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AP English Literature and Composition 1.4 Passage Drill 1. Which of the following best describes the speaker's attitude towards immortality?
AP English Literature and Composition 1.5 Passage Drill 1. In the third paragraph, how does the author foreshadow a coming tone shift?
ACT English 1.5 Grammar and Usage 445 Views
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Description:
ACT English: Grammar and Usage Drill 1, Problem 5. Formatting a sentence with a singular indefinite pronoun.
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,
Full Transcript
- 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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