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Difficulty: MediumPronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Which pronoun correctly completes the sentence below to maintain proper grammatical agreement between the pronoun and its antecedent?

'Every female candidate who completed the rigorous entrance examination was instructed to submit _______ credentials to the administrative officer.'

  1. herAnswer
  2. B
    their
  3. C
    hers
  4. D
    them

Answer

The possessive pronoun 'her' is correct because the antecedent 'female candidate' is singular.
The word 'Every' modifies the noun phrase 'female candidate', making the grammatical antecedent singular. Because the candidate is explicitly identified as female, the singular possessive pronoun 'her' properly agrees with the antecedent in number, gender, and case.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the antecedent and its grammatical number and gender.
The subject noun phrase is 'Every female candidate'. The modifier 'Every' specifies a singular antecedent, and 'female' establishes the feminine gender.
Indefinite pronouns or nouns modified by 'every' take singular pronoun references.
2
Determine the required case of the pronoun for the blank slot.
The blank modifies the noun 'credentials', necessitating a possessive determinative pronoun.
A noun headword following a pronoun slot requires a possessive modifier rather than an objective or independent possessive form.
3
Select the pronoun form that matches in number, gender, and case.
The singular, feminine, possessive determinative pronoun is 'her'.
Matching gender (female), number (singular), and case (possessive) satisfies grammatical agreement rules in formal standard English.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement with Singular Indefinite Modifiers
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Topics

Pronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

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