Which sentence has an incorrect shift in pronoun-antecedent agreement?

Question

Responses

A The puppies in the kennel were whining their little hearts out.The puppies in the kennel were whining their little hearts out.

B Students must see his counselors before the end of the semester.Students must see his counselors before the end of the semester.

C The trees in the forest all lost their leaves on exactly the same day.The trees in the forest all lost their leaves on exactly the same day.

D Neither Julie nor Johnny were aware that his and her lives were about to change.

Answer 1

The sentence with an incorrect shift in pronoun-antecedent agreement is:

D Neither Julie nor Johnny were aware that his and her lives were about to change.

The antecedents "Julie" and "Johnny" are singular, so the correct verb should be "was" instead of "were." Additionally, it is better to maintain consistency in pronouns, potentially using "their" instead of "his and her" to refer back to both Julie and Johnny. A corrected version could be: "Neither Julie nor Johnny was aware that their lives were about to change."