ACT English : Word Usage Errors
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Example Question #101 : Pronoun Case Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence below:
Treat Mother well; you never know when you will need her help.
one's
our
no change
their
your
no change
In this sentence, the second part of the sentence is clearly referring to needing help from "Mother." Mother is a third person, feminine noun, so the correct possessive pronoun is "her."
Example Question #6 : Possessive Pronoun Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence below:
One does not get as much out of college if one does not do your homework.
one's
his or her
their
no change
his
one's
In this sentence, the subject is the pronoun, "one." When the antecedent is the word, "one," the correct possessive pronoun is always one's.
Example Question #3 : Possessive Pronoun Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence below:
Employees must wash his or her hands before returning to work.
their
no change
theirs
our
your
their
The subject of the sentence is the word "employees," which is plural. It is also third person; therefore, you must you use the possessive pronoun their.
Example Question #1 : Possessive Pronoun Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence below:
The virus was very successful at reproducing quickly in it's natural habitat: the human brain.
our
his
their
her
its
its
In this sentence, "the virus" is our subject. "Virus" is an ungendered third-person noun, so its proper possessive pronoun is "its." Watch out for it's: that is a contraction of "it is."
Example Question #331 : Usage Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence below:
If they do not do their job, we cannot do theirs; we need them to finish before we can start.
their
ours
no change
one's
his
ours
You know from the context in the last part of the sentence, that there are two groups of people. The first group, of which the speaker is not a part, and is therefore a third person plural group. The second is clearly a first-person plural group; therefore, when referring to the job that that group has to do, the correct pronoun is "ours."
Example Question #591 : Word Usage Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence below:
If you don't start playing better, we're going to lose, and I am going to regret picking you for your team.
no change
his
our
their
my
our
Here, due to the context of the sentence, we know that the speaker of the sentence is on a team with the person with whom they are speaking. As such, the correct way to refer to the team that they are both members of is "our."
Example Question #101 : Pronoun Case Errors
Adapted from Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley (1855)
If he had frankly said to Eustace, "I feel for you; and if your desires are reasonable, or lawful, or possible, I will help you with all my heart and soul," he might have had the young man's secret heart, and saved himself an hour's trouble; but, of course, he took instinctively the crooked and suspicious method, expected to find the case the worst possible—as a man was bound to do who had been trained to take the lowest possible view of human nature, and to consider the basest motives as the mainspring of all human action—and began his moral torture accordingly by a series of delicate questions, which poor Eustace dodged in every possible way, though he knew that the good father was too cunning for him, and that he must give in at last. Nevertheless, like a rabbit who runs squealing round and round before the weasel, into whose jaws it knows that it must jump at last by force of fascination, he parried and parried, and pretended to be stupid, and surprised, and honorably scrupulous, and even angry; while every question as to she being married or single, Catholic or not, English or foreign, brought his tormentor a step nearer the goal. At last, when Campian, finding the business not such a very bad one, had asked something about her worldly wealth, Eustace saw a door of escape and sprang at it.
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded and underlined portion of the passage. If the bolded and underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
if she
NO CHANGE
whether she
hers
her
her
The word "being" is a gerund, which means that it no longer functions as a verb but rather as a noun. The modifier before the gerund must be possessive in order to be grammatically correct. Pronouns can be classified into three cases (subjective, objective, and possessive). Any forms using "she" are considered subjective.
Example Question #592 : Word Usage Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
A panicked Pedro barged into the room, a look of concern on his face. "Who's car is parked on the front lawn?" he shouted.
NO CHANGE.
Whose car is parked on the front lawn
Who is car is parked on the front lawn
Whom's car is parked on the front lawn
Whose car is parked on the front lawn
A possessive pronoun is needed here, to indicate possession of the car. "Who's" is a contraction meaning "who is," which is not appropriate in this sentence. "Whose" is the possessive, the correct choice in this instance.
Example Question #11 : Possessive Pronoun Errors
Passage adapted from Under The Lilacs (1878) by Louisa May Alcott
The elm-tree avenue was all overgrown, the great gate was never unlocked, and the old house had been shut up for several years.
Yet voices were heard about the place, the lilacs nodded over the high wall as if they said, "We could tell fine secrets if we chose," and the mullein outside the gate made haste to reach the keyhole, that it might peep in and see what was going on. If it had suddenly grown up like a magic bean-stalk, and looked in on a certain June day, it would have seen a droll but pleasant sight, for somebody evidently was going to have a party.
From the gate to the porch went a wide walk, paved with smooth slabs of dark stone, and bordered with the tall bushes which met overhead, making a green roof. All sorts of neglected flowers and wild weeds grew between their stems, covering the walls of this summer parlor with the prettiest tapestry. A board, propped on two blocks of wood, stood in the middle of the walk, covered with a little plaid shawl much the worse for wear, and on it a miniature tea-service was set forth with great elegance. To be sure, the tea-pot had lost its spout, the cream-jug its handle, the sugar-bowl its cover, and the cups and plates were all more or less cracked or nicked; but polite persons would not take notice of these trifling deficiencies, and none but polite persons were invited to this party.
On either side of the porch was a seat, and here a somewhat remarkable sight would have been revealed to any inquisitive eye peering through the aforesaid keyhole. Upon the left-hand seat lay seven dolls, upon the right-hand seat lay six; and so varied were the expressions of their countenances, owing to fractures, dirt, age, and other afflictions, that one would very naturally have thought this a doll's hospital, and these the patients waiting for their tea.
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the passage. If the bolded and underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
his spout
it's spout
NO CHANGE
the spout
NO CHANGE
No change is needed because 'its' is the correct possessive pronoun for this phrase.
"His spout" is incorrect because the teapot has no gender. "The spout" is incorrect because a possessive pronoun is needed, not an article. "It's spout" is incorrect because "it's" is a conjunction for "it is," and is not a possessive pronoun.
Example Question #591 : Word Usage Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
Who's dog is in my yard?
NO CHANGE
Whose dog
To who belongs that dog
Whom's dog
Whoms dog
Whose dog
You need the possessive subject form of "who" (vs the object "whom"). The sentence as written forms a conjunction ("who is"). "Whose" is the correct possessive form for "who"
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