43. What word is best to substitute for the highlighted words in the following sentence? *The boy* watched the lights in the house go off.
Answer: D
He is the best substitution for the highlighted words.
The word "he" accurately replaces "the boy" in the sentence, maintaining the subject's identity while simplifying the phrase.
A) him
"Him" is an object pronoun, which cannot correctly substitute for the subject "the boy" in this context. Using "him" would disrupt the grammatical structure of the sentence.
B) his
"His" is a possessive pronoun and does not serve as a subject in the sentence. Therefore, it cannot replace "the boy" without altering the intended meaning and structure.
C) they
"They" is a plural pronoun and does not correspond to the singular subject "the boy." Substituting "they" would change the meaning of the sentence and is not appropriate in this context.
D) he
"He" is the correct subject pronoun that can replace "the boy" without changing the meaning of the sentence. This maintains the focus on the boy as the subject who is watching the lights.
Conclusion
"He" is definitively the correct substitution as it preserves the singular subject while streamlining the sentence. All other options fail to maintain proper grammatical structure or alter the meaning, making them unsuitable replacements.