Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate pronoun.
That girl never completes her homework ____.
a) herself
b) her
c) himself
d) his

Answer 1

Hint: A pronoun is a function word that is used in place of a noun or noun phrase. For example- he, she, it, they, us.

Complete solution:

In the given question, we have to find out which of the options given to us can be used for the noun phrase ‘girl’s homework’ which is feminine in nature. A reflexive pronoun indicates the agent’s (girl’s) actions, therefore it shall be used here.

Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question-

Option (a.), 'herself', refers to ‘(reflexive) her; the female object of a verb or preposition that also appears as the subject.’ Therefore, option (a.) is correct as it feminine and reflexive.

Option (b.), ‘her', refers to ‘The form of she used after a preposition or as the object of a verb; that woman, that ship, etc.’ Therefore, option (b.) is incorrect as it is a personal pronoun.

Option (c.), ‘himself', refers to ‘(reflexive) him; the male object of a verb or preposition that also appears as the subject.’ Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect as this pronoun is masculine.

Option (d.), ‘his', refers to ‘(attributive) Belonging to him.’ Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect as this pronoun is masculine.

Hence, the correct answer is option ‘a’.

Note: In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of reflexive pronouns. A reflexive pronoun is a personal pronoun compounded with -self to show the agent's action affects the agent.