Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement: Rules and Examples

2. Objectives • Determine pronoun/antecedent agreement with reference 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 PP 8-1a

3. Objectives continued • Use appropriate singular and plural pronoun 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. PP 8-1b

4. 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). PP 8-2

5. 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. PP 8-3

6. 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. PP 8-4

7. Steps for Determining Antecedent Agreement Identify the pronoun. Decide to whom or to what this pronoun refers or what it replaces--the antecedent. Identify the person (first, second, third); gender (masculine, feminine, neuter); and number (singular, plural) of the antecedent. Identify the person, gender, and number of the referenced pronoun. PP 8-5a

8. Steps for Determining Antecedent Agreement continued 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. PP 8-5b

9. 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. PP 8-6

10. 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. PP 8-7

11. 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. PP 8-8

12. 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. PP 8-9

13. 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? PP 8-10

14. 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. PP 8-11

15. 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, orstudent. The e-mail that we received from an employee named Chris explained the problem that he or she wanted us to solve. PP 8-12

16. 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. PP 8-13

17. 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. PP 8-14

18. 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. PP 8-15

19. 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. PP 8-16a

20. Antecedents Joined by Or or Nor continued 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. PP 8-16b

21. 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. PP 8-17a

22. Collective Antecedents With Groups continued 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. PP 8-17b

23. Collective Antecedents With Companies & Organizations continued 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. PP 8-17c

24. 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. PP 8-18a

25. Indefinite Pronoun Antecedents continued PP 8-18b

26. Indefinite Pronoun Antecedents continued Indefinite Pronouns Always Plural Singular or Plural both others few several many all more none any most some PP 8-18c

27. 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. PP 8-19

28. 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. PP 8-20

29. 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 foryou.) PP 8-21

30. 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. PP 8-22

31. 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. PP 8-23

32. 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. PP 8-24

33. 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. PP 8-25

34. 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. PP 8-26

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