1

Problem

William knew that if it weren’t pumped out soon, the water would sink the boat.

2

Clue

Pronouns refer to specific persons, places, or things.

3

Hint

In the given sentence, it refers to the water.

4

Sumup

Please summarize choices

5

Step

CHOICES

6

Choice-A

William knew that if it weren’t pumped out soon, the water would sink the boat. This sentence uses the subjunctive mood to express a hypothetical or unreal situation, so “weren’t” is correct instead of “wasn’t.” The pronoun “it” clearly refers to the water, so it is grammatically correct and unambiguous. The other options either break the subjunctive rules or create incorrect/unclear meaning.

Correct No change

7

Choice-B

William knew that if the pump wasn’t pumped out soon, the water would sink the boat. The sentence is incorrect because “the pump wasn’t pumped out” is illogical—pumps are used to remove water; they are not something that gets pumped out. This creates a meaning error. The correct subject is “it” (the water), since water is what needs to be pumped out to prevent the boat from sinking.

Wrong the pump wasn’t

8

Choice-C

William knew that if it wasn’t pumped out soon, the water would sink the boat. The sentence is incorrect because “wasn’t” does not follow the correct verb form for a hypothetical (unreal) condition. In such cases, English uses the subjunctive mood, which requires “weren’t” instead of “wasn’t.” Therefore, “if it weren’t pumped out soon” is the grammatically correct form.

Wrong it wasn’t

9

Choice-D

William knew that if they weren’t pumped out soon, the water would sink the boat. The sentence is incorrect because the pronoun “they” has no clear plural antecedent in the sentence, creating pronoun ambiguity. The context refers to “water”, which is uncountable and takes the singular pronoun “it,” not “they.” This mismatch makes the sentence unclear and grammatically incorrect.

Wrong they weren’t

10

Step

Complete sentence - William knew that if it weren’t pumped out soon, the water would sink the boat.

11

Answer

Option A

12

Sumup

Please summarize choices