Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Pronouns

 A pronoun takes the place of one or more nouns or pronouns.

Example: -Susan watched the monkey make faces at her little brother and sister.

-

She

laughed at

it

more than

they

did.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

 The word that a pronoun replaces or refers to is called the

ANTECEDENT

.

Ex: (the arrow points from the

pronouns

to their

antecedents

)  The tour guide showed the

students

where

they

could see Mayan pottery.

 Why did

Oscar

give

his

camera to the film school?

 Darius scored a

field goal

.

It

was his first of the season

Pronoun –Antecedent Agreement

 All pronouns must agree with their antecedents in:  Number (singular or plural)  Gender (masculine, feminine, or neutral)  Person (first, second, or third) Ex:  I subscribe to this magazine for the magazine’s monthly column on writing.

 I subscribe to this

magazine

for

its

monthly column on writing.

(singular, neutral pronoun)

In the following paragraph, draw an arrow from each italicized pronoun to its antecedent: Since numerous people told the same story, the historian believed

it

. Supposedly, a young boy and girl with bright green skin had been found wandering the fields.

They

spoke a foreign language and wore clothing made of an unknown material. At first, the two children would eat only green beans, but after

they

learned to eat bread,

their

skin gradually lost

its

greenness. After learning English, the girl said

she

and

her

brother had come from a land called Saint Martin. The story sounds like science fiction, doesn’t

it

? Perhaps the villagers invented

it

to amuse

their

friends and fool historians.

In the following paragraph, draw an arrow from each italicized pronoun to its antecedent: Since numerous people told the same story , the historian believed

it

. Supposedly, a young boy and girl with bright green skin had been found wandering the fields.

They

spoke a foreign language and wore clothing made of an unknown material. At first, the two children would eat only green beans, but after

they

learned to eat bread,

their

skin gradually lost

its

greenness. After learning English, the girl said

she

and

her

brother had come from a land called Saint Martin. The story sounds like science fiction, doesn’t

it

? Perhaps the villagers invented

it

to amuse

their

friends and fool historians.

Gender

 Masculine antecedent = masculine pronoun  he, his, him  Feminine antecedent = feminine pronoun  she, her, hers  Neutral antecedent = neutral pronoun  it, its

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement



Jane

called

her

friend.

 Jane and her are both singular and feminine.



John

called

his

friend.

 John and his are both singular and masculine.

 The

girls

finished

their

job.

 The plural pronoun agrees with the plural antecedent.

Number

 A plural pronoun should be used with a compound antecedent joined

and



Julian

and

Taryn

ran until

they

were exhausted.

 When compound antecedents joined by

and

refer to the same person or thing, the pronoun is singular.

 My

lawyer

and meeting for me.

friend

said

she

would attend the  The

he secretary

and

treasurer

would also attend. of the corporation said

Number

 A singular pronoun is used to refer to two or more singular antecedents joined by

or

or

nor

. 

Garrett or Chase

will give

his

presentation today.

 A plural pronoun is used with two or more plural antecedents joined by

or

or

nor

.  Either

the juniors or the seniors

are singing

their

class song.

Number

 When a singular antecedent and a plural antecedent are joined by

or

or

nor

, use a pronoun that agrees with the nearer antecedent.

 The

boy or

his

parents

run.

 The

parents or

the

boy

runs.

 When a singular antecedent and a plural antecedent are joined by

or

or

nor

, use a pronoun that agrees with the nearer antecedent.

 The

boy or

his

parents

run.

 The

parents or

the

boy

runs.

Number

 Use a singular pronoun when a collective noun refers to a group as a single unit.  The

class

decided

it

wanted to do the project.

 Use a plural pronoun when the collective noun refers to a group’s members as individuals.

 The

class

stayed in

their

desks.

Number

 Use singular pronouns to refer to indefinite pronouns used as antecedents.



Each

of the boys had

his

assignment ready.



Everyone

on the women’s team improved

her

time.



Many

a girl has invested time in improving

her

appearance.



Everybody

on the committee had

his or her

own agenda.

Some indefinite pronouns are always plural. Others are always singular. Always Plural:  Both  Few  Many  Several Always Singular:             Anybody Anyone Anything Each Either Everyone Everything Neither Nobody No one Somebody Someone

Complicating Agreement:

 Intervening phrases can complicate agreement of pronoun with antecedent.

 Ignore phrases such as

as well as

,

along with

,

together with

, and make sure the pronoun agrees with its antecedent.

 The

president

, along with the members of city council, is disclosing

his

new budget.