We advised (P) the hijackers to surrender (Q) to the police (R) themselves (S) The proper sequence should be
- (a)P Q R S
- (b)P R Q S
- (c)P Q S R
- (d)R P Q S
Correct — C, P Q S R. In this section each label stands immediately after the part it names. So (P) is 'We advised', (Q) is 'the hijackers to surrender', (S) is 'themselves' and (R) is 'to the police'. Reading P Q S R gives 'We advised the hijackers to surrender themselves to the police', because the reflexive pronoun is the object of 'surrender' and has to follow that verb at once, with the 'to' phrase naming who they gave themselves up to.
- (a)P Q R S — With 'themselves' pushed to the end it stops being the object of 'surrender' and is read as an emphatic addition meaning 'without help', which changes the sense.
- (b)P R Q S — Putting 'to the police' straight after 'advised' makes the police the people who were advised, and it cuts the verb off from the clause it introduces.
- (d)R P Q S — Fronting 'to the police' ties the phrase to the advising rather than to the surrender, so the sentence says something the original never meant.
A word-order item on a reflexive object, which must stay next to the verb it belongs to.
The same pronoun can be an object or an emphasiser depending on where it sits. Next to the verb it is the thing surrendered; at the end of the sentence it means 'on their own'.
- Leaving a prepositional phrase where it attaches to the nearest verb rather than the intended one.
Asked as an ordering item in which a misplaced pronoun quietly changes the meaning.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Arrange the parts. The teacher advised (P) the boys to behave (Q) in the hall (R) themselves (S). The proper sequence should be
- (a)P Q R S
- (b)P Q S R
- (c)P R Q S
- (d)R P Q S
Answer(b) P Q S R — 'The teacher advised the boys to behave themselves in the hall.'
- practice — not a real PYQ
Arrange the parts. The officer asked (P) the men to present (Q) at the gate (R) themselves (S). The proper sequence should be
- (a)P Q S R
- (b)P Q R S
- (c)P R Q S
- (d)Q P R S
Answer(a) P Q S R — 'The officer asked the men to present themselves at the gate.'