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Difficulty: Very hardPronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Which pronoun correctly fills the blank to ensure standard pronoun-antecedent agreement in the sentence below?

Answer:Many a seasoned negotiator who attended the summit failed to realize the full impact of 【his】 compromise.

Answer

The correct pronoun to fill the blank is 'his', 'her', or 'his or her'.
The expression 'many a' is followed by a singular countable noun ('negotiator') and functions grammatically as a singular antecedent. Consequently, formal pronoun-antecedent agreement requires a singular possessive pronoun ('his', 'her', or 'his or her') to refer back to it.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the primary noun phrase serving as the antecedent.
The antecedent is 'Many a seasoned negotiator'.
The distributive determiner phrase 'many a' takes a grammatically singular noun ('negotiator') and requires singular agreement throughout the sentence.
2
Determine the correct grammatical number for the possessive pronoun.
Because 'many a negotiator' is grammatically singular, the possessive pronoun referring back to it must also be singular ('his', 'her', or 'his or her').
Using a plural pronoun like 'their' violates formal agreement rules despite the plural sense implied by 'many'.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement with 'Many a'
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Topics

Pronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

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