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Question

Difficulty: MediumPronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Which of the following pronouns correctly completes the sentence below?

'One of the major telecommunication companies operating in the country has lost _____ operational license following a regulatory audit.'

  1. itsAnswer
  2. B
    their
  3. C
    it's
  4. D
    theirs

Answer

The correct option is 'its' because the singular subject 'One' requires a singular possessive pronoun.
The sentence specifies 'One' as the singular head antecedent. Therefore, the possessive pronoun modifying 'operational license' must be singular and neuter ('its').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the true grammatical antecedent in the subject clause.
The head of the subject phrase is the singular indefinite pronoun 'One', not the plural noun 'companies' within the prepositional modifier 'of the major telecommunication companies'.
Modifiers inside prepositional phrases do not change the number of the core head antecedent.
2
Determine the gender and number of the required pronoun.
The antecedent refers to a single corporate entity, requiring a 3rd-person singular neuter possessive determiner ('its').
Pronouns must agree in number, person, and gender with their grammatical antecedent.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement with Indefinite Head Nouns
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Topics

Pronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

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