Choose the pronoun that matches its antecedent in number and takes the right form for its role.
You select the pronoun that fits a blank. Three things are being checked at once: whether the pronoun matches its antecedent in number, whether it takes the subject, object, or possessive form, and whether it is spelled as a possessive rather than a contraction. Institutions and animals treated as single units take it and its. The frequently tested pairs are its and it is, their and they are, and whose and who is, where the apostrophe form always means the contraction.
Pronoun questions usually appear about 1 to 3 times among the 54 reading and writing questions.
Written for this skill, with the answer explained. 30 more are in the app.
A tidepool sculpin can return to the same pool after being carried a hundred meters down the shore, though how ______ navigates is still debated.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
The museum offered fellowships to my colleague and ______ in the same week, which meant we could finally work in the same city.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Why: The pronoun is an object of the preposition "to," so the object form "me" is correct; "I" is a subject form, "myself" requires a matching subject in the same clause, and "mine" is possessive.
The seed bank stores more than fifty thousand accessions, and ______ catalog now runs to three volumes.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Why: "Seed bank" is singular, so the singular possessive "its" is required; "their" and "theirs" are plural and "it's" means "it is."
The director gave the lead role to the understudy ______ she had watched rehearse alone for three weeks.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Why: The pronoun is the object of "had watched," so the object form "whom" is correct; "who" is a subject form, "whose" is possessive, and "which" cannot refer to a person.
Its is the possessive form, as in the colony rebuilt its nest, and it never takes an apostrophe. The spelling with an apostrophe is a contraction meaning it is or it has. If expanding to it is breaks the sentence, the possessive is correct.
In standard written English an organization acting as a single body takes it and its. The SAT follows this convention, so a sentence about a museum extending its hours uses the singular pronoun.
Use who when the pronoun is performing the action of its clause and whom when it is receiving the action. Substituting he or him into the clause is a quick test, since he matches who and him matches whom.
Questions on pronouns alone, with explanations on every one, and the app tracks which ones you keep missing.
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