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Difficulty: HardPronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Read the sentence below carefully:

'Every regional director and branch manager must submit _____ audit findings to the executive board before the end of the fiscal quarter.'

Which of the following pronouns correctly completes the sentence in accordance with strict rules of pronoun-antecedent agreement in formal standard English?

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

Answer

The pronoun 'his or her' correctly completes the sentence by agreeing in number with the grammatically singular antecedent.
In formal standard English, when two or more singular nouns joined by 'and' are preceded by the distributive adjective 'every', the antecedent is considered grammatically singular because it refers to the individuals separately. Consequently, it requires the singular possessive form 'his or her' to achieve complete pronoun-antecedent agreement.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the antecedent in the sentence clause.
The antecedent phrase is 'Every regional director and branch manager'.
Determining the exact antecedent is necessary to evaluate grammatical number and person.
2
Apply the rule governing compound subjects preceded by the quantifier 'every'.
Even though two singular nouns ('regional director', 'branch manager') are joined by 'and', the presence of 'every' distributes the modifier individually, making the compound antecedent grammatically singular.
In standard formal English, quantifiers like 'each' and 'every' render the subject singular.
3
Select the pronoun that matches the singular human antecedent in number and gender.
The singular possessive construction 'his or her' maintains strict grammatical concord.
Plural pronouns like 'their' represent colloquial usage, whereas formal standard English requires a singular pronoun.

Key Concept

Quantifiers such as 'each' or 'every' preceding compound singular nouns joined by 'and' require a singular pronoun for correct agreement.
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Pronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

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