Intermediate Level Pronoun Quiz

While traditionally "everyone" is singular and would take "his or her," modern standard grammar — including current SSC and IBPS exam keys — accepts "their" as a gender-neutral singular pronoun with indefinite pronouns like everyone, someone, anyone, and nobody. This reflects the evolving prescriptive standard adopted in Indian competitive exams. "Their" with "everyone" is now considered correct in exam contexts. No error.

After the linking verb "was," a subject pronoun (nominative case) must be used — "she," not "her." Linking verbs (is, was, were, am, are) connect the subject to a subject complement, and both must be in the same case. The sentence structure is: It = she (both nominative). "It was her" is extremely common in spoken English but is not accepted in formal exam grammar. Memory hook: linking verbs act like an equals sign — both sides must match in case.

When subjects are joined by "neither...nor," the pronoun agrees with the subject closer to the verb — "his friends" (plural) → "their" is correct. This is the proximity rule for pronoun-antecedent agreement with correlative conjunctions (either...or / neither...nor). Since "his friends" is the nearer subject and is plural, "their" correctly reflects it. The sentence is grammatically sound. No error.

"Asked" is a transitive verb — "Priya and ______" is the object of "asked," so an object pronoun is required. "Me" (object case) is correct; "I" (subject case) is wrong in this position. Remove "Priya and" to test: "The manager asked me to stay back" — correct. "The manager asked I to stay back" — clearly wrong. "Myself" is a reflexive pronoun and can only be used when the subject and object are the same person — they are not here.

"Team" is a collective noun acting as a single unit — it takes a singular pronoun. "Their trophy" should be "its trophy." The pronoun must agree with the antecedent in number: team (singular unit) → its. This is a pronoun-antecedent agreement trap that combines collective noun knowledge with pronoun case. "Their" is commonly used informally but is incorrect in formal exam grammar when the collective noun clearly acts as one body.

"Who do you think is the best candidate" — here "who" is the subject of "is," not the object of "think." The clause structure is: "you think [who is the best candidate]" — "who" functions as the subject inside the embedded clause. This is a classic who/whom trap. The test: rephrase without the interrupting phrase "do you think" — "Who is the best candidate?" — subject pronoun → "who." "Whom" would be correct only if it were the object: "Whom did you recommend?"

"Each" is a singular indefinite pronoun — it correctly takes the singular possessive pronoun "his" in standard exam grammar. While modern usage increasingly accepts "their" as gender-neutral, in the context of "each of the boys" (specifying a male group), "his" is both grammatically precise and exam-correct. The sentence is fully accurate. No error. This question reinforces that "each," "every," "either," and "neither" all take singular pronouns.

"Which" is the correct relative pronoun for things (non-human antecedents). "Book" is a thing, so "which" is correct. "Who" and "whom" are used only for people. "Whose" is a possessive relative pronoun — it would need to modify a noun ("the book whose cover..."). The rule is clean and consistent: who/whom/whose for people, which for things, that for either. Mixing these is one of the top error spotting mistakes in SSC and IBPS papers.

"Between" is a preposition — prepositions always take object pronouns. "Between you and me" is correct, not "between you and I." "I" is a subject pronoun and cannot follow a preposition. This is one of the most commonly committed hypercorrection errors — people say "you and I" so often as a subject that they apply it everywhere, including after prepositions where "me" is required. Memory hook: after any preposition (to, for, between, with, from) — always use me, him, her, us, them.

The subject of the relative clause "who ______ responsible" is "who," which refers to "she" — singular. The verb must agree with the singular antecedent: "is." This question tests both pronoun case (she, not her — after linking verb "is") and verb agreement with a relative pronoun. "Who" takes the same verb form as its antecedent — "she is" → "who is." Full sentence: "It is she who is responsible for the delay."

"Data" in formal and exam grammar is the plural of "datum" — it takes a plural verb. However, "the data that was collected" (option A) treats "data" as singular — this internal inconsistency is the real issue. In standard exam practice, "data" takes plural verbs: "the data were collected" and "the data were analysed." Since option C is what the question isolates as the error location, the answer is C — but note this is a nuanced question where the entire sentence has an agreement issue rooted in the treatment of "data."

"Whose" is the possessive relative pronoun used for people (and sometimes things). "The girl whose bag" correctly shows possession — the bag belongs to the girl. "Which" is for things, not people. "Who" is a subject pronoun — it cannot show possession without adding an apostrophe+s, which isn't an option here. "Whom" is an object pronoun — also cannot show possession alone. When you see possession + person, "whose" is always the answer.

"Nobody...nothing" creates a double negative — two negative words used together, which is non-standard in formal exam English and produces a logically positive meaning (nobody told me nothing = somebody told me something). The correct form is "Nobody told me anything about the change in schedule." In Indian competitive exam grammar, double negatives are always treated as errors. One negative is sufficient: either "nobody" or "nothing/anything" — not both.

"Neither...nor" is the correct correlative conjunction pair when the meaning is negative (not one, not the other). "Neither you nor I am responsible" correctly negates both subjects. "Either...or" is used for positive alternatives. "Both" cannot pair with "nor." "Not only...but also" is a different correlative pair used for addition. The verb "am" correctly agrees with the subject closer to it — "I" (first person singular) → "am."

The relative pronoun "who" refers to "singers" (plural) — the antecedent is the plural noun in the "one of the + plural noun" structure. Therefore the verb must be plural: "who have performed." This is the same advanced rule from the Noun section — "one of those/the + plural noun + who/that" → plural verb in the relative clause. The error: "has performed" (singular) should be "have performed" (plural). This is tested at both intermediate and advanced levels.

"Let" is a causative verb that takes an object — "you and me" are the objects of "let." Object pronouns (me, him, her, us, them) must follow "let." "I" is a subject pronoun and cannot be used as the object of "let." "Myself" is reflexive and is only used when the subject and object are the same — they are not here. The correct pattern: "Let + object pronoun(s) + base verb." Memory hook: Let him, let her, let me — never "let I."

This sentence is grammatically correct and tests nuanced collective noun pronoun agreement. "The committee submitted its report" — "committee" acts as a single body → "its" (singular) is correct. "The members expressed their disagreement" — "members" is an explicit plural noun → "their" (plural) is correct. Both pronoun references are accurate and consistent with their respective antecedents. No error — and recognising a correct sentence is as important as spotting a wrong one.

"With" is a preposition — it takes object pronouns. "Us" is the object form of "we." "We" is a subject pronoun and cannot follow a preposition. "Our" is a possessive adjective (must be followed by a noun). "Ours" is a possessive pronoun (stands alone but cannot follow a preposition as the subject of the sentence's meaning here). The pattern is consistent: preposition → object pronoun (me, him, her, us, them).

"Whomever" is an object pronoun — it is used when the pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition. In "whomever deserves it least," the pronoun is the subject of the verb "deserves" — a subject pronoun is required: "whoever." The rule: whoever = subject (he deserves), whomever = object (give it to him). Test: replace with he/him — "he deserves it" → subject → whoever. "Whomever deserves" is therefore wrong.

After "than" in a comparison, the pronoun case depends on its grammatical role in the implied full clause. "She is taller than he [is tall]" — "he" is the subject of the implied verb "is," so the subject pronoun is correct. While "than him" is widely used in informal speech and increasingly accepted, standard prescriptive grammar for Indian competitive exams requires the subject pronoun "he" when the implied verb follows. Full form: "She is taller than he is" confirms the subject pronoun.