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Question

Difficulty: MediumPronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Which choice is the correct replacement for the underlined portion in the sentence below?

After weeks of intense negotiations, the delegation of international diplomats finally presented their draft of the treaty to the General Assembly.

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. itsAnswer
  3. C
    it's
  4. D
    they're

Answer

its
The correct option is the singular possessive pronoun 'its'. The antecedent is 'delegation', which is a singular collective noun. Although the plural noun 'diplomats' appears in the intervening prepositional phrase 'of international diplomats', the head of the subject noun phrase is 'delegation', which is singular. Thus, the singular possessive pronoun 'its' is required to agree with it.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the antecedent of the underlined pronoun in the sentence.
The pronoun refers to the 'delegation' of international diplomats.
To ensure correct pronoun-antecedent agreement, we must first determine the noun or noun phrase that the pronoun is replacing or referring to.
2
Determine the number (singular or plural) of the antecedent.
The noun 'delegation' is a collective noun acting as a single unit, which makes it singular. The plural noun 'diplomats' is inside the prepositional phrase 'of international diplomats' and does not affect the number of the head noun 'delegation'.
Intervening prepositional phrases often contain nouns of a different number, so we must isolate the true head noun to determine agreement.
3
Select the correct pronoun that is singular and possessive to fit the context.
The singular possessive pronoun is 'its'. We must avoid contractions like 'it's' and plural forms like 'their' or 'they're'.
The sentence requires a possessive pronoun to modify 'draft'. Choosing 'its' ensures agreement in number and avoids confusion with contractions.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement with Collective Nouns
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

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