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Difficulty: HardPronoun-Antecedent Agreement

The coalition of renewable energy developers, which lobbying groups had pressured to endorse the municipal sustainability plan, finalized their proposal before the legislative deadline.

Which of the following choices, if substituted for the underlined portion, makes the sentence grammatically correct?

  1. A
    their
  2. itsAnswer
  3. C
    they're
  4. D
    its'

Answer

its
The correct answer is the singular possessive pronoun 'its'. The antecedent of the pronoun is 'coalition,' which is a singular collective noun. Although the plural phrase 'of renewable energy developers' and the relative clause intervene, the pronoun must agree with the singular noun 'coalition.' Therefore, the singular possessive pronoun 'its' is grammatically correct.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the antecedent that the underlined possessive pronoun refers to.
The antecedent is the collective noun 'coalition'.
To ensure proper pronoun-antecedent agreement, we must first locate the noun that the pronoun replaces or refers to.
2
Determine the grammatical number of the antecedent.
The noun 'coalition' is singular, despite being followed by the plural prepositional phrase 'of renewable energy developers'.
Agreement must be made with the head noun of the subject phrase ('coalition'), which is singular.
3
Select the possessive pronoun that matches the singular number of the antecedent.
The singular possessive pronoun is 'its'.
A singular antecedent requires a singular possessive pronoun to maintain grammatical agreement.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
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Topics

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

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