Pronoun Referents
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A personal pronoun is ________________.
a word that takes the place of a proper noun specifically associated with a person or speaker
any word that takes the place of a noun
any word that takes the place of a proper noun
None of these
Explanation
Note here that some proper nouns can be replaced with pronouns that are not associated with a person, think of towns of countries, for instance. Personal pronouns only refer to people.
In the given sentence, to which grammatical object does “they” refer?
If only Kevin and Charles had thought to talk to the umpires, they would have avoided the whole problem.
Kevin and Charles
The umpires
The whole problem
None of these
Explanation
In order to avoid a dangling modifier, “they” must refer to the subject of the introductory clause, Kevin and Charles.