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Pronoun Agreement

Pronoun Agreement. Or his or her pronouns?. Everyone should know their pronouns?. A pronoun agreement item on an objective test might look like this. Sample Item. Spendthrifts are quickly parted from their money. So a person who wants to start saving

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Pronoun Agreement

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  1. Pronoun Agreement Or his or her pronouns? Everyone should know their pronouns?

  2. A pronoun agreement item on an objective test might look like this ...

  3. Sample Item • Spendthrifts are quickly parted from their • money. So a person who wants to start saving • should not spend all of their time at the mall. • his or her • someone • his • No change is necessary. • Spendthrifts are quickly parted from their • A • money. So a person who wants to start saving • B • should not spend all of their time at the mall. • C • his or her • someone • his • No change is necessary. • Spendthrifts are quickly parted from their • A • money. So a person who wants to start saving • B • should not spend all of histime at the mall. • C • his or her • someone • his • No change is necessary. The second their does not agree with a person, an error that choice C fixes. Is the first their, a person, or the second their a problem?

  4. Agreement in a Nutshell Thekangaroocarriesitsjoey in a pouch. kangaroo= singular antecedentits= singular pronoun Thekangarooscarry theirjoeys in pouches. kangaroos= plural antecedenttheir= plural pronoun

  5. Know your pronouns. Plural • they • them • their, theirs • themselves Singular • he, she, it • him, her, it • his, her, hers, its • himself, herself, itself Plural! Singular!

  6. The new puppyandkitten have destroyedtheirowner’s sofa. Two [or more] singular nouns joined by and make apluralantecedent.

  7. When each or every precedes two [or more] singular things joined by and, you have a singular antecedent. Eachnew puppyandkitten destroysitsowner’s sofa. Everynew puppyandkitten destroysitsowner’s sofa.

  8. Eachnew puppy, kitten, rabbit, tarantula, python, parrot, turtle, andferret destroysitsowner’s sofa. In this situation, no matter how manysingular nouns you join with and, the antecedent is stillsingular.

  9. Use caution with these three conjunctions: either … or, neither … nor, and not only … but also. Not only the Smiths but also Louise fixed their famous squid eyeball stew for the picnic. Not only the Smiths but also Louise fixedher famous squid eyeball stew for the picnic. Not only Louise but also the Smiths fixed theirfamous squid eyeball stew for the picnic. You’ll have two antecedents—the Smiths and Louise—but only the closer one counts! If you want to use their, you will need to flip the Smiths and Louise so that the Smiths are closer to the pronoun.

  10. Each, either, neither Anyone, anybody, anything Everyone, everybody, everything No one, nobody, nothing Someone, somebody, something These indefinite pronounsare always singular[even when they seem plural].

  11. Beware of interrupting phrases. Neither of my two brothers show much sense when they date women. Neitherof my two brothers shows much sense when he dates women. This sentence might sound right, but it is completely wrong! Of my two brothers = prepositional phrase; neither = singular antecedent.

  12. Company, organization, department, and school names are singular. One urban legend is that Tito’s Taco Palace makes their burritos with kangaroo meat. One urban legend is that Tito’s Taco Palace makes its burritos with kangaroo meat. Did you know that? We did not!

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