WREN & MARTIN's English grammar-10 MCQs on Agreement of the Relative Pronoun and Its Antecedent,

 

10 MCQs on Agreement of the Relative Pronoun and Its Antecedent, Position of the Relative Pronoun and Compound Relative Pronouns

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1. "She is the only member of the team who *___ * consistently delivers outstanding results under pressure." — Choose the correct verb form to agree with the relative pronoun and its antecedent.

• A) deliver
• B) are delivering
• C) have delivered
• D) delivers

Answer: D) delivers (In the structure "the only member of the team who" the relative pronoun "who" refers to "the only member" which is singular — the verb in the relative clause must agree with the singular antecedent "member" — the correct form is the third person singular "delivers" — this structure always takes a singular verb unlike "one of those who" which takes a plural verb.)

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2. "Identify the sentence in which the relative pronoun is incorrectly positioned."

• A) She met the man who had helped her during the crisis at the conference.
• B) The book that she borrowed from the library was extremely informative.
• C) He returned the pen to the student whose notes he had borrowed earlier.
• D) The teacher praised the student who had submitted the best project.

Answer: A) She met the man who had helped her during the crisis at the conference. (The relative pronoun "who" should be placed immediately after its antecedent "the man" — however in this sentence "who had helped her during the crisis" is separated from "the man" by the phrase "at the conference" which creates ambiguity — the correct version should be "She met at the conference the man who had helped her during the crisis.")

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3. "Whoever finishes the assignment first will be awarded a special prize by the teacher." — What type of pronoun is "whoever"?

• A) Distributive pronoun
• B) Simple relative pronoun
• C) Demonstrative pronoun
• D) Compound relative pronoun

Answer: D) Compound relative pronoun ("Whoever" is a compound relative pronoun formed by adding the suffix "-ever" to the simple relative pronoun "who" — compound relative pronouns include "whoever" "whomever" "whichever" "whatever" and "whosoever" — they combine the function of both the antecedent and the relative pronoun and introduce noun clauses.)

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4. "She will support *___ * candidate is most committed to the welfare of the community." — Choose the correct compound relative pronoun.

• A) whoever
• B) whatever
• C) whomever
• D) whichever

Answer: D) whichever ("Whichever" is the correct compound relative pronoun here because it refers to a choice being made among a number of candidates — "whichever candidate" means "any candidate that" — "whichever" is used when selecting from a defined or implied group of things or people and functions as a compound relative adjective modifying the noun "candidate.")

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5. "The hospital *___ * she was taken after the accident is one of the best medical facilities in the region." — Choose the correct relative pronoun.

• A) which
• B) that
• C) where
• D) who

Answer: C) where ("Where" is the correct relative pronoun here because it refers to "the hospital" which is a place — "where" functions as a relative adverb introducing a relative clause that describes the location — using "which" would require the addition of a preposition as in "to which she was taken" — "where" elegantly replaces the preposition and relative pronoun together.)

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6. "He returned the documents to the officer, *___ * he had borrowed them a week earlier." — Choose the correct relative pronoun or adverb.

• A) which
• B) who
• C) from whom
• D) whose

Answer: C) from whom (When the relative pronoun refers to a person and follows a preposition the objective form "whom" must be used with the preposition placed before it — "from whom he had borrowed them" correctly uses the preposition "from" before the objective form "whom" — placing the preposition at the end as in "who he had borrowed them from" is acceptable in informal usage but less preferred in formal writing.)

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7. "Give this package to *___ * is in charge of the administration department today." — Choose the correct compound relative pronoun.

• A) whomever
• B) whatever
• C) whichever
• D) whoever

Answer: D) whoever ("Whoever" is the correct compound relative pronoun here because it refers to an unspecified person and functions as the subject of the verb "is in charge" — "whoever" means "any person who" and combines the antecedent and relative pronoun in one word — "whomever" would be incorrect here as the pronoun is the subject not the object of the relative clause.)

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8. "Identify the sentence in which the relative pronoun is correctly positioned immediately after its antecedent."

• A) She found the letter in the drawer that her mother had written years ago.
• B) He met a traveller on the train who had visited over fifty countries.
• C) They discovered a painting in the attic which was worth a fortune.
• D) She bought a dress at the boutique that was made of pure silk.

Answer: C) They discovered a painting in the attic which was worth a fortune. (In this sentence "which was worth a fortune" immediately follows its antecedent "a painting" making the reference clear and unambiguous — in options A and D the relative clauses are separated from their antecedents creating ambiguity — in option B "who had visited fifty countries" could refer to the traveller but the position after "train" creates momentary ambiguity.)

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9. "She is one of the most dedicated researchers who *___ * ever contributed significantly to the field of environmental science." — Choose the correct verb form.

• A) has
• B) have
• C) is
• D) was

Answer: B) have (In the structure "one of the most + superlative + noun + who" the relative pronoun "who" refers to the plural noun "researchers" not to "one" — the verb must therefore agree with the plural antecedent "researchers" — the correct form is the plural "have ever contributed" — this follows the rule that in "one of those who" constructions the verb in the relative clause is always plural.)

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10. "She will accept *___ * terms and conditions the committee decides to put forward at the meeting." — Choose the correct compound relative pronoun.

• A) whoever
• B) whosoever
• C) whichever
• D) whatever

Answer: D) whatever (The correct compound relative pronoun here is "whatever" because it refers to "terms and conditions" which are things not people — "whatever" means "any things that" or "anything that" and introduces a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb "accept" — "whichever" implies a choice from a specific defined group while "whatever" implies an open-ended or undefined set of possibilities.)