The boss had ordered _____ to think up a new slogan.

The boss had ordered _____ to think up a new slogan.

• A. Him
• B. Her
• C. Them
• D. Us

Answer: (B)

The key idea here is pronoun case after verbs that give orders. After a verb like ordered, you use the object form of the pronoun for the person who is being told to do something. Since the sentence refers to a single person who is female, the correct pronoun is her. So it reads: The boss had ordered her to think up a new slogan. Using him would be for a male recipient, them is plural (or a gender-neutral single form in some contexts), and us would include the speaker, which doesn’t fit the structure of someone being ordered.

The key idea here is pronoun case after verbs that give orders. After a verb like ordered, you use the object form of the pronoun for the person who is being told to do something. Since the sentence refers to a single person who is female, the correct pronoun is her. So it reads: The boss had ordered her to think up a new slogan. Using him would be for a male recipient, them is plural (or a gender-neutral single form in some contexts), and us would include the speaker, which doesn’t fit the structure of someone being ordered.