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Difficulty: MediumPronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Complete the sentence below by supplying the correct possessive pronoun that maintains proper grammatical agreement in standard formal English.

Answer:Neither the lead architect nor the site engineers could locate 【their】 detailed blueprints when the municipal inspectors arrived.

Answer

The correct pronoun to complete the sentence is 'their'.
In standard English grammar, when subjects are joined by correlative conjunctions such as 'neither... nor...' or 'either... or...', the possessive pronoun must agree in number with the nearer antecedent. In this sentence, the noun phrase nearest to the blank is the plural noun 'site engineers', which requires the plural possessive pronoun 'their'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the compound antecedent and the connecting correlative conjunction.
The subject contains two elements: 'the lead architect' (singular) and 'the site engineers' (plural), joined by 'neither... nor...'.
When compound antecedents are joined by correlative conjunctions like 'neither... nor...', pronoun agreement is governed by the rule of proximity.
2
Determine the antecedent closest to the pronoun blank.
The closer antecedent is 'the site engineers', which is plural.
The pronoun must agree in number with the nearer noun phrase in the sentence structure.
3
Select the appropriate possessive pronoun.
The plural possessive pronoun 'their' correctly matches the plural antecedent 'site engineers'.
Using 'their' completes the sentence in alignment with standard grammatical rules of proximity.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement with Correlative Conjunctions (Rule of Proximity)
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Pronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

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