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Writing Assessment Videos 132 videos

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ACT English 1.5 Grammar and Usage 451 Views


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Description:

ACT English: Grammar and Usage Drill 1, Problem 5. Formatting a sentence with a singular indefinite pronoun.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by indefinite pronouns. Our advice is not

00:08

to start a conversation with them. They just go on and on and on...

00:13

What should replace the underlined word below?

00:15

Although the broken window is the result of a prank, nobody claimed to be the culprit.

00:25

"Nobody" is what's called an indefinite pronoun, because it doesn't refer to a particular person,

00:30

place, or thing.

00:31

It basically goes through life saying "whatevs" to everything.

00:35

What's even more important to note is that "nobody" is a singular indefinite pronoun.

00:40

We're only referring to one mysterious window-breaking nobody here, not a whole gang of them.

00:45

Since we've got a singular subject on our hands, we know we're looking for singular

00:49

verbs as well.

00:50

This makes both (B) and (D) incorrect.

00:53

"Claim" is a plural verb, and it knocks them both out of contention.

00:57

Let's take a look at (A) next to see if the original sentence passes the test.

01:00

Nah, it's not looking so good here. Although "claimed" can be both singular and plural,

01:06

it's in the past tense.

01:07

"Is" signals that the sentence is in the present tense, so (A) has to go.

01:11

Choice (C) is the correct answer. "Claims" is singular and in the present tense, so it's

01:18

everything we've been looking for.

01:19

Man, if only that pronoun had been more definite, we could have cleared things up a lot sooner.

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