Why this matters on the SAT
A pronoun like it or they takes the place of a noun, so it has to match that noun. You'll know these questions by their choices: different pronouns, such as it, they, them and these, sometimes with a verb after them, or the set its, it's, their and they're. They make up about one in fifteen grammar questions, and they're really asking one thing: what noun does the pronoun stand for, and is it one thing or more than one? The SAT usually puts other nouns closer to the blank, so finding the right one is most of the work.
Solution to the example
Sort the choices by number: it is singular, and these, those and them are plural. Then find the noun. What drifts and clouds the water? The sediment, one mass of fine particles, so the pronoun is it. The answer is D. C tempts most, because currents sits right before the blank and waves comes earlier, both plural. But the currents and waves don't drift; they move the sediment. A and B are plural too.
SAT example
Fine sediment is stirred up when waves break along a shoreline, but strong currents can cause ______ to drift and cloud the water for miles.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
these
those
them
it
A pronoun is a short word that takes the place of a noun. It matches that noun in number: one thing takes it or its, and more than one takes they, them or their. Grammar books call this pronoun agreement and call the noun the pronoun's antecedent; this lesson just calls it the noun.
In the examples, the pronoun the choices would test is bold, and the noun that decides it is underlined.
The pronouns come in a small set:
| Job | One thing | More than one |
|---|---|---|
| does the action, before its verb | it | they |
| comes after a verb or a word like of or with | it | them |
| owns the next noun | its | their |
| the doer acting on itself | itself | themselves |
So they picked the apples, but the pickers carried them. A pronoun with a verb after it also sets the verb's number, as lesson 8 showed: it keeps, they keep. Lesson 8 shrank a subject to it or they to check its verb. A pronoun question hands you the it or they and asks which noun it shrank.
For one person, the pronouns are he or she (him, her, his), never it. And in a passage about things or other people, we and you never stand for one of its nouns: we means the writer and others, and you the reader. One alone means people in general, or a single one of something, never a noun of more than one.
When a noun acts on itself, the pronoun after the verb takes the -self form, matched in number: itself for one thing, themselves for more than one.
Renews it would mean the orchard renews something else. The orchard does the renewing and gets renewed, so itself.
Try it on this SAT question: ask what does the action and what receives it, and if they’re the same thing, take the -self form.
Practice problem
When a synapse is activated repeatedly, it can become more responsive. In this process, the synapse reinforces ______ by increasing the number of receptor proteins on the receiving neuron.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
The SAT rarely puts the noun right next to its pronoun. To find the noun, ask what the pronoun stands for and read back. Then cross out what sits between, the way lesson 8 crossed out what sits between a subject and its verb: phrases, describing phrases and extra information. The struck-through words in the examples are what you cross out.
Farmhouses sits right before the pronoun, so their sounds right. But what lost half of its apples? Not the farmhouses: the orchard. The nearest noun is the usual trap, in either direction.
The noun is often in the sentence before, with other nouns in between:
Who had filled forty crates? The pickers, back in the first sentence. Orchard sits closer, but an orchard doesn't fill crates.
Once in a while, the noun comes after the pronoun. When a sentence opens with a phrase like With ___ rows of old trees, read forward: the pronoun usually stands for the subject right after the comma, as in With its rows of old trees, the orchard draws visitors every fall.
Its or their? The barn beside the apple orchards lost ______ roof in the storm.
In this question, ask what the pronoun stands for, and read past the nouns that only sit nearby.
Practice problem
Although the research team uncovered numerous fossilized plant specimens at the site, _____ were too fragmentary to be classified beyond the family level.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A pronoun in in its place or in their place stands for what was replaced. Ask: in place of what?
The apples went where the pear trees stood, so the pronoun stands for the trees: their.
Many of the hardest pronoun questions hide a singular noun that sounds plural. A singular noun names one thing, however many parts it has, so it takes it and its. That covers a mass of something (sediment, fog, water), a title (The Canterbury Tales is one book), a place (the Great Lakes region) and a group named with of (a patch of aspens, a flock of geese; cross out the of phrase, as lesson 8 did). On the SAT, a group, a company or an institution is one thing too: a crew, a team, a chain of stores, a museum all take it.
Trees sits right before the pronoun, so they sounds right. But what didn't lift until noon? The fog, one thing.
A general noun followed by plural examples between dashes is one of the SAT's hardest disguises. Cross out the extra information as a pair, as lesson 3 did, and the singular noun is left.
Each means one at a time, as lesson 8 showed for each as the subject, and the same holds for each right before a noun, so the pronoun is singular: it for a thing.
A noun becomes plural only by being plural itself or by joining another with “and”, the same rule lesson 8 gave for subjects. Words like along with don't make it plural.
It or they? A cider press—the rollers, the screw, and the heavy oak tub—is scrubbed each night so that ______ can be used again in the morning.
Try it on this SAT question: find the noun, cross out what hides it, and ask whether it names one thing.
Practice problem
The set of guidelines known as the Oslo Manual provides international standards for measuring innovation; as a result, _____ has become an indispensable reference for economists who compare data across countries.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Some choices set its and their beside it's and they're. In it's and they're, the apostrophe marks missing letters, never an owner: it's means it is (or it has), and they're means they are. Its and their, which own the next noun, have no apostrophe. So expand each apostrophe and read the sentence with the full words.
| Form | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| its | belonging to it | the orchard and its apples |
| it's | it is or it has | it's late → it is late |
| their | belonging to them | the pickers and their ladders |
| they're | they are | they're tired → they are tired |
| there | a place, or the start of there is | the barn over there |
It is apples and they are apples make no sense, so both contractions go. Then number decides between its and their, exactly as before.
On the SAT, the answer to this set is usually the possessive, its or their, but expand every time, because a contraction is right when the sentence means it is or they are:
Nouns work the other way. A noun takes an apostrophe to own the next noun (the orchard's apples), while its and their never do (its apples). Lesson 11 covers nouns.
Their or they’re? The orchard’s owners say ______ planning to plant pears next year.
In this question, expand each apostrophe first, then let number decide between its and their.
Practice problem
Unlike many independent coffee shops, the regional chain maintains _____ visual identity across all locations.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
This, that, these and those often come right before a noun. Then they match that noun: this and that for one thing, these and those for more than one. Each also goes before one thing.
Used alone, this usually sums up a whole event or idea from the sentence before:
This is the frost coming early, not one noun. So when a pronoun stands for a noun just named, the SAT's answer is it or they, even if a lone this or that has the same number: the pickers filled forty crates, and the farm shipped them, not these.
In this question, the blank sits right before a noun, so let that noun decide.
Practice problem
Honeybees communicate the location of food by performing patterned movements called waggle dances. _____ movements provide other bees with information about the food's direction and distance.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Here's the move that makes these questions fast. Before you hunt for the noun, sort the choices into two groups and expand any apostrophe:
| One thing | More than one | Out when an owner is needed |
|---|---|---|
| it, its, itself, this, that, each | they, them, their, themselves, these, those | it's (it is), they're (they are) |
When the choices carry a verb, as in it keeps and they keep, the verb follows the pronoun's number, so a choice like it keep is out on its own. If the tenses differ too, sort by number first, as lesson 8 did. Once you know whether the noun is one thing or more, usually one choice is left.
That makes one routine for every pronoun question, the one the worked examples and the mixed practice problems follow:
In this question, the noun is the sentence's first two words, and the nouns closest to the blank are plural.
Worked example
Each dialect in the archipelago—shaped by trade routes, migration, and intermarriage—has borrowed words from several languages, but _____ a distinct rhythm that listeners can identify even when they don't recognize specific words.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
they retain
it retains
these retain
it retain
Step 1
Each choice is a pronoun plus a verb. Sort them: it in B and D is singular, and they in A and these in C are plural. The verb has to follow the pronoun, and D's it retain breaks that: it takes the verb with -s, as lesson 8 showed. So D is out.
Now the question is it or they. Ask what the pronoun stands for: what retains a distinct rhythm?
Step 2
Cross out the extra information between the dashes, shaped by trade routes, migration, and intermarriage, and the phrase from several languages. What's left is the noun the sentence is about: Each dialect has borrowed words, but ___ a distinct rhythm. The pronoun stands for the dialect.
Step 3
Each right before a noun means one at a time, so Each dialect is one thing, and the sentence's own verb agrees: each dialect … has borrowed.
Here's the trap. Languages sits right before the blank, and the insert lists three more nouns, so A's they retain sounds right and tempts most. But none of those nouns retains a rhythm; the dialect does. C's these is plural too, and a lone these wouldn't name the dialect anyway. Both go.
Step 4
One dialect takes it, and it takes the verb with -s. The answer is B.
Here the choices are the apostrophe set, and the noun is what the curators replaced, a sentence back.
Worked example
In the museum’s earliest catalog entries, the curators relied on a confident interpretive stance to describe the collection, using sweeping labels and simplified timelines. In _____ place, the curators now take a more cautious approach: they keep those same labels and timelines but add short notes that foreground uncertainty and invite readers to compare competing interpretations.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
its
they’re
their
it’s
Step 1
The choices are its, they’re, their and it’s, so expand the apostrophes first. In they are place and in it is place make no sense: the blank needs an owner of place. B and D are out, and number decides between its and their.
Step 2
The pronoun in in ___ place stands for what was replaced. The new thing is the curators now take a more cautious approach. It replaced the old way of describing the collection: a confident interpretive stance. One stance takes its.
Step 3
Here's the trap. The sentence before the blank ends on using sweeping labels and simplified timelines, so C's their sounds right and tempts most. But read on: they keep those same labels and timelines. Nothing took their place. Their can't mean the curators either, since they're still there, taking the new approach. Nor did the approach replace the catalog entries; it replaced the way the curators described the collection in them. So C is out.
Step 4
The cautious approach stands where the confident stance stood. The answer is A.
These five questions mix the cases, and none of them tells you which one it tests. So on each, run the routine: sort the choices, find the noun, then match its number.
Practice problem
In 2018, photographer Jae Kim released two photo collections: Night Markets and River Light. In 2024, _____ showcased in a virtual gallery, allowing viewers worldwide to explore the collections.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Practice problem
Fragile glassware shipped in a crate can crack if it ends up at the bottom of a stack. During loading, new crates are placed on top of older ones, and the pressure on the bottom crate increases as ______ above it.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Practice problem
In a workshop devoted to repairing antique timepieces, a technician inspected the clock’s gears, springs, and screws. The real culprit, though, was a thin layer of dust on the escapement, and removing ______ with a single swipe of a cloth restored the clock’s steady rhythm.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Practice problem
Because quaking aspens (Populus tremuloides) often reproduce by sending up new stems from a shared root system, a patch of aspens can appear to be hundreds of separate trees even though it behaves as one organism. After a drought, researchers found that the patch, despite containing hundreds of stems that look like separate trees, redistributed stored carbohydrates through ___ roots to support the most water-stressed stems.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Practice problem
A few years ago, the city’s historical walking tour depended on scripted audio segments and a single narrator. In a recent redesign, the producers removed those segments and added a new feature: in _____ place are short recordings made by local residents describing their own memories of each site.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Finish the lesson
Finish the remaining questions correctly to complete this lesson.
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Put an apostrophe on a noun that owns the next noun.
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