Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I haven’t got the keys. Father has got _____ .
a) him
b) her
c) it
d) them

Answer 1

Hint: The question to ask for the answer is ‘what has Father got?’. This will lead you to the answer which is needed, which is evidently a direct object pronoun.

Complete answer:
In English grammar, a direct object is a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that identifies what or who receives the action of a transitive verb in a clause or sentence. Typically (but not always), the subject of a clause performs an action, and the direct object is acted upon by the subject.
When pronouns function as direct objects, they customarily take the form of the objective case. The objective forms of English pronouns are me, us, you, him, her, it, them, whom, and whomever.
Now, we need to convert the phrase ‘the keys’ into a pronoun which can fill the given blank. It denotes a plural inanimate object.

Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options-
a) him - The pronoun ‘him’ is used to denote a male person, which is never used as a replacement for an inanimate object. This cannot replace the given phrase. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) her - The pronoun ‘her’ is used to denote a female person, which is never used as a replacement for an inanimate object. This cannot replace the given phrase. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
c) it - The pronoun ‘it’ is used to denote an inanimate object. However, this is not used for plural objects. This cannot replace the given phrase. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d) them - The pronoun ‘them’ is used to denote a group of people or as a replacement for an inanimate object. It is the plural form. This can replace the given phrase. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.

Note:Look at the first and the second sentence. The phrase ‘the keys’ has to be replaced. This means that the given phrase has to be converted into a pronoun. Then, go through the options and pick the option that is the most appropriate.