Bunuel wrote:
It is a common belief that if one wants to succeed, they need to be not only intelligent but also ambitious.
A. wants to succeed, they need to be not only intelligent but also
B. want to succeed, they need to be not only intelligent but also
C. want to succeed, one needs to be not only intelligent but also
D. wants to succeed, they need to be both intelligent and
E. wants to succeed, one needs to be not only intelligent but also
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
It is a common belief that if one wants to succeed, they need to be not only intelligent but also ambitious.A. wants to succeed, they need to be not only intelligent but also
This answer choice is grammatically incorrect: the pronoun they refers to one but does not agree with it as one is singular and they is plural.
This Stop Sign focuses our attention on the pronoun they. They can refer to plural nouns. We check to see if there are any plural nouns in the sentence. Since there are no such nouns, they must be incorrect, so we can eliminate this answer choice and any other answer choice that uses they. B. want to succeed, they need to be not only intelligent but also
This answer choice repeats the original Pronoun mistake: the pronoun they refers to one but does not agree with it as one is singular and they is plural.
This Stop Sign focuses our attention on the pronoun they. They can refer to plural nouns. We check to see if there are any plural nouns in the sentence. Since there are no such nouns, they must be incorrect, so we can eliminate this answer choice and any other answer choice that uses they.
In addition, this answer choice creates a Subject Verb Agreement mistake: the singular subject one does not agree with the plural subject want.C. want to succeed, one needs to be not only intelligent but also
Although this answer choice corrects the original Pronoun mistake, it creates a Subject Verb Agreement mistake: the singular subject one does not agree with the plural subject want.D. wants to succeed, they need to be both intelligent and
This answer choice repeats the original Pronoun mistake: the pronoun they refers to one but does not agree with it as one is singular and they is plural.
Note that this answer choice is stylistically better than both the original sentence and the correct answer choice (hint!) as it uses the more concise both intelligent and ambitious instead of the longer original not only intelligent but also ambitious. However, grammatical correctness comes first. The correct answer choice can be redundant or otherwise stylistically flawed, but it can NEVER be grammatically incorrect.E. wants to succeed, one needs to be not only intelligent but also
This answer choice corrects the original Pronoun mistake by changing the plural pronoun they to the singular pronoun one, which agrees with the subject one to which it refers (if one wants to succeed...).