ACT English : Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Errors
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Example Question #11 : Other Pronoun Antecedent Errors
“The Common Good: The United Aim of Many” [23]
Among the many topics that are misunderstood [16] in political science, and political philosophy, the notion of the “common good” ranks foremost. Often, we think of the common good as being nothing more than getting “the most things for the most people.” For example, when a person makes multiple millions of dollars, people will often say, [17] “He should give back some of that money, for the sake of the common good.” Whether or not such people [18] should do this with his money, this is really an improper use of the expression the common good.
A better way to understand the common good is to think about common ends or common goals. An example will help to explain this. Think of a group of musicians on a stage. If all of these people came together to practice in the same room, we wouldn’t call them a symphony. [19] A mass of people just playing any music whatsoever are not a symphony. A symphony is an organized group; a mass of people is just a mass of people. Nothing physically differs regarding the mass of people and the symphony. [20] They are both made up of the same “stuff,” namely a group of musicians.
However, a common good changes [21] this mass into something that they never could be without that common good. [22] When these musicians come together to play the Dies Irae of Mozart, they become something that they never were as individuals. Each member of the group uses his or her personal skill for the sake of a new, common performance. Perhaps the tuba player loves to play loudly. Perhaps the lead violinist loves playing quickly. These preferences must be channeled and limited for the sake of the common enterprise of playing Mozart’s stirring piece of music. [23] The desires of the individual instrumentalists, whom play the music, no longer reigns supreme.
The common good unites this group. If you were to ask the tuba player, what are you doing, he would answer, “Taking part in the symphonic playing of the Dies Irae.” [24] Then, if you were to ask any other musician the same question, he or she would answer in the same way. The answer would not be, “playing the Dies Irae my way.” If that were the answer, the musician would not be part of the symphony. He or she would be doing something private, not something that is truly common.
How should underlined selection [23] be changed?
The desires of the individual instrumentalists, who play the music, no longer reigns supreme.
The desires of the individual instrumentalists, whom play the music, no longer reign supreme.
NO CHANGE
The desires of the individual instrumentalists, who play the music, no longer reign supreme.
The desires of the individual instrumentalists, who play the music, no longer reign supreme.
There are two errors in this sentence. First, the relative pronoun "whom" should be "who." This is because it does not play the part of an object in the relative clause that it introduces. Instead, "who" indicates the subject of the clause. It stands in for "instrumentalists" and indicates the subject for "play." Second, the main subject is "desires." This requires a verb that does not have an s at the end. Therefore, reigns should become reign.
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