Pronouns
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ACT English › Pronouns
Everyone on the team has to submit their report by Friday. Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
his or her
NO CHANGE
our
its
Explanation
This question tests pronoun agreement with indefinite pronouns. The subject 'everyone' is singular and requires a singular pronoun for proper agreement. The plural 'their' creates a number disagreement with the singular 'everyone on the team.' Choice B 'his or her' maintains singular agreement while acknowledging gender inclusivity. Choice C 'its' is for non-human subjects, and choice D 'our' inappropriately shifts to first person. Indefinite pronouns like 'everyone,' 'somebody,' and 'anyone' are grammatically singular and require singular pronouns in formal writing.
Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
NO CHANGE
whom, being veterans of World War I,
who were veterans of World War I,
them being veterans of World War I,
Explanation
This is a pronoun case question testing relative pronouns. Choice A (NO CHANGE: whom were veterans) is correct—"whom" is the object of the preposition "of" in the phrase "many of whom." The structure is "many of whom were veterans," where "whom" correctly serves as the object. "Who" would be incorrect because it's the subject form. Choice B (who were veterans) is grammatically incorrect—after the preposition "of," you need the object form "whom," not the subject form "who." Choice C (them being veterans) creates awkward construction and likely a comma splice. Choice D (whom, being veterans) creates a fragment with unnecessary "being." Pro tip: After prepositions (of, to, for, with), use "whom" not "who."
The committee members, including myself, agreed on the plan. Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
me
NO CHANGE
mine
I
Explanation
This question tests the proper use of reflexive pronouns versus regular pronouns. The reflexive pronoun 'myself' should only be used when the subject performs an action on itself or for emphasis of the subject. In this sentence, 'myself' is simply part of a list of committee members and doesn't reflect back to any subject performing the action. Choice C 'me' is the correct objective case pronoun for this prepositional phrase 'including me.' Choice B 'I' is nominative case and incorrect after 'including,' and choice D 'mine' is possessive. Reflexive pronouns like 'myself' are often misused when simple objective pronouns are needed.
In a student government meeting, the treasurer explained the budget to the president and the committee chairs, and several members asked clarifying questions. Because the conversation moved quickly, the secretary tried to capture the main points in the minutes. The draft minutes stated that them approved the new funding guidelines after a brief discussion. Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
him
they
their
NO CHANGE
Explanation
This question tests basic pronoun case. The underlined pronoun "them" is incorrect because it's the object form being used as a subject of the verb "approved." The sentence needs a subject pronoun to perform the action. Choice B correctly uses "they" as the subject pronoun, indicating that the members (treasurer, president, and committee chairs) approved the guidelines. Choice C uses "him," which is singular and doesn't match the plural context, and choice D uses "their," which is possessive rather than subjective. Subject pronouns (I, he, she, we, they) perform actions, while object pronouns (me, him, her, us, them) receive actions.
In the debate club, Priya and Carlos reviewed a stack of articles about renewable energy and highlighted claims they could fact-check. Their coach reminded them to cite sources carefully and to keep their arguments consistent from opening statement to rebuttal. Priya drafted the introduction and wrote that you should always verify statistics before using them, even in a short speech. Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
NO CHANGE
one should always verify statistics before using them
we should always verify statistics before using them
statistics should always be verified before you use it
Explanation
This question tests pronoun consistency and formality. The underlined phrase "you should always verify" creates an inconsistent shift to second person in what appears to be formal academic writing. Choice A uses informal "you," which doesn't match the formal tone of debate preparation. Choice B correctly uses "one should," maintaining formal, impersonal tone throughout. Choice C uses "we," which could work but is less formal than the context suggests. Choice D mixes "you" with "it," creating both inconsistency and a pronoun-antecedent disagreement ("statistics" is plural, not "it"). Maintain consistent pronoun perspective within formal writing contexts.
The responsibility was shared between us and the marketing team. Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
our
them
we
NO CHANGE
Explanation
This question tests pronoun case when the pronoun functions as an object of a preposition. The phrase 'between us and the marketing team' uses the preposition 'between,' which requires its objects to be in objective case. Choice A 'us' correctly provides the objective case needed for prepositional objects. Choice B 'we' is nominative case and incorrect after prepositions, choice C 'our' is possessive, and choice D 'them' would change the meaning by excluding the speaker. The preposition 'between' always requires objective case pronouns like 'us,' 'him,' 'her,' or 'them.'
For a podcast episode about urban gardens, the host spoke with two guests: a botanist named Dr. Ruiz and a community organizer named Tara. Both guests described how volunteers maintain the plots, but they differed on which outreach methods work best. In the edited transcript, one sentence reads, She argued that flyers were less effective than door-to-door conversations, which could refer to either guest. Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
NO CHANGE
Tara argued that flyers were less effective than door-to-door conversations
They argued that flyers were less effective than door-to-door conversations
Dr. Ruiz argued that flyers were less effective than door-to-door conversations
Explanation
This question tests pronoun clarity and antecedent reference. The underlined phrase "She argued" creates ambiguity because "she" could refer to either Dr. Ruiz or Tara from the previous context. Both guests are female and were mentioned as having different perspectives on outreach methods. Choice C correctly specifies "Tara," eliminating confusion about which guest made the argument about flyers versus door-to-door conversations. Choice B would also provide clarity but refers to the other guest. Choice D uses "they," which doesn't match the singular context of the statement. Replace ambiguous pronouns with specific names when multiple people of the same gender are discussed.
A student is revising a reflection about a group presentation:
Before presenting, I met with Talia and Ren to practice our transitions and decide who would answer questions. Talia created the slides, Ren gathered sources, and I wrote the introduction. During the presentation, the teacher asked Ren and myself to explain one of the graphs in more detail.
Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
NO CHANGE
mine
me
I
Explanation
This question tests the proper use of reflexive pronouns. The pronoun appears in 'asked Ren and ___,' functioning as part of the compound object of the verb 'asked.' Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself) should only be used when the subject and object refer to the same person performing an action on themselves. The correct answer is 'me' because it properly serves as the object of 'asked' without unnecessary reflexivity. Choice A incorrectly uses 'myself' when the subject (teacher) and object (me) are different people, choice B would use 'I' (subject form) in an object position, and choice D 'mine' is possessive and doesn't fit grammatically. Many people mistakenly use 'myself' thinking it sounds more formal, but simple object pronouns are correct in these contexts.
The guests, including myself, arrived early for the event. Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
us
me
NO CHANGE
I
Explanation
This question tests the proper use of reflexive pronouns versus regular objective pronouns. The reflexive 'myself' should only be used when the subject performs an action on itself or for emphasis. In this prepositional phrase 'including myself,' there's no subject performing an action on itself, so a regular objective pronoun is needed. Choice D 'me' correctly provides the objective case for the preposition 'including.' Choice C 'I' is nominative and wrong after prepositions, and choice D 'us' is plural when the context suggests a single person. Avoid reflexive pronouns when simple objective pronouns will do.
In the meeting, both Sarah and I presented our ideas for the new project. Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
mine
myself
me
NO CHANGE
Explanation
This question tests pronoun case in a compound subject. The pronoun 'I' functions as part of the compound subject 'both Sarah and I' performing the action of presenting. The nominative case 'I' is correct because it serves as the subject of the sentence. Choice B 'me' is the objective case and would be incorrect for a subject, choice C 'myself' is a reflexive pronoun that requires the subject to refer back to itself, and choice D 'mine' is a possessive pronoun. To test compound subjects, remove the other person: you would say 'I presented' not 'me presented.'