are great tennis players.

I think the sentence is similar.
"The student and the president each" should be with "blame".
So I eliminated B/E. And I think "both" is a little weird. So I choose c.

What mistakes do I make?
Thank you experts!

I have just taken gmat and got a score I do not expect. I am not skillful and is hurry on sc and loose many sc. I do not focus on meaing when doing sc.

this question once again tell me the focus of sc is meaning

choice A: both focus on other. this is not logic. focus on meaning to see the problem of meaning. it is not logic. we can say both person focus on the third thing, for example, on the business task or on the beautiful girl. we need the third thing/person to make the sentence logic. D has the same problem
E and E is wrong because of idiom.

B is perfect.