Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumPronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

In the sentence below, which pronoun correctly completes the blank while maintaining proper pronoun-antecedent agreement?

"Either the assistant defense attorneys or the lead counsel will have to present _____ opening statement before the presiding judge tomorrow morning."

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

Answer

The possessive pronoun 'his or her' correctly completes the sentence.
When antecedents are connected by 'either... or', the pronoun must agree in number and gender with the antecedent closest to it (the rule of proximity). Here, the noun closest to the blank is 'the lead counsel', which is singular. Therefore, the singular possessive determiner 'his or her' is grammatically correct.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the antecedent structure in the sentence.
The subject contains compound antecedents connected by the disjunctive conjunction 'either... or': 'the assistant defense attorneys' (plural) and 'the lead counsel' (singular).
Determining how the antecedents are connected establishes which agreement rule applies.
2
Apply the proximity rule for disjunctive compound antecedents.
When subjects are joined by 'either... or', the pronoun must agree in number and gender with the antecedent closest to it in the sentence.
The blank follows 'the lead counsel', which is singular.
3
Select the pronoun that matches the singular noun 'the lead counsel'.
The correct singular possessive determiner is 'his or her'.
'His or her' properly agrees with the singular human antecedent closest to the blank.

Key Concept

Rule of proximity for pronoun-antecedent agreement in disjunctive subjects (either... or / neither... nor)
Rate this question

Topics

Pronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

More questions from this topic