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PRONOUN and

ANTECEDENT
AGREEMENT
What is an antecedent?
Antecedent is a noun or words that
take the place of nouns being
referred to by the pronouns.
Rules in Pronoun and Antecedent
Agreement
General rule:
A personal pronoun must agree
with its antecedents in number,
person and gender.

Number of a pronoun indicates if it is


singular or plural.

Person indicates if the person is frst,


second, or third person that is, if
the pronoun refers to the one
speaking, the one spoken to, or the
one spoken about.

Gender indicates if the pronoun is


masculine, feminine, or neuter.
PR!"#A$ PR"#"%#!
!ingular&
'
st
person (, me, my, mine
)
nd
person you, your, yours
*
rd
person&
+asculine he, him, his
,eminine she, her, hers
#euter it, its
PR!"#A$ PR"#"%#!
Plural&
'
st
person we, us, our, ours
)
nd
person you, your, yours
*
rd
person they, them, their,
theirs
A. Agreement in #umber
'. %se a singular personal pronoun
with two or more singular
antecedents -oined by or or nor.
Example:
#either .om nor /erry wants to
spend his money on new
e0uipment.
A. Agreement in #umber
). %se plural personal pronoun
with two or more antecedents -oined
by and.
Example:
Percy and +ary ha1e made
their choice.
A. Agreement in #umber
*. %se plural personal pronoun if
any part of a compound antecedent
-oined by or or nor is plural.
Example:
(f my brothers or 2arol arri1es,
ask them to wait for me.
A. Agreement in #umber
3 An e4ception to these two rules
occurs when it is necessary to
distinguish between individual and
joint ownership.
(n the e4amples to follow, changing
from a singular pronoun to a plural
pronoun changes the ownership from
indi1idual to -oint.
A. Agreement in #umber
Examples:
!(#5%$AR& #either 6irito nor Asuna
let me ride h er horse.
P$%RA$& #either 6irito nor Asuna
let me ride their horse.
A. Agreement in #umber
Examples:
!(#5%$AR& +y mother and father
disco1ered that his old
desk is a 1aluable
anti0ue.
P$%RA$& +y mother and father
disco1ered that their old
desk is a 1aluable anti0ue.
7. Agreement in Person and
5ender
When dealing with pronoun and
antecedent agreement, take care
not to shift either person or
gender.
Example:
!8(,. (# PR!"# 94:&
/osh is going to 8awaii, where
you can surf all year long.
2"RR2.&
/osh is going to 8awaii, where
he can surf all year long.
7. Agreement in Person and
5ender
When dealing with pronoun and
antecedent agreement, take care
not to shift either person or
gender.
Example:
!8(,. (# 5#;R& .he ship came loose
from her moorings, and
it gently drifted out to
sea.
2"RR2.& .he ship came loose from its
moorings, and it gently drifted
out to sea.
7. Agreement in Person and
5ender
5eneric +asculine Pronouns
< +asculine pronoun has been used
in reference to a singular antecedent
whose gender is unknown.
< !uch use of masculine pronoun is
said to be generic, meaning it co1ers
both masculine and feminine
genders.
< When gender is not specifed, use
the masculine or rewrite the
sentence.
5eneric +asculine Pronouns
Example:
Unknown Sinular: ach member of the
guild must pay his dues now.
!ewritten: ach member of the guild
must pay dues now.
Unknown Plural: All members of the
guild must pay their dues now.
2. Agreement with (ndefnite Pronouns
Sinular:
2ompound forms
some< <one
any< <body
no< <thing
e1ery<
!imple forms
one, little, much
2. Agreement with (ndefnite Pronouns
Plural:
both, many, few, se1eral,
others
Sinular or Plural "according
to sense:&
all, most, some, any,
more
2. Agreement with (ndefnite Pronouns
'. %se a plural personal pronoun
when the antecedent is a plural
indefnite pronoun.
Example:
+any of the students were tired
from their e4cursion.
2. Agreement with (ndefnite Pronouns
). %se a singular personal pronoun
when the antecedent is a singular
indefnite pronoun.
Example:
"nly one of the boys wore his
basketball uniform.
2. Agreement with (ndefnite Pronouns
*. ,or indefnite pronouns that can be
either singular or plural 9all, any,
more, most, and some:, agreement
depends on the antecedent of the
indefnite pronoun.
Example:
+ost of the soil had lost its
minerals.
!ome of the clients wanted their
money back.
2. Agreement with (ndefnite Pronouns
=. (n informal nglish, it is
becoming common to use the
plural their to refer to singular
indefnite pronouns
everybody and everyone.
(n formal nglish, howe1er,
use the traditional his or
rephrase the sentence.
2. Agreement with (ndefnite Pronouns
4ample&
(#,"R+A$&
1erybody looks forward to their
1acation.
,"R+A$&
1erybody looks forward to his
1acation.
,"R+A$ and ((#,"R+A$
9rephrased:&
1erybody looks forward to a
1acation.
;. Agreement with Re>e4i1e Pronouns
!(#5%$AR P$%RA$
'
!.
person myself oursel1es
)
#;
personyourself yoursel1es
*
rd
person&
<masculinehimself themsel1es
<feminine herself themsel1es
<neuter itself themsel1es
;. Agreement with Re>e4i1e Pronouns
'. Re>e4i1e pronouns are used
correctly only when they refer to a
word earlier in the same sentence.
Example:
,rank made dinner for himself.
;. Agreement with Re>e4i1e Pronouns
). A re>e4i1e pronoun must agree
with an antecedent that is clearly
stated. A1oid using a re>e4i1e
pronoun when it can be replaced by
a personal pronoun.
P""R& "ur parents always
trust my sister and myself#
2"RR2.& "ur parents always
trust my sister and
me.
I. Write an appropriate personal pronoun to complete each sentence.
. M! aunt and uncle e"pressed
######### $ratitude %or the $i%t.
&. Neither m! sisters nor 'ue
(rou$ht ######### (oo)s.
*. E+er! nation has ######## o,n
distincti+e culture.
-. Medical students should ta)e
######## education seriousl!.
.. Alice is an"ious a(out ######
(rother/s motor accident.
0. Ms. Green and ######### associate
,ill represent us.
1. Neither 2aren nor 3inda has
handed in ######### report.
4. 3aura and Al!ssa are ,or)in$ hard
on ######### pro5ect.
6. Michael (rou$ht the car e+en
thou$h ########## tires ,ere (ald.
7. Neither 8o( nor Da+id has
9nished ######### education.
II. A+oidin$ 'hi%ts in Person and
Gender
Direction: Choose the correct
pronoun in the parentheses to
complete each sentence.
. :enr! is stud!in$ ;rench (ecause
<!ou= he> ,ill need it in ;rance.
&. We )no, that a $ood education is
necessar! i% <,e= !ou> are to $et
ahead in the ,orld.
*. T!pical o% m! %riends and me is
<our= their> $enerosit!.
-. I% people are amoral= societ! ,ill impose
restrictions on <!our= their> %reedom.
.. ?enice is +er! appealin$ to tourists
(ecause o% its canals and <her= its> $reat
museums.
0. We all ma)e mista)es= (ut <!ou= ,e>
should tr! not to ma)e the same mista)e
t,ice.
1. A%ter people ha+e ,or)ed lon$ and hard=
<the!= !ou> need time %or rela"ation.
4. Man! ,omen are 9ndin$ out that <!ou=
the!> can compete success%ull! ,ith men
in sports.
6. 3et/s not 9ll oursel+es on the
9rst course o% the meal (ecause
<!ou= ,e> ,ill (e ser+ed %our
more courses.
7. 'ince that nation has not
clearl! de9ned its %orei$n polic!=
<she= it> has created distress
a(road.

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