Why isn't the answer ''that''? Can somebody explain to me? I know that the subject is plural...

"That" is not grammatically incorrect, but only necessary when distinguishing the crate of bees from other crates. (This would be an example of the limiting use of the pronoun "that".) With the sentence as written, we know we're only dealing with one crate, so there is no need to further differentiate or single out the "crate of bees" from other crates by using the limiting pronoun "that". The use of the pronoun "It" is unambiguous in its reference to the single crate of bees.

It sounds like it is the best answer, but could that work also if there is no it in the options? Or is that wrong because of some other reason?

No 'it'? I guess there won't be any reasonable choice if so.

I would argue that the subject "crate" becomes peripheral based on the destination. After all, you are not taking a 'crate' to animal control (you could take a crate anywhere) you are taking the Honey Bees. And thus, as living things they should take precedence. "Them" seems more apt.

Grammatically speaking, you are taking the *crate of honeybees* to animal control. It is introduced as a whole, singular thing (*a crate of honeybees*), and as such it is referred to in the singular tense. You aren't just grabbing a handful of bees and heading off to animal control, you're taking the whole crate of them. In this case, "it" encompasses both the crate and what's inside it, while "them" refers to only the bees. If it was a pair of raccoons, on the other hand, then that would be "I took them..." Make sense?

If the sentence would have started with "A swarm of honey bees", what would have been the pronoun?

@ mansurmishal, The pronoun is still "it" because "a bunch" is still singular. Honey bees is at the end of the preposition phrase which describes "a bunch" - EL PRO

“It” sounds like the best possible choice, but if the sentence was focused on only the honeybees, what would the answer be? “Them,” right?

Well, "of honey bee" is what is called a prepositional phrase, this serves to describe the subject. The verb never follows a preposition, only the subject which in this case is the "crate".

i know its very obvious in this case, but how do we exactly know if it is referring to the crate and not the box? im asking because i remember some rule the subject closest the "it" or "they" or whatever is what "it" is referring to. I hope this question isn't confusing.

We know that "it " is referring to the box because bees would be them because there is more than one bee.

Why wouldn't the answer be them. It and them work in the sentence but them fits better. So why is "it" the answer?

@ larrykirkman13, Them is grammatically incorrect because the pronoun should be referring to the crate. "of honey bees" is the prepositional phrase which describes "a crate". A crate is singular and therefore the pronoun should be "it". Them sounds better because it is used like this in everyday language and it is a very common error. It is like saying "It's me" instead of "It is I". "It is I" is grammatically correct, but in everyday language, we say "It's me". - EL PRO

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SAT

Course: SAT > Unit 11

Lesson 3: Writing: Grammar

Writing: Pronoun-antecedent agreement — Example

Name: Writing: Pronoun-antecedent agreement — Example
Uploaded: 2015-09-01T00:09:02Z
Description: Watch Sal work through a harder pronoun-antecedent agreement question from the SAT Writing and Language Test.

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Watch Sal work through a harder pronoun-antecedent agreement question from the SAT Writing and Language Test.

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Furkan Erçelik
Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Furkan Erçelik's post “Why isn't the answer ''th...”
Why isn't the answer ''that''? Can somebody explain to me? I know that the subject is plural...
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(9 votes)
Answer
- James Townsend
  Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to James Townsend's post “"That" is not grammatical...”
  "That" is not grammatically incorrect, but only necessary when distinguishing the crate of bees from other crates. (This would be an example of the limiting use of the pronoun "that".)
  
  With the sentence as written, we know we're only dealing with one crate, so there is no need to further differentiate or single out the "crate of bees" from other crates by using the limiting pronoun "that". The use of the pronoun "It" is unambiguous in its reference to the single crate of bees.
  Comment on James Townsend's post “"That" is not grammatical...”
  (33 votes)
glravali
Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to glravali's post “It sounds like it is the ...”
It sounds like it is the best answer, but could that work also if there is no it in the options? Or is that wrong because of some other reason?
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(3 votes)
Answer
- Elizabeth Liu
  Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Elizabeth Liu's post “No 'it'? I guess there wo...”
  No 'it'? I guess there won't be any reasonable choice if so.
  Comment on Elizabeth Liu's post “No 'it'? I guess there wo...”
  (6 votes)
evers1125
Posted 3 years ago. Direct link to evers1125's post “I would argue that the su...”
I would argue that the subject "crate" becomes peripheral based on the destination. After all, you are not taking a 'crate' to animal control (you could take a crate anywhere) you are taking the Honey Bees. And thus, as living things they should take precedence. "Them" seems more apt.
Button navigates to signup pageComment on evers1125's post “I would argue that the su...”
(2 votes)
Answer
- KnightStryke
  Posted 3 years ago. Direct link to KnightStryke's post “Grammatically speaking, y...”
  Grammatically speaking, you are taking the crate of honeybees to animal control. It is introduced as a whole, singular thing (a crate of honeybees), and as such it is referred to in the singular tense. You aren't just grabbing a handful of bees and heading off to animal control, you're taking the whole crate of them. In this case, "it" encompasses both the crate and what's inside it, while "them" refers to only the bees.
  
  If it was a pair of raccoons, on the other hand, then that would be "I took them..."
  
  Make sense?
  Comment on KnightStryke's post “Grammatically speaking, y...”
  (6 votes)
mansurmishal
Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to mansurmishal's post “If the sentence would hav...”
If the sentence would have started with "A swarm of honey bees", what would have been the pronoun?
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(1 vote)
Answer
- [SKLZ] EL PRO
  Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to [SKLZ] EL PRO's post “@ mansurmishal, The pron...”
  @ mansurmishal,
  
  The pronoun is still "it" because "a bunch" is still singular. Honey bees is at the end of the preposition phrase which describes "a bunch"
  
  - EL PRO
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  (2 votes)
Cordie
Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to Cordie's post ““It” sounds like the best...”
“It” sounds like the best possible choice, but if the sentence was focused on only the honeybees, what would the answer be? “Them,” right?
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(1 vote)
Answer
- Woon Na
  Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to Woon Na's post “Well, "of honey bee" is w...”
  Well, "of honey bee" is what is called a prepositional phrase, this serves to describe the subject. The verb never follows a preposition, only the subject which in this case is the "crate".
  Button navigates to signup page
  (2 votes)
darknied
Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to darknied's post “i know its very obvious i...”
i know its very obvious in this case, but how do we exactly know if it is referring to the crate and not the box? im asking because i remember some rule the subject closest the "it" or "they" or whatever is what "it" is referring to. I hope this question isn't confusing.
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(1 vote)
Answer
- brgerhauser
  Posted 3 years ago. Direct link to brgerhauser's post “We know that "it " is ref...”
  We know that "it " is referring to the box because bees would be them because there is more than one bee.
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  (2 votes)
sohaibanjum
Posted 3 years ago. Direct link to sohaibanjum's post “Hi, Could you please expl...”
Hi, Could you please explain whether the following sentence is correct or not "The fashion designer’s creations, some of which are very radical, have earned him accolades from the city’s style icons".
Button navigates to signup pageComment on sohaibanjum's post “Hi, Could you please expl...”
(1 vote)
Answer
Aaron Izaguirre
Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to Aaron Izaguirre's post “So if we are talking abou...”
So if we are talking about one thing, we need to use a singular word?
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(1 vote)
Answer
rainbowthe1st
Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to rainbowthe1st's post “what type of pronoun is "...”
what type of pronoun is "them"
Button navigates to signup pageComment on rainbowthe1st's post “what type of pronoun is "...”
(1 vote)
Answer
- bestmeher
  Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to bestmeher's post “yes its plural, for ex. l...”
  yes its plural, for ex. look at anna and maria.
  the girl can replaced with them bc they are pliral, and it would read look at them
  it still makes sense
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  (1 vote)
larrykirkman13
Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to larrykirkman13's post “Why wouldn't the answer b...”
Why wouldn't the answer be them. It and them work in the sentence but them fits better. So why is "it" the answer?
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(0 votes)
Answer
- [SKLZ] EL PRO
  Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to [SKLZ] EL PRO's post “@ larrykirkman13, Them i...”
  @ larrykirkman13,
  
  Them is grammatically incorrect because the pronoun should be referring to the crate. "of honey bees" is the prepositional phrase which describes "a crate". A crate is singular and therefore the pronoun should be "it". Them sounds better because it is used like this in everyday language and it is a very common error. It is like saying "It's me" instead of "It is I". "It is I" is grammatically correct, but in everyday language, we say "It's me".
  
  - EL PRO
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  (2 votes)

Video transcript

- [Instructor] A crate of honeybees arrived at my house by accident, so I took them immediately to animal control. All right, so what is this pronoun them trying to refer to? 'Cause it might be tempting to say that it's referring to the honeybees, but the subject of this first part, this first clause of this sentence right over here, they didn't say honeybees arrived at my house. They say a crate of honeybees. So the subject here is actually singular, it's a crate, a crate, this right over here is singular. So when we use the pronoun, we also want the singular form. And you could try it out by replacing it with the word that it's referring to. A crate of honeybees arrived at my house by accident, so I took the crate immediately to animal control. So instead of the crate, I wouldn't say them, I would say it. I would replace the plural pronoun with the singular, with the singular pronoun. So I took it immediately to animal control. And this is a very, this is one that'll trip many people up many times because you see a singular thing that contains many things, and so you might say, okay, well, I'm talking about a lot of honeybees, so I'd wanna use plural. Well, that would be the case if we just said honeybees arrived at my house by accident, so I took them immediately to animal control. That would actually be okay, but we're not talking about honeybees arriving. We're talking about a crate, one crate of honeybees arriving. And so the pronoun here is referring to that one crate so it should be it.