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Difficulty: MediumPronoun-Antecedent Agreement and Case

Linguists documenting the evolution of Romance languages have noted that each of the endangered regional dialects spoken in the isolated valleys of northern Italy displays highly distinct phonetic patterns. Despite these localized pronunciation differences, however, ______ core grammatical structure remains fundamentally derived from Vulgar Latin, demonstrating a shared linguistic ancestry that has persisted for centuries.

Which choice completes the passage so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

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

Answer

its
The singular possessive pronoun 'its' correctly refers to the singular antecedent 'each' and shows possession of the 'core grammatical structure'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the antecedent of the pronoun in the blank.
The antecedent is the indefinite pronoun 'each'.
The pronoun must agree in number with its antecedent.
2
Determine if the antecedent is singular or plural.
The indefinite pronoun 'each' is singular, despite being followed by the plural noun 'dialects' in a prepositional phrase.
Prepositional phrases intervening between an antecedent and a pronoun do not change the number of the antecedent.
3
Choose the pronoun that is singular and possessive.
The correct choice is 'its'.
'its' is the singular possessive pronoun, whereas 'their' is plural, and 'it's' and 'its'' are incorrect grammatical forms in this context.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement and Case
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement and Case

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