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Question

Difficulty: MediumPronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Which of the following options correctly completes the sentence below?

'Every one of the senior analysts in the financial department was requested to submit _____ quarterly audit report before the executive briefing.'

  1. A
    their
  2. his or herAnswer
  3. C
    its
  4. D
    theirs

Answer

The phrase 'his or her' is correct because the singular indefinite pronoun 'Every one' is the true grammatical antecedent of the sentence.
The sentence subject is headed by the singular indefinite expression 'Every one'. In formal English, singular indefinite pronouns require singular pronouns ('his or her') for agreement, regardless of intervening plural modifiers like 'of the senior analysts'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the true antecedent of the sentence.
The subject head is the singular indefinite pronoun 'Every one', not the plural noun 'analysts' inside the modifying prepositional phrase.
Prepositional phrases like 'of the senior analysts' modify the head noun but do not change its singular grammatical number.
2
Determine the required pronoun agreement rule.
A singular indefinite pronoun antecedent requires a singular possessive pronoun.
Standard formal English requires pronouns to agree strictly in number with their grammatical antecedents.
3
Select the option that fulfills both singular number and appropriate possessive determiner role.
The phrase 'his or her' correctly provides singular possessive agreement.
It functions as a possessive modifier for 'quarterly audit report' and agrees in singular number with 'Every one'.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement with Singular Indefinite Pronouns
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Topics

Pronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

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