Question

In each of the following questions, a part of the given sentence has been underlined as this part may have an error. The first option is the same as the underlined part of the given sentence. Choose this option if you think the underlined part has no error. Otherwise, choose the option that rectifies the error in the underlined part of the given sentence.

It was she, not me, who put forth the attractive propositions.

• A. She, not me,
• B. Her, not me,
• C. Her, not I,
• D. She, not I,
• E. her, not myself

Hint:

Both contrasted pronouns must share the same grammatical case; since "she" is nominative, the parallel pronoun must be "I", not "me".

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Identify the grammatical structure.
The sentence uses the pattern "It was [pronoun], not [pronoun], who put forth...". Both blanks refer back to the same person and both function as the subject complement after the linking verb "was", tied to the subject "it", and both are also linked to the subject of the relative clause "who put forth".

Step 2: Apply the case rule.
After a linking verb like "was", and as the antecedent of the subject pronoun "who", the nominative (subject) case is required. "She" is nominative and correctly used in the original sentence, but "me" is the objective case, which is incorrect here since it stands in the same grammatical slot as "she".

Step 3: Enforce parallel structure.
Since the sentence contrasts two options for the same role ("she" versus the other pronoun), both must be in the same case for the construction to be parallel. This means the second pronoun must also be nominative, giving "not I" instead of "not me".

Step 4: Eliminate the other options.
Option (b) and (c) wrongly change "she" to the objective "her". Option (e) uses the reflexive "myself", which cannot substitute for a subject pronoun here.

Step 5: Conclusion.
The corrected sentence is "It was she, not I, who put forth the attractive propositions", matching option (d).