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 Pronoun
Agreement

Until You Pass Out !

Rule
Rule 1:
1: Know the general
Know the general rule
rule
governing
governing pronoun
pronoun agreement.
agreement.

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent.

The antecedent
The antecedent is usually aa noun
is usually noun that
that the
the
pronoun replaces
pronoun replaces.. For
For example,
example, you
you can
can
replace Mrs.
replace Mrs. Hill with she
Hill with she or or her
her,, the
the
students with they
students with they oror them
them..
 Here
Here are
are two
two examples:
examples:
The lizard licked
its eyeball.
Lizard = singular antecedent
its = singular pronoun

The lizards licked

their eyeballs.
Lizards = plural antecedent
their = plural pronoun
Know
Know the
the difference
difference between
between
these singular
these and plural
singular and plural
personal
personal pronouns.
pronouns.

Singular Plural
 He,
He, she,
she, itit  They
They
 Him,
Him, her,
her, itit  Them
Them
 His,
His, hers,
hers, itsits  Their,
Their, theirs
theirs
 Himself,
Himself, herself,
herself,
itself
itself
 Themselves
Themselves
 Do
Do not
not confuse
confuse
it’s with its
it’s with its..

• It’s [with an apostrophe] means it is or it has.

• Its [without an apostrophe] means belonging to
it—for example, its bowl, its sharp teeth, its long
claws, etc.
• Possessive pronouns—unlike possessive nouns
—do not need an apostrophe with the
final s.
Rule
Rule 2,
2, Part
Part 1:
1: The conjunction a
The conjunction and
nd
can
can cause
cause problems
problems with
with pronoun
pronoun
agreement.
agreement.

Two
Two [or
[or more]
more] singular
singular things
things joined by and
joined by and
become aa plural
become plural antecedent.
antecedent.

The new puppy and kitten have destroyed their

owner’s sofa.
Rule
Rule 2,
2, Part
Part 2: When each
2: When each oror
every
every precedes
precedes two
two [[or
or more
more]]
singular
singular things
things joined
joined byby and
and,, a
a
singular
singular antecedent
antecedent is is formed.
formed.

Each new puppy and kitten destroys

its owner’s sofa.
In
In this
this situation,
situation, no matter how
no matter how many
many
singular
singular nouns
nouns that
that you
you join with and
join with and,,
the
the antecedent
antecedent isis still
still singular.
singular.

Each new puppy, kitten, rabbit, tarantula,

python, parrot, iguana, and ferret
destroys its owner’s sofa.
Rule
Rule 3:
3: Use
Use caution
caution with
with these
these three
three
correlative conjunctions: either
correlative conjunctions: either …
… or
or,,
neither
neither …
… nor and not
nor,, and not only
only …
… but
but also
also..

Of the two antecedents

in the sentence, the
pronoun must agree with
the closer one.
 Here
Here are
are two
two examples:
examples:

Not only Louise but also the Smiths fixed their

famous squid eyeball stew for the picnic.

Not only the Smiths but also Louise fixed her

famous squid eyeball stew for the picnic.

+ =
Indefinite
Indefinite pronouns
pronouns cause
cause
the
the biggest
biggest headaches
headaches for
for
pronoun
pronoun agreement.
agreement.
Rule
Rule 4,
4, Part
Part 1: These indefinite
1: These indefinite
pronouns
pronouns are always singular
are always singular
[[even
even when they seem
when they seem plural
plural]]..

• Each,
Each, either,
either, neither
neither
• Anyone,
Anyone, anybody,
anybody, anything
anything
• Everyone,
Everyone, everybody,
everybody, everything
everything
• No
No one,
one, nobody,
nobody, nothing
nothing
• Someone,
Someone, somebody,
somebody, something
something
 Everyone on
on Earth = more than one person—
Earth =
billions of people, in fact.
The word everyone,, however,
The word however, is still singular
is still
and
and requires
requires aa singular pronoun for
for agreement.
agreement.
 Read
Read this
this example:
example:

Neither of my two brothers show much sense

when they date women.

This
This sentence
sentence might
might
sound
sound right,
right, but
but itit is
is
completely
completely wrong!
wrong!

Neither of my two brothers shows much sense

when he dates women. [Neither = singular.]
Wow, what
a babe!
Wow,
what a
fat
wallet!
Now imagine a parked car like this one:
 Rule
Rule 4,
4, Part
Part 2:
2: When
When fixing
fixing an
an
agreement
agreement error,
error, try
try to
to avoid
avoid
sexist
sexist language
language that
that might
might
offend
offend your
your readers.
readers.

The
The sentence below sounds
sentence below sounds natural
natural but
but has
has an
an error.
error.

Someone left their lights on.

In
In the
the 1950s,
1950s, rule
rule books
books would
would
have
have recommended
recommended using
using the
the
masculine
masculine pronoun
pronoun exclusively.
exclusively.

Oh, my!
Someone left
his lights on.
In
In the
the 1970s,
1970s, after
after criticism
criticism from
from
feminists
feminists and
and civil
civil rights
rights activists,
activists, rule
rule
books
books next
next suggested using both
suggested using both
genders
genders so that males
so that males andand females
females had
had
equal
equal representation
representation in in the
the language.
language.

I can see
Someone left them along
his or her the watch
lights on. tower . . .
A
A writer
writer who
who begins
begins
with he
with he or
or she or him
she or him or
or
her
her will
will need
need to
to be
be
consistent.
consistent. But
But look
look
what
what happens
happens ......
Wanda Wrighter
Professor Pennington
ENC 1101
May 17, 2011
Student Success
If a student wants to improve his or her grades, he or she
should walk himself or herself over to the tutoring center. There,
Oh, the
he or she can request a tutor to help him or her with his or her
homework. This preparation forhorror ! will ensure that
his or her class
he or she is ready when taking his or her quizzes and exams. In
addition, the tutor might have old work to share. This way, the
student can find out himself/herself what to expect on the
assignments for a specific instructor that might change his/her
assignments rarely. Thus, the one thing that will insure the success
of a student is that he or she gets a tutor to help him or her.
In
In the
the 21 st century, fix the error
21st century, fix the error
without
without the
the annoying
annoying repetition.
repetition.

There’s a car Thankfully,

with its lights my wheels
on. don’t have
that
problem.
Rule
Rule 4,
4, Part
Part 3:
3: Some
Some indefinite
indefinite
pronouns are singular
pronouns are singular or
or plural
plural,,
depending on context
depending on context..

• All
All All of Beverly’s hair
• Any
Any gets its color from a
• None
None** bottle.
• More
More All of Beverly’s
• Most
Most fingernails get their
• Some
Some color from a bottle.
Some groups of people, like a jury, also
cause pronoun agreement problems.
Rule 5: Collective
Rule 5: Collective nouns
nouns are
are
singular
singular or
or plural,
plural, depending
depending on
on
context
context..

• Collective nouns are groups of people:

team, jury, class, committee, army,
family, etc.
• If all members are acting in unison, treat
the collective noun as singular and use a
singular pronoun.
• If, however, all members are acting
individually, treat the noun as plural and
use a plural pronoun.
 Read
Read these
these examples:
examples:

The team celebrated its

victory.

The team changed into

their street clothes and
went home happy.
When
When you cannot decide
you cannot decide ifif the
the
collective
collective noun
noun is
is singular
singular oror plural,
plural,
insert a plural
insert a plural noun
noun after
after the
the
collective
collective noun,
noun, like
like this:
this:

The team members ran out onto the

field to meet their opponent.
Rule 6: Companies
Rule 6: Companies,, organizations
organizations,, and
and
schools are singular
schools are singular and
and thus
thus require
require
singular
singular pronouns.
pronouns.

One urban legend is that Tito’s Taco Palace

makes its burritos with kangaroo meat.

The Pencil Enthusiast Society uses the

donations it receives to insure all writing
instruments have sharp points.

Next year, Weaver College will try to solve its

parking woes by requiring students to buy a $75
parking decal.
 Quick Test
Directions: Find and fix the pronoun
agreement errors.

1. At the zoo, every

every lion,
lion, tiger,
tiger,
leopard, bear, snake, and
crocodile roared their
its approval
approval
when the mean child slipped in a
puddle and cracked his head on
the sidewalk.
2. Each
Each of
of those
those worried
worried
students
students is
is wondering
wondering how
how to
to
cheat
cheat effectively
effectively on
on their
his
her
their
his
her
pronoun
pronoun agreement
agreement quiz.
quiz.

Or try this: Those worried

students are wondering how to cheat
effectively on their pronoun
agreement quiz.
3. Both Mrs. Williams and her
her

Correct!
students are
are happy to hear
that they can order squid
eyeball stew for their
lunch.
4. Not
Not only
only
onlymy
only my
mytwo
my two
twodogs
two dogs
dogsbut
dogs but
butalso
but also
also
also
Buster
Buster the
the cat
cat loves
loves toto eat
eat
pepperoni
pepperoni that
that II pull
pull off
off my
my
pizza
pizza to
to give
give to
to them.
him
him..
them.

Remember that the closer of the

two antecedents counts: Not only
Buster the cat but also my two
dogs love to eat pepperoni that I pull off
my pizza to give to them.
5. Oh, no! Someone
Someone left
left their
his
her
greasy French fries on the
essay that I have to turn in to
Mrs. Neal next hour!

Or try this: Someone left greasy

French fries on the paper that I have
to turn in to Mrs. Neal next hour!
6. The
The class
class
classcheered
class cheered
cheeredtheir
cheered its
their
its
approval
approval when
when Dr.Dr. Shuman
Shuman
postponed
postponed the the frog
frog dissection
dissection
so
so that
that the
the students
students could
could go
go
home
home early
early on
on Friday
Friday
afternoon.
afternoon.

Or try this: The students cheered

their approval when Dr. Shuman
postponed the frog dissection so that
they could go home early . . .
7. Nick
Nick loves
loves Cluck-a-Buck,
Cluck-a-Buck
Cluck-a-Buck,but
Cluck-a-Buck, but
,but
but
they
it uses
they
it use
useso
uses so
somuch
so much
muchMSG
much MSG
MSGMSGas as
as
as
flavoring
flavoring that
that he
he sneezes
sneezes for for an
an
hour
hour after
after eating
eating just
just aa
drumstick.
drumstick.
8. None
None ofof Sabrina’s
Sabrina’s friends
friends will
will
give
give up
up one
one of
of his
their
his or
orpencils
their her
pencils
her
pencils
so that
that Sabrina,
pencils
so so
so that
that Sabrina,
Sabrina, who
who is
Sabrina,is always
who
who is
alwaysis
always
unprepared,
always unprepared,
unprepared, can
can take
unprepared, takecanher
hertake
can take
her
pronoun
her pronoun
pronoun agreement
pronoun agreement
agreement
agreement quiz
quizquiz
quiz
today.
today.
9. Either
Either of
of those
those two
two shirts
shirts will
will
enhance
enhance youryour brown
brown eyes
eyes with
with
their
its vibrant
their
its vibrant
vibrant
vibrantcolors.
colors.
colors.
colors.

Or try this: Both of those shirts

will enhance your brown eyes with
their vibrant colors.
10. The
The committee
committee
committeeunanimously
committee unanimously
unanimously
unanimously
decided
decided toto impeach
impeach thethe
president
president because
because they
it
it could
they could
could
could
no
no longer
longer stand
stand his
his long-
long-
winded
winded speeches
speeches and
and unclear
unclear
policies.
policies.

Or try this: The committee

members unanimously decided to
impeach the president because they
could no longer stand . . .
The End.