Select the most appropriate option that can substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence. If there is no need to substitute it, select 'No substitution required'.
She met my cousin, whose she later married.

Question

Prepp Team · Accepted Answer

Understanding the Sentence Structure

The original sentence is: "She met my cousin, whose she later married."

The sentence contains a main clause ("She met my cousin") and a subordinate clause introduced by a relative pronoun ("whose she later married"). This subordinate clause provides additional information about "my cousin". The task is to find the correct relative pronoun to connect the clauses appropriately.

Analyzing Relative Pronouns: Whose vs. Whom

Relative pronouns like 'who', 'whom', 'whose', and 'which' are used to link dependent clauses to independent clauses. It's crucial to use the correct form based on grammatical function:

Who: Used as the subject of a verb in the relative clause (e.g., "The person who called is here.").
Whom: Used as the object of a verb or preposition in the relative clause (e.g., "The person whom I saw was tall." / "To whom did you speak?").
Whose: Used to show possession or relationship (e.g., "The student whose book is missing should see me.").
Which: Used for things or animals.

Evaluating the Underlined Segment

In the sentence "She met my cousin, whose she later married," the underlined word is 'whose'.

Let's examine the relative clause: "she later married".

The subject of the verb 'married' is 'she'.
The verb is 'married'.
Who did 'she' marry? She married 'my cousin'.

Since 'my cousin' acts as the object of the verb 'married' in the relative clause, the objective relative pronoun 'whom' is required, not the possessive relative pronoun 'whose'. 'Whose' indicates ownership, which doesn't fit the context of marrying someone.

Evaluating the Options

whom she later married: This option uses 'whom', the correct objective relative pronoun for the object of the verb 'married'. The sentence becomes "She met my cousin, whom she later married." This is grammatically correct.
she later married: This option omits the necessary relative pronoun, resulting in an incorrect sentence structure ("She met my cousin, she later married.").
which she later married: 'Which' is incorrect because it refers to things or animals, not people like 'cousin'.
No substitution required: This is incorrect because 'whose' is used incorrectly in this context.

Conclusion

The most appropriate substitution for the underlined segment 'whose' is 'whom' to correctly indicate that the cousin is the object of the verb 'married'. Therefore, the corrected sentence is "She met my cousin, whom she later married."