1. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

2. 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.)

3. 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)

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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)?”