Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumPronoun-Antecedent Agreement

A colony of leafcutter ants can carry leaves many times their own body weight, demonstrating a remarkable feat of collective strength.

Which choice is the correct replacement for the underlined portion?

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

Answer

The singular possessive pronoun 'its' correctly agrees in number with the singular collective noun antecedent 'colony'.
The singular possessive pronoun 'its' correctly matches the singular collective noun antecedent 'colony'. The intervening prepositional phrase 'of leafcutter ants' contains a plural noun but does not change the singular nature of the main antecedent.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the pronoun's antecedent in the sentence.
The antecedent is the collective noun 'colony'.
The pronoun refers to the singular 'colony' as a single unit performing the action, rather than the individual 'ants' in the intervening prepositional phrase 'of leafcutter ants'.
2
Determine the grammatical number of the collective noun antecedent.
The noun 'colony' is singular.
In standard English, collective nouns representing a single group acting in unison are treated as singular.
3
Select the pronoun that is singular, possessive, and spelled correctly.
The correct choice is 'its'.
The word 'its' is the singular possessive pronoun. The spelling 'it's' is a contraction meaning 'it is' or 'it has', which does not fit grammatically.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement with Collective Nouns
Rate this question

Topics

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

More questions from this topic