ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by pronouns, who are known to sometimes look

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down on amateur nouns.

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How would you correct the following sentence, if it needs correcting at all?

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The tarantula, with one's long, hairy legs, is one of the most feared insects on earth.

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The possessive pronoun here needs to agree with "the tarantula" in both number (singular) and gender (unknown).

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Usually, agreeing with a tarantula is the best idea, anyway. They can get ornery otherwise.

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(A) is incorrect because "one" usually refers to a person in general.

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Choice (B) fails because "their" is plural instead of singular.

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Which is kind of a relief. One tarantula is about all we can handle.

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(D) is incorrect since the statement refers to tarantulas in general and not specifically

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a male or female tarantula.

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Anybody know how you tell a boy tarantula from a girl tarantula?

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The girls are the ones with bows on their heads. Obviously.

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Anyway, the process of elimination has led us to choice (C), the correct answer.

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Unlike people, animals can take the gender-neutral pronoun "it."

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Quick tip: referring to someone's pet as "it" is usually okay,

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referring to someone's baby that way is not.

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