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Question

Difficulty: MediumPronoun-Antecedent Agreement

A pronoun has been omitted from the sentence below. Which pronoun must be inserted in the blank to ensure correct pronoun-antecedent agreement?

Answer:The coalition of local businesses, which has lobbied for tax reforms for over a decade, is preparing to launch 【its】 new advertising campaign next month.

Answer

its
The correct pronoun is 'its' because it agrees in number with the singular collective noun 'coalition'. The prepositional phrase 'of local businesses' contains a plural noun, but it does not change the singular nature of the main antecedent.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the antecedent of the pronoun.
The noun phrase 'of local businesses' is a prepositional modifier, making the singular collective noun 'coalition' the true grammatical antecedent.
Correct pronoun agreement requires identifying the head noun that the pronoun replaces rather than nouns in intervening phrases.
2
Determine the grammatical number of the antecedent.
The collective noun 'coalition' is singular and acts as a single cohesive unit.
Knowing whether the antecedent is singular or plural determines the number of the pronoun.
3
Select the correct singular possessive pronoun.
The singular, gender-neutral possessive pronoun is 'its'.
The pronoun must agree in number and gender with its antecedent.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
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Topics

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

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