NUMBER and GENDER

PRONOUNS AND DETERMINERS MUST AGREE Singular Plural

WITH THE NOUNS T WHICH THEY RELATE. everyone is both are
somebody is all are
In English, there are no personal pronouns or
something is many are
possessive determiners that can be used to refer to
each is most are
someone without identifying whether that person is
nothing is others are
male or female. This often results in mismatched
combinations of singular nouns and plural nouns or another is few are
determiners.

 If a piece of text is likely to become clumsy Misusing their

with the repetition of his or her, try using
certain nouns in the plural form to add
variety.
Matching numbers
Pronouns must agree in number (singular or plural)
with the nouns they represent. Plural nouns or
pronouns must be followed by plural pronouns or
determiners, and singular nouns or pronouns must
be followed by singular pronouns or determiners.
The plural form they doesn’t have a gender, and
people often use this form when speaking or
writing to avoid having to distinguish between
males and females. In many cases, this results in a
singular noun or pronoun being paired with a
plural determiner. The only way to avoid this
problem is to use his or her instead of their for te
singular, or to make the noun plural and use their.

Pronoun Determiner
I my
you your
he his
she her
it its
we our
you your
they their Indefinite pronouns
These are do not refer to any specific person or
thing, but take the place of nouns in a sentence.
 When using the word each, think about “each somebody, someone, something, anybody, anyone,
one,” as it makes it easier to remember that anything, nobody, no one, nothing, all, another, both,
each is always followed by a singular pronoun each, many, most, other, some, few, none, such
or determiner. This represents an
 Some words, such as each and all, are used unknown person, the
object of the
both as determiners and as pronouns,
sentence.
Remember that a determiner is always used in
front of a noun, whereas a pronoun replaces a
I haven’t seen anyone.
noun.
 As a rule, a pronoun cannot be modified by an
adjective or adverb in the way that a noun can be:
Indefinite pronouns
“the sad I” does not make sense. Some exceptions
Indefinite pronouns such as everyone and anything include “what else” and “somebody nice.”
often cause problems. Although they appear to
refer to more than one person or thing, these
pronouns are, in fact, singular words. Talking about myself
One way of establishing whether a pronoun is Many people wrongly opt for the reflexive form
singular or plural is to put the verb form are right myself because they are unsure whether to use I or
after it. If the resulting combination sounds wrong, me. Reflexive pronouns should only be used to refer
then that pronoun is singular. back to a specific noun or pronoun that has already
been mentioned in the sentence. This noun or
See next box for the continuation. Thank you!  pronoun is usually (but not always) the subject.
 I imagined myself
on the stage. This reflexive
pronoun refers
 Somebody and someone mean the same thing, as do back to the
anybody and anyone, everybody and everyone, and subject I.
nobody and no one. Rita performed for
Ben and myself. This wrongly used
reflexive pronoun has no noun
to refer back to–there is no I in
the sentence.

Identifying when to use I or me

People often make mistakes when deciding whether to use the personal pronouns I or me. To figure
out which to use, split the sentence into two short sentences. It should then become clear which one is
right. Remember to put others first in a sentence.

Me and Ben enjoyed the concert. 

Me enjoyed the concert. 

This doesn’t make sense, so me is wrong.
Ben enjoyed the concert. 
This makes sense, so I is the correct pronoun.
I enjoyed the concert. 

Ben and I enjoyed the concert. 

Always place others first.

If the pronoun follows a preposition, the object personal pronoun me should be used.

It was late night for Ben and I. 

This is a preposition, so the subject pronoun I is wrong.

It was late night for Ben and me. 

The object pronoun me now correctly follows the preposition for.