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Most Biologists- Pronoun Number Agreement

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Most Biologists- Pronoun Number Agreement

by raj44 » Thu Aug 14, 2014 6:36 am
Most biologists agree that, although they are being eradicated for centuries and remain an endangered and much maligned species, the wolf has made a comeback in some Western states.

they are being eradicated for centuries and remain an endangered and much maligned species
they have been eradicated for centuries, remaining an endangered and much maligned species
it had been eradicated for centuries and it remains an endangered species that had been much maligned
it was eradicated for centuries and remains an endangered and much maligned species
its centuries of eradication, endangerment and being a much maligned species

OA D

My question: The wolf refers to a category of wolves, (more like an adjective) so shouldn't the pronoun be plural rather than singular?

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by [email protected] » Thu Aug 14, 2014 10:30 am
Hi raj44,

You bring up an interesting point: in some cases, referring to "the _____" (for example, "the French....") implies a plural noun. In this SC though, notice the phrase "....remains AN endangered and much maligned SPECIES..." - this is clearly a reference to a singular noun, so we need to use the pronoun "it."

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by shrivats » Thu Aug 14, 2014 9:16 pm
Here " the wolf" refers to the species and not an individual organism or a pack of wolves. When referring to the wolf as species, the noun in singular.

eg: Tiger is an endangered species. We do not say, Tigers are an endangered species.

Hope it is clear.
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