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ASVAB Word Knowledge: Word Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes Drill 1, Problem 1. Which of these words is closest in meaning to incoherent?
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 4.5 Grammar and Usage 413 Views
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Description:
ACT English: Grammar and Usage Drill 4, Problem 5. Which pronoun fits best in this sentence?
Transcript
- 00:03
Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by "who" and "whom." Think of them as brothers
- 00:08
who look alike, but get really annoyed when people confuse them.
- 00:11
How would you correct the following sentence, if it needs correcting at all?
- 00:14
The students, who had been studying aeronautics, were thrilled to watch the space shuttle take off.
- 00:25
Let's dive right into the elimination process here.
Full Transcript
- 00:28
Choice (C) is so glaringly wrong, we can't stand it being in our lives for a second longer.
- 00:32
The underlined clause requires a relative pronoun to introduce it.
- 00:36
All choice (C) has to offer is a pitiful "they," which doesn't work at all, so it has to go.
- 00:40
(D) is all kinds of wrong too. "Which" is usually used to refer to non-human things, like objects.
- 00:45
So, unless these students were tables or doormats, (D) is definitely incorrect.
- 00:49
Now we're left with choices (A) and (B), and it comes down to deciding whether "who" or
- 00:53
"whom" is correct in the sentence.
- 00:56
The rule of thumb here is that "who" is the subject pronoun, while "whom" is the object.
- 01:01
The pronoun we need has to be in the subjective case because the students it stands in for
- 01:07
are the ones who've been studying aeronautics.
- 01:09
This means that "who" is correct, making (A) the right answer.
- 01:13
Wow, how come no teacher ever took us to watch a space shuttle launch?
- 01:16
Hm. Young kids plus large explosive machinery. Guess we can see their reasoning.
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