Hi All,
Chinese, the most ancient of living writing systems, consists of tens of thousands of ideographic characters,
each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside its own square frame.
The meaning of this sentence is easy to understand. Chinese is the most ancient of living writing systems. It consists of tens and thousands of ideographic characters. Each character is a miniature calligraphic composition inside its own square frame.
Usage of “each” is correct in this sentence. It denotes every individual character of tens and thousands of characters that the writing system has. Singular pronoun “its” also agrees in number with “each” and also the phrase “a miniature calligraphic composition”, which is singular in number, agrees in number with “each”. Hence this sentence is correct as is.
POEChoice A: Correct for above mentioned reasons.
Choice B: all the characters a miniature calligraphic composition inside their.
Incorrect. Singular phrase “a miniature calligraphic composition” has been used to refer to plural “all characters”. Again, plural pronoun “their” does not agree in number with singular “composition”.
Choice C: all the characters a miniature calligraphic composition inside its.
Incorrect. This choice repeats the first mistake of choice B. Singular phrase “a miniature calligraphic composition” has been used to refer to plural “all characters”.
Choice D: every character a miniature calligraphic composition inside their.
Incorrect. Plural pronoun “their” agrees in number neither with its antecedent “every” nor with singular “composition”.
Choice E: each character a miniature calligraphic composition inside their.
Incorrect. Plural pronoun “their” agrees in number neither with its antecedent “each” nor with singular “composition”.
1. “All” is used for plural entities.
2. “Each” and “every” are always singular.
3. Pronouns must agree in number with their antecedents.
PS: “Each” denotes every individual entity in the collective group while “every” refers to the all the entities in that group. In this sentence, if there were a choice that read: every character a miniature calligraphic composition inside its, then also this choice would be correct as it conveys the same meaning.
Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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