Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement A pronoun takes the place of a noun, a group of words acting as a noun, or another pronoun. The antecedent of a pronoun is the word or group of words referred to by the pronoun. Examples: Ben rode his bike to school. (Ben is the antecedent of his; his is the pronoun.) The students passed their tests with flying colors. (Students is the antecedent of their; their is the pronoun.)

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in both number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter). Examples: Jane regained her confidence after a few lessons. (Jane=antecedent; her=singular feminine pronoun) The cubs searched for their mother. (cubs=antecedent; their=plural neuter pronoun)

Rule #1 When the antecedent may be either masculine or feminine, use both the masculine and the feminine forms connected by or. Examples: Every one of the students shouted his or her approval. A person should always choose his or her friends carefully. *In many cases, you can avoid the awkward “his or her” by rephrasing the sentence. Ex: All of the students shouted their approval.

Rule #2 Use a singular pronoun to refer to each, either, neither, one, everyone, everybody, no one, nobody, anyone, anybody, someone, or somebody. Examples: Someone left his or her hat on the field. One of the parakeets escaped from its cage.

Rule #3 Two or more singular antecedents joined by or or nor should be referred to by a singular pronoun. Examples: Neither Richard nor Bob distinguished himself in the finals. Paula or Janet will present her views on the subject.

Rule # 4 Two or more antecedents joined by and should be referred to by a plural pronoun. Examples: Mona and Janet left early because they had to be home before ten o’clock. Mom and Dad celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary yesterday.

Rule # 5 If you have a collective noun like audience, class, committee, program, faculty use the pronoun its. Example: The faculty believes that it is its responsibility to help students become productive citizens. The committee will select its officers at the meeting tomorrow.

If you’re not sure.. Ask yourself: “Is the antecedent singular (referring to one person or a group acting as one)?” “Or is it plural (referring to more than one person)?”