Study on the flyACTEnglishPronoun case, agreement, and clear reference
English
Pronoun case, agreement, and clear reference covers three separate checks on words like he, them, its and whom.
Case asks whether a pronoun acts as a subject or an object, so "between you and me" is correct while "between you and I" is not. Agreement requires a singular noun such as each student or the company to take a singular pronoun. Clear reference means the reader can tell exactly which noun a pronoun points back to; if two people were just named, a lone she may be ambiguous.
ACT English answer choices often trade one pronoun for another or replace a vague pronoun with the noun itself.
Pick an answer to see whether it is right — nothing is saved, and nothing needs an account.
[1]
Most archives preserve letters or photographs. The Grayfield Dust Archive preserves what cleaning usually removes. Each sealed envelope contains dust swept from an indoor room located inside a building: a bakery loft, repair shop, or attic. Curators treat the material not as dirt but as a record of how air, fabric, wood, and people move through enclosed spaces.
[2]
To make samples comparable, volunteer collectors use identical brushes and paper trays. On each envelope, they record the room’s dimensions the sample’s color and texture and the collection date. Collectors keep there brushes inside sleeves until arriving at a marked sampling square. They sweep the same measured area for one minute, fold the tray, and seal the dust before leaving.
[3]
When samples from many rooms are compared, patterns emerge that no single envelope could show. Dust beside warm-air vents contains more textile fibers than dust near closed cupboards. Repeated samples from a workshop may also trace a gradual change from hand sanding to machine cutting, since the newer process produces finer, more evenly distributed wood particles.
[4]
Back at the archive, technicians first log each unopened envelope and photograph its label. They check the seal and assign a code linking the envelope to the collector’s notes. The physical examination begins only after this intake record is complete. A technician sifts each sample through stacked screens. Fine particles fall more slow than coarse grains when air passes through a testing column. Staff then use low-powered lenses to identify fibers, compare fragments, and mapping the proportion of each material. Once these measurements are entered, samples from different sites can be compared.
[5]
Before approving a record, the chief archivist consults whoever prepared the slide and whomever entered the room data1. The envelope and catalog card remain traceable only if it retains matching identification codes2. Finally, staff place each sample in a container which lid3 closes tightly without crushing the contents. Preserved together, thousands of ordinary specks become a patient map of work, weather, and daily life.
Question 1Mid
Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
Answer: C — whoever entered the room data
The pronoun is the subject of the clause “entered the room data,” so the subject form “whoever” is required even though the entire clause is an object of “consults.”
Question 2Easier
Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
Answer: B — they retain matching identification codes
The pronoun refers to the compound antecedent “envelope and catalog card,” so the plural pronoun “they” and the plural “codes” are required.
Question 3Easier
Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?
Answer: D — whose lid
“Whose” is the possessive relative pronoun connecting each container to its lid. “Who’s” means “who is” or “who has.”
Every question is picked for where you are right now, wrong answers come back until they stick, and it all works offline.
Practice 75 Pronoun case, agreement, and clear reference questions in the app
Study on the fly is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any testing organization, school, or government body.
ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT Education Corp., which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this product.
All practice questions and passages are original works created for Study on the fly and are not reproduced from any official test.