Tricky pronouns

Question

The sentence below is from a text about Charlie Chaplin.

Could you give me what those pronouns stand for?

The “mechanical” quality of life that industrialization promoted was proving to be a source of dissatisfaction for many, which made it ripe for its satirization by Charlie Chaplin in his 1936 film Modern Times.

This is what I think.
Which ; dissatifaction or all that's before 'which'
it, its ; industrialization

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Stenka25The “mechanical” quality of life that industrialization promoted was proving to be a source of dissatisfaction for many, which made it ripe for its satirization by Charlie Chaplin in his 1936 film Modern Times.

The “mechanical” quality of life that industrialization promoted was proving to be a source of dissatisfaction for many. [The fact that this "mechanical" quality of life was proving to be a source of dissatisfaction]made [this quality of life] ripe for the satirization [of this quality of life] by Charlie Chaplin in his 1936 film Modern Times.

CJ

Stenka25 · Answer

Thanks a lot as always, CalifJim.

RobinG · Answer

Hi CJ. Here's something about the word prove I cannot quite make it out.
I've always thought that something is proved to be blah......e.g. The theory was proved (to be) correct. Is this sentence right? I suppose we can save the "to be" here?
But every now and then, I came across this structure something proves (to be) blah....e.g. The process of transition has often proven (to be) difficult. Can we put "to be" in here?
Here's an example and a few viariations:(not sure which one is right)
*The tests proved the vaccine to be effective.
1.The vaccine proved to be effective.
2.The vaccine was proved effective.
3.The vaccine was proved to be effective.
3.The vaccine proved effective.(This is probably wrong?)

CalifJim · Answer

There are quite a few patterns with prove.

prove ~ show; demonstrate; establish (e.g., the truth of something):

active

The teacher proved the theorem.
The teacher proved that the theorem was correct.
The teacher proved the theorem to be correct.
The teacher proved the theorem correct.

The prosecutor proved the charges.
The prosecutor proved that the charges were valid.
The prosecutor proved the charges to be valid.
The prosecutor proved the charges valid.

The logician proved that the argument was valid.
The logician proved the argument to be valid.
The logician proved the argument valid.

The tests proved that the vaccine was effective.
The tests proved the vaccine to be effective.
The tests proved the vaccine effective.

passive

The theorem was proved. The theorem was proved correct. ?The theorem was proved to be correct.
The charges were proved. The charges were proved valid. ?The charges were proved to be valid.
The argument was proved valid. ?The argument was proved to be valid.
?The vaccine was proved effective. ?The vaccine was proved to be effective.
____________________

prove ~ turn out; end up (being); be (in the end)

?The theorem proved correct. The theorem proved to be correct.
The charges proved valid. The charges proved to be valid.
?The argument proved valid. The argument proved to be valid.
The vaccine proved effective. The vaccine proved to be effective.
The translation proved difficult. The translation proved to be difficult.
The [journey / search] proved [exhausting / futile]. The [journey / search] proved to be [exhausting / futile].
?The computations proved complex. The computations proved to be complex.

Caution: Not all native speakers would necessarily agree with all of my judgments. Those preceded by question marks seem awkward to me, or of limited usefulness.

CJ

JohnParis · Answer

Robin -
(not sure which one is right)
They are all correct !
*The tests proved the vaccine to be effective.
1.The vaccine proved to be effective.
2.The vaccine was proved effective.
3.The vaccine was proved to be effective.
3.The vaccine proved effective.

CJ -
I agree with all of your judgements and I find those sentences preceded by a question mark to be just fine. One man's awkward is another man's perfection. Several of your sentences (eg "The vaccine proved effective." and
"The theorem was proved.") are particularly good examples of succinct scientific writing.

CalifJim · Answer

JohnParisI agree with all of your judgements

Now that doesn't happen very often. I'm going to mark it on my calendar and celebrate!

Thanks for the feedback.

CJ

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