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Difficulty: EasyPronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Which pronoun should be placed in the blank to ensure correct pronoun-antecedent agreement in the sentence below?

Answer:The astronomers spent months gathering data, but the director of the observatory doubted 【their】 findings.

Answer

their
The pronoun 'their' is correct because it is a plural possessive pronoun that correctly agrees in number with the plural noun antecedent 'astronomers'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the antecedent that the pronoun in the blank refers to.
The antecedent is 'astronomers'.
A pronoun must agree in number (singular or plural) with the antecedent it replaces.
2
Determine the number of the antecedent and select the corresponding possessive pronoun.
The antecedent 'astronomers' is a plural noun, so the plural possessive pronoun 'their' is required.
Using a singular possessive pronoun would create a pronoun-antecedent agreement error.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

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