What word is best to substitute for the underlined words in the following sentence? The boy watched the lights in the house go off.

Rationale

He is the best substitute for the underlined words in the sentence.

In the context of the sentence, "The boy watched the lights in the house go off," the pronoun "he" correctly refers back to "the boy" as the subject performing the action of watching. This maintains clarity and grammatical correctness within the sentence structure.

A (him) YOUR ANSWER

The pronoun "him" is an objective case pronoun, used to refer to the person receiving the action or being acted upon. In this sentence, "him" would incorrectly imply that "the boy" is the one being watched, which does not fit the intended meaning of the original sentence.

B (his) YOUR ANSWER

"His" is a possessive pronoun that indicates ownership. Using "his" in the sentence would not be appropriate, as it would imply possession (for example, "his lights"), which does not logically connect to the action of watching the lights go off. The sentence requires a subject pronoun, not a possessive one.

C (they) YOUR ANSWER

The pronoun "they" is a plural pronoun that refers to multiple subjects. In this case, it would incorrectly suggest that "the boy" is watching multiple boys or subjects, which does not align with the singular subject "the boy." Therefore, "they" fails to accurately replace the underlined words.

D (he) CORRECT

"He" is the correct subjective pronoun that refers back to "the boy," effectively conveying that it is he who is watching the lights. This choice maintains the original sentence's meaning while adhering to proper grammatical structure.

Conclusion

Choosing the correct pronoun for substitution is crucial for maintaining clarity and grammatical correctness in a sentence. In this case, "he" serves as the appropriate substitute for "the boy," ensuring that the subject performing the action is clearly identified. The other options, being either objective, possessive, or plural, do not fulfill the syntactical requirements of the sentence.

What word is best to substitute for the underlined words in the following sentence? The boy watched the lights in the house go off.

He is the best substitute for the underlined words in the sentence.

Related Questions

Related Quizzes

How familiar were you with this question?

Report an Issue

Rate this Practice Test