More Conventions

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Pronoun-Antecedent agreement is similar to subject-verb agreement in the sense that a pronoun or noun must agree in number and gender with the antecedent, or the noun that precedes the pronoun, so less repetition occurs.

Ex: Every student was required to show his or her I.D. before entering the dance.

Notice that student is the antecedent, and the pronoun "his or her" replaces student, so the sentence does not have to repeat "student." "Student" is singular and can refer to a male or female, and "his or her" is also singular and refers to males and females, so both agree in number and gender.

The following list provides the main rules on subject-verb agreement. Remember, when in doubt, research to find out the correct answer:

Most indefinite pronouns are always singular

Ex: Somebody is going to need to use his or her coupon to receive the discount on dinner.  

The following indefinite pronouns are plural: both, few, many, and several

Ex: Both students use their notes to study.

The following indefinite pronouns can be singular or plural: all, any, half, more, most, part, some

Ex: Most of the furniture is in its place.    

Ex: Most of the athletes have their positions.

Compound subjects are plural and need a plural pronoun

Ex: Kyla and James wanted to eat their cupcakes for dessert.

Two singular subjects that are joined by or/nor use a singular pronoun

Ex: Neither Andy nor Kenneth will shoot his basketball first.

Using collective nouns as the antecedent means using a singular pronoun

Ex: The family decided on its vacation spot. 

Practice

Now, practice the pronoun-antecedent rules by selecting which sentences have the proper use of pronoun-antecedent.

Reading Assignment: Read a Novel

Choose and begin reading a novel from the list provided to you in the syllabus. Click here to see a description of the novel assignment. Links to an external site. You will need to procure a copy of your book (school library, local library, bookstore, Amazon, etc) and begin reading immediately in order to prepare for upcoming assignments.

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