Making Pronouns Agree with Collective Nouns

For each of the following sentences, choose the correct pronoun to fill in the blank.

For help with this exercise, see chapter 26 of Real Essays 5e.

Example

  1. A company on the Internet will let people search____database for information about their ancestors.
    1. its
    2. their
  1. Question 1.418

    My mother’s family has had____history recorded in several different books because her ancestors were slaves on one of the wealthiest plantations in Mississippi.

    A.
    B.

  2. Question 1.419

    Our local historical society asked if____could have permission to research and write about our family.

    A.
    B.

  3. Question 1.420

    The college in the town where my great-grandfather was born holds much information about my family in____library.

    A.
    B.

  4. Question 1.421

    The government of Mississippi kept records of all of____citizens and their property.

    A.
    B.

  5. Question 1.422

    Because slaves were considered property, the group of authors and researchers from the historical society was able to find the information____needed in those records.

    A.
    B.

  6. Question 1.423

    A committee that helps retrieve historical information about slaves offered____assistance to the authors in gathering data.

    A.
    B.

  7. Question 1.424

    When the books were published, the publishing company asked if____could host a meeting with the authors to lecture about their findings.

    A.
    B.

  8. Question 1.425

    When we got to the meeting, the audience was enormous and had lined____up outside the meeting hall waiting to get in.

    A.
    B.

  9. Question 1.426

    A team of journalists waited____turn to take pictures of our family.

    A.
    B.

  10. Question 1.427

    The crowd got to hear what____had come for—my mother’s moving speech about her family and the authors’ recounting of what they found about her forebears.

    A.
    B.