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Difficulty: MediumPronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Complete the sentence by filling in the blank with the pronoun that maintains correct grammatical agreement in formal English.

Answer:The committee of maritime historians, after weeks of examining the shipwreck artifacts, finally published 【its】 comprehensive report on the vessel's origin.

Answer

its
The possessive pronoun 'its' correctly agrees with the singular collective noun antecedent 'committee', which acts as a unified body in publishing the report.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the antecedent of the pronoun.
The antecedent is the collective noun phrase 'The committee of maritime historians'.
Finding the head noun determines the number and person required for pronoun agreement.
2
Determine if the collective noun acts as a single body or as separate individuals.
The action of publishing a single unified report indicates that the committee functioned as one collective unit.
When a collective noun functions as a single entity, it takes a singular neuter pronoun.
3
Select the correct singular possessive pronoun.
The third-person singular neuter possessive pronoun is 'its'.
'Its' agrees in gender and number with the singular collective entity 'committee'.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement with Collective Nouns
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Pronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

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