Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardPronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Despite repeated warnings from the municipal oversight committee, neither of the proposed architectural plans had _____ structural safety permit renewed before construction began. Which option best completes the sentence while adhering strictly to formal rules of pronoun-antecedent agreement?

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

Answer

The possessive determiner 'its' correctly completes the sentence because the singular indefinite pronoun 'neither' is the true antecedent.
The correct response is 'its' because the sentence's subject antecedent is the singular indefinite pronoun 'neither'. In formal English, 'neither' requires a singular pronoun. Since 'architectural plans' are non-human objects, the singular neuter possessive determiner 'its' must be used.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the grammatical antecedent of the missing pronoun.
The antecedent is the indefinite pronoun 'neither', not the plural noun 'architectural plans' inside the modifying prepositional phrase 'of the proposed architectural plans'.
Nouns contained within prepositional phrases modifying a subject do not alter the number of the head antecedent.
2
Determine the grammatical number and person of the antecedent.
The indefinite pronoun 'neither' is singular and third-person neuter (referring to inanimate plans).
Standard formal English treats 'neither' as a singular subject when referring to items individually.
3
Select the appropriate possessive form to modify 'structural safety permit'.
'Its' is the correct singular third-person neuter possessive determiner.
A possessive determiner is required before the noun phrase 'structural safety permit'.

Key Concept

Indefinite Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Rate this question

Topics

Pronouns and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

More questions from this topic