Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
There is some milk. I’d like to drink _______.
(a)they
(b)it
(c)them
(d)its

Answer 1

Hint: The question to ask for the answer is ‘what would I like to drink?’. 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 milk’ 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)they - The word ‘they’ is not a direct object pronoun. This does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(b)it - The pronoun ‘it’ is used to denote an inanimate object. It is used to denote a singular noun. This fits perfectly into the given sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
(c)them - The word ‘them’ is used to denote a group of people or as a replacement for an inanimate object. It is the plural form. This does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(d)its - The word ‘its’ is a possessive pronoun. This does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option

Note: Look at the first and the second sentence. The phrase ‘the milk’ 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.