Read the following sentence and choose the correct version of the capitalized part: Despite his enthusiasm, the project was completed late, WHICH caused him stress.

Question

This is a practice ACT English Question.

A) No change

B) that

C) who

D) it

Answer 1

A. no change.

It's a relative clause and thus 'which' is already correct. 'That' could work grammatically if the sentence were tweaked a bit, but that is not an option.

Answer 2

Despite his enthusiasm, the project was completed late, WHICH caused him stress.

There are two choices for this kind of sentence, to use WHICH or to use THAT.

What is the difference?

Which is non restrictive, meaning the words that follow WHICH are not essential to the meaning

of the sentence but simply add another idea. In this usage above it means the stress point is extra,

not essential.

THAT is restrictive, meaning that all the words after that are crucial to the main meaning of the

sentence. If you use THAT, then the stress point is the main point of the sentence.

Only the author of the sentence should decide between them depending on the meaning the author

intends.

Both words refer to the project, not the person. Makila was on the way to a correct answer.

Answer 3

The correct answer is (A) No Change. “Which” is referring to the lateness of the project. “Who” refers to a person, and a project is not a person. Using “that” or “it” would work, but only if the comma prior were changed to a semicolon or period. If changed to a period, “that” or “it” would then need to be capitalized, also.

Answer 4

The funny thing here is that the grammar is all wrong regardless. "Despite his enthusiasm" is a dependent clause, so the first comma is warranted. IF "the project was completed late" is an interjection, then there should be commas on both sides, BUT, then, the sentence would need to be able to be read without that section. Regardless, the question itself should not contain a comma after the word "late." This is why I find these types of ACT and SAT grammar questions to be ridiculous at times. DC, IC IC no comma DC.

Answer 5

The answer is A) No change.

The other options are incorrect for the following reasons:

B) That

1. This answer would change the meaning of the sentence and can be a restrictive word.

C) Who

1. "Who" would insinuate that a person was involved. Not a project.

D) It

1. This answer would change the structure of the sentence.