Examkin

Question

Difficulty: Very hardPronoun Case and Person

The following passage is from a memoir about polar exploration.

In his memoir of the expedition, the polar explorer reveals that when a traveler crosses the Antarctic plateau, you must rely on the navigator's calculations, since any discrepancy between the navigator and he can show it's consequences immediately.

Which of the following options correctly completes the sentence and maintains proper grammatical structure?

  1. A
    you must rely on the navigator's calculations, since any discrepancy between the navigator and he can show it's
  2. B
    one must rely on the navigator's calculations, since any discrepancy between the navigator and he can show its
  3. C
    one must rely on the navigator's calculations, since any discrepancy between the navigator and him can show it's
  4. one must rely on the navigator's calculations, since any discrepancy between the navigator and him can show itsAnswer

Answer

The correct option is the one that uses 'one must' to maintain third-person perspective, 'him' to serve as the objective case after the preposition 'between', and 'its' to correctly indicate possession.
The correct option maintains third-person consistency with 'a traveler' by using the pronoun 'one'. Additionally, it uses the objective pronoun 'him' as part of the compound object of the preposition 'between' and the possessive pronoun 'its' to show ownership of the consequences, avoiding both the case error and the contraction error.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the pronoun person in the sentence to ensure consistency with the referent 'a traveler'.
The sentence starts with 'a traveler', which is a third-person singular noun phrase. The pronoun referring back to it must remain in the third person ('one' or 'he/she'), making the second-person 'you' a pronoun person shift error.
To maintain pronoun-person consistency throughout the sentence.
2
Examine the pronoun case in the compound construction 'between the navigator and he'.
The preposition 'between' requires its objects to be in the objective case. Therefore, the subjective pronoun 'he' must be replaced with the objective pronoun 'him'.
Prepositional objects must be in the objective case.
3
Determine the correct word to modify 'consequences' by distinguishing between the homophones 'its' and 'it's'.
The sentence requires the possessive determiner 'its' to show ownership of the consequences, whereas 'it's' is a contraction of 'it is' or 'it has'.
To ensure proper homophone usage for showing possession.

Key Concept

Pronoun Case, Person Consistency, and Possessive Homophones in Compound Structures
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Rate this question

Topics

Pronoun Case and Person

More questions from this topic