Transcript pps

References
Business English at Work
© 2003 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Determine pronoun/antecedent agreement
with referenceObjectives
to person, number, and gender.
Determine the correct use of singular or plural
pronouns with compound subject antecedents.
Use the correct pronoun references with
collective noun antecedents.
continued
Business English at Work
PP 8-1a
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
continued
Use appropriate singular and plural pronoun
Objectives
references with
indefinite pronoun antecedents.
Correct unclear or dual pronoun references.
Identify explanatory phrases in determining
antecedents.
Use correct pronoun forms with than and as.
Differentiate between one- and two-word
indefinite pronouns.
Business English at Work
PP 8-1b
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
An antecedent is the word or group of words to
which a personal pronoun refers or that a personal
pronoun replaces.
A pronoun must give accurate and unmistakable
reference to the noun or other pronoun it replaces.
The pronoun must agree with its antecedent in
number (singular, plural), gender (masculine,
feminine, neuter), and person (first, second, third).
Business English at Work
PP 8-2
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Noun as Antecedent
Joyce Hing earns her living by giving cultural
awareness workshops.
The antecedent is Joyce Hing, a third-person
singular noun. The third-person singular
pronoun her is necessary when referring to this
antecedent.
Business English at Work
PP 8-3
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Pronoun as Antecedent
We need an agenda to know what is expected
of us at the workshop.
The antecedent is we, a first-person plural
pronoun. The first-person plural pronoun us is
necessary when referring to this antecedent.
Business English at Work
PP 8-4
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Steps for Determining
Antecedent Agreement
1. Identify the pronoun.
2. Decide to whom or to what this pronoun refers or
what it replaces--the antecedent.
3. Identify the person (first, second, third); gender
(masculine, feminine, neuter); and number (singular,
plural) of the antecedent.
4. Identify the person, gender, and number of the
referenced pronoun.
Business English at Work
PP 8-5a
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
continued
Steps for Determining
Antecedent Agreement
5. Determine if the person, gender, and number are the
same for the pronoun and the antecedent. If they
are, you have agreement. If they are not the same,
you have a correction to make.
Business English at Work
PP 8-5b
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
First Person and
Pronoun Agreement
Use a first-person pronoun if you have an
antecedent that refers to the person or persons
speaking.
I reviewed my French before going on a sales trip to
Quebec.
She perceives situations from her cultural background.
Business English at Work
PP 8-6
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Second Person and
Pronoun Agreement
Use the second-person pronoun if you have an
antecedent that refers to the person or persons
spoken to.
You should change your voice mail to include
instructions in Spanish.
Business English at Work
PP 8-7
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Third Person and
Pronoun Agreement
Use a third-person pronoun if you have an
antecedent that refers to the person or thing
spoken about.
Welfare reform is controversial, but it is decreasing the
number of people receiving welfare benefits.
Business English at Work
PP 8-8
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Feminine Pronoun Agreement
Use a feminine pronoun (she, her, hers) when
the pronoun definitely refers to a feminine
antecedent.
Laura was working as part of a team and
sharing her workload with others.
Catherine provides timely feedback to her
employees.
Business English at Work
PP 8-9
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Masculine Pronoun Agreement
Use a masculine pronoun (he, his, him) when
the pronoun definitely refers to a masculine
antecedent.
John treats all his coworkers with respect.
When did he say that he was relocating his
business to London?
Business English at Work
PP 8-10
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Neuter Pronoun Agreement
Use a neuter gender pronoun (it, its) to refer to
an antecedent that represents things rather than
persons.
Diversity training is a positive experience if it is
well planned.
Business English at Work
PP 8-11
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Unknown Gender
Pronoun Agreement
Use both masculine and feminine pronouns when you
do not know the gender of the antecedent or when
you want to refer to a common gender antecedent
such as employee, instructor, or student.
The e-mail that we received from an employee named
Chris explained the problem that he or she wanted us
to solve.
Business English at Work
PP 8-12
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Singular & Plural
Pronoun Agreement
Use a singular pronoun (he, she, him, her, his, it)
if you use a singular antecedent.
Ginny discussed her harassment complaint with
her supervisor.
Use a plural pronoun (they, their, them) if you use
a plural antecedent.
Employees are not always aware that their actions
may offend customers.
Business English at Work
PP 8-13
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Compound Subject
and Pronoun Agreement
A compound subject consists of two or more
persons, places, things, activities, ideas, or
qualities.
When the antecedent is a compound subject,
the connecting word (and, or, nor)
determines whether the pronoun is singular
or plural.
Business English at Work
PP 8-14
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Antecedents Joined by And
Use a plural pronoun to refer to two or more
antecedents (compound subject) joined by
the word and.
New York and New Jersey allow their state
employees ten holidays a year.
Matthew and Marjorie traveled to Spain as part of
their degree programs.
Business English at Work
PP 8-15
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Antecedents Joined by Or or Nor
Use a singular pronoun to refer to two
singular antecedents joined by or or nor.
David or Ken will translate the document into
Chinese at his computer.
Use a plural pronoun to refer to two plural
antecedents joined by or or nor.
Unfair hiring practices or prejudices take their toll
on workplace diversity.
Business English at Work
PP 8-16a
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
continued
Antecedents Joined by
Or or Nor
Use a pronoun that agrees in number with the
closest antecedent when a singular antecedent
and a plural antecedent are joined by or or nor.
Neither Teresa nor her assistants were aware of
their negative attitudes.
The supervisor or the team managers had to justify
their reasons for requesting bilingual employees.
Business English at Work
PP 8-16b
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Collective Antecedents
A collective antecedent refers to a group of
people such as a committee, class, board, or
jury.
A collective antecedent is neuter in gender.
Business English at Work
PP 8-17a
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
continued
Collective Antecedents
With Groups
Use a singular pronoun reference when the
collective antecedent is acting as a group.
The Gender Equity Committee will announce its new
slate of officers next week.
Use a plural pronoun reference when the
members within the group are acting individually.
The committee were not unanimous in their vote to hire
a diversity coordinator.
Business English at Work
PP 8-17b
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
continued
Collective Antecedents With
Companies & Organizations
Use a singular pronoun reference with
antecedents that are companies and
organizations
Hahn Electronics offers unpaid leaves to its
workers.
Pellini Chevrolet allows its employees to choose
among several different benefit packages.
Business English at Work
PP 8-17c
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Indefinite Pronoun Antecedents
Some indefinite pronouns are always singular;
others are always plural.
Several are either singular or plural depending
on their context in the sentences.
Indefinite pronouns are third-person pronouns.
When indefinite pronouns are used as
antecedents, appropriate third-person pronouns
must be used in reference to them.
Business English at Work
PP 8-18a
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
continued
Indefinite Pronoun
Antecedents
Indefinite Pronouns
Always Singular
another
anybody
anyone
anything
each
each one
Business English at Work
either
enough
every
everybody
everyone
everything
many a
much
neither
no one
nobody
nothing
one
other
somebody
someone
something
PP 8-18b
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
continued
Indefinite Pronoun
Antecedents
Indefinite Pronouns
Always Plural
both
few
many
Business English at Work
others
several
Singular or Plural
all
any
more
most
none
some
PP 8-18c
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Singular Indefinite Pronoun
Use a singular personal pronoun reference when
the antecedent is a singular indefinite pronoun.
Everybody at our workplace can donate his or
her sick leave to other employees.
Ignore an intervening prepositional phrase when
locating the antecedent.
Either of the two men can approve overtime for
his supervisor.
Business English at Work
PP 8-19
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Plural Indefinite Pronouns
Use a plural personal pronoun reference when
the antecedent is a plural indefinite pronoun.
Ignore intervening prepositional phrases when
locating the antecedent.
Both of the new employees from Mexico updated
their computer skills at a community college.
Only a few of the employees listed their home
phone numbers in the company directory.
Business English at Work
PP 8-20
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Use of They, You, It
Avoid the use of they, you, and it unless you
are very specific in identifying the antecedent.
We never discuss age because they become very
opinionated. (Substitute my coworkers or my
friends for they).
Recent immigrants apply for positions where you
do not need to speak English. (Substitute they,
workers, or employees for you.)
Business English at Work
PP 8-21
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Explanatory Phrases
Do not consider such explanatory phrases as in
addition to, as well as, or together with when
identifying an antecedent.
Managers, as well as support staff, brought
their concerns to the meeting.
Managers, in addition to a consultant,
developed cultural awareness workshops for
their staff.
Business English at Work
PP 8-22
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Unclear Reference
Reword a sentence if a pronoun seems to refer
to more than one antecedent.
Managers who observe absentee problems in their
employees should report them to Marie. (Are the
managers reporting the problems or are they reporting
the employees?)
Managers who observe absentee problems in their
employees should report these employees to Marie.
Business English at Work
PP 8-23
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Pronouns After Than and As
In incomplete adverb clauses using than and
as, choose the case of the pronoun that you
would use if the missing words were present.
I do not have the same understanding of
English as you.
The customers in the California office are much
more casual than we.
Business English at Work
PP 8-24
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Everyone, Every One, No One
Write the words everyone and anyone as
two words when they precede an of phrase.
Write them as one word at all other times.
No one is always two words.
Everyone is involved in the international career
workshop.
Every one of the participants enjoyed the
international career workshop.
Business English at Work
PP 8-25
Pronoun/Antecedent
Agreement
Each Other / One Another
Use each other when you refer to two
persons or things.
Sarah and John decided to eliminate sports analogies
when communicating with each other.
Use one another when you refer to more
than two persons or things.
Before a meeting, team members find informal
conversation establishes relationships with one another.
Business English at Work
PP 8-26
End of
References
Business English at Work
© 2003 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill