Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement

1. Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns it = table they = the team Antecedents are the nouns for which pronouns stand for. Jack = he, him, his Kyla = she, her, hers A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, person, andgender.

2. Number • Use singular pronoun with two or more singular antecedents joined by orornor. • Neither Tom nor Joe wanted to spend his money for dinner. • Use a plural pronoun if any part of a compound antecedent joined by orornor is plural. • If my friends or my brother arrives, ask them to order theirfood now. • Use plural pronoun with two or more antecedent joined by and. • Sally and Suzie had to spend their money to buy everyone a hamburger.

3. Person Stay in first, second or third person throughout the sentence. Kris is going to Hawaii where you can surf all year long. We all make mistakes but you should not make the same mistake twice. Kris is going to Hawaii where he can surf all year long. We all make mistakes but we should not make the same mistake twice.

4. Gender • Use the same gender pronoun throughout the sentence and do not shift back and forth. The ship came loose from her mooring, and it gently drifted out to sea. her she its it • When gender is not specified, try to rewrite the sentence. • ???? Each student must pay his/her dues. • All students must pay their dues.

5. Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns • Use plural indefinite pronoun with plural antecedent, singular indefinite pronoun with singular antecedent. Plural = Many of the students were tired after their workout. Singular = Only one of the boys did all of his push-ups. • For indefinite pronouns that can be either singular or plural, agreement depends on the antecedent. Most of the students wanted their lunch time to be longer. Most of the school building has lost its fresh smell.