All … the president said was reported in the dailies.

Analyze the question

The sentence is: "All ____ the president said was reported in the dailies." We need the word that correctly links "All" to the clause "the president said."

Explain the concept

When a relative clause follows an indefinite or universal word such as all, everything, anything, nothing, something, little, much, none, only, the correct relative pronoun is that (often it can even be omitted). We do not use which or what here.

• "All that glitters is not gold."
• "Everything that he said was true."

Step-by-step solution

1. The antecedent is "All", an indefinite pronoun that needs a relative pronoun after it.
2. Test each option: • A. what: "All what the president said" is wrong. What already contains its own antecedent (meaning "the thing that"), so it cannot follow "all". It would be redundant. • B. which: Which is used for specific things, not after "all". "All which" is not standard usage. • C. that: "All that the president said was reported in the dailies" is correct. That is the standard relative pronoun after "all". • D. those: "All those the president said" is ungrammatical. Those is a demonstrative and the sentence would not flow.
3. The verb "was reported" is singular and agrees with "All" (meaning everything), which fits too.

Answer: C. that

Exam tip

Remember the rule: all, every(thing), any(thing), no(thing), only, much, little + THAT. If you see one of these words before a blank, choose that. Also, what never follows a noun or pronoun antecedent, because it already means "the thing which".