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Difficulty: Very hardPronoun-Antecedent Agreement and Case

A central federation of independent artisan cooperatives and small-scale manufacturing groups, which was established to promote sustainable trade practices across the region, has announced plans to digitize ______ inventory management systems. By transitioning to a cloud-based platform, the organization hopes to reduce administrative errors and streamline supply chains for all member workshops.

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

  1. A
    their
  2. B
    it's
  3. itsAnswer
  4. D
    they're

Answer

The singular possessive pronoun 'its' correctly refers to the singular collective noun 'federation' and modifies the noun phrase 'inventory management systems'.
The singular possessive pronoun 'its' is correct because it matches the singular collective noun 'federation' (the antecedent of the sentence) and shows possession over 'inventory management systems'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the antecedent that the pronoun in the blank refers to.
The antecedent is the noun phrase 'A central federation'.
The sentence describes the plans of the federation to digitize systems, despite the intervening details about cooperatives and groups.
2
Determine the grammatical number and gender of the antecedent 'federation'.
The noun 'federation' is a singular collective noun representing a single organization, and it is neuter (non-human).
Collective nouns representing single organizations are treated as singular in Standard English.
3
Determine the required grammatical case and role of the pronoun.
A possessive pronoun is required.
The pronoun modifies 'inventory management systems', indicating ownership or relationship.
4
Select the pronoun that matches the singular number, neuter gender, and possessive case.
The correct pronoun is 'its'.
'its' is singular and possessive, whereas 'their' is plural, and 'it's' and 'they're' are contractions.

Key Concept

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement and Case
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Topics

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement and Case

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