Pronoun-Antecedent

AGREEMENT
Presentation
by:
Kat & Jeorgie
Objectives
To master the correct pronouns for different
kinds of antecedents

To be able to point out and correct common mistakes in

Pronoun-Antecedent agreement

To understand and apply the logic behind the rules

of Pronoun-Antecedent agreement
 FIRST
ACTIVITY

Icebreaker
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Pronoun & Antecedent
PRONOUN
a word used to stand for a noun

has different types:

Personal Demonstrative Interrogative Indefinite

Reflexive/
Possessive Reciprocal Relative
Intensive
Pronoun & Antecedent
ANTECEDENT a word to which a pronoun refers

the word, phrase, or clause that a pronoun can replace.

The boy scratched his armpit.

The boys scratched their armpit.
Antecedent Pronoun
1
A pronoun should always
agree in number, gender,
and person with its
antecedent.
 SINGULARPr
1. refer to singular antecedents
1 onouns
PLURAL
a word to which a pronoun refers
Pronouns

Examples:
Arthur Mitchell founded his own ballet company.
Raccoons often dunk their food in the water
before eating.
 Some singular pronouns
1.2
indicate gender.

Masculine Feminine Neuter

he, him, she, her, it, its,
his, himself hers, herself itself

Masculine
Rudolfo stated his position clearly.
Feminine
Maxine has already prepared her
acceptance speech.
Neuter
The river overflowed its banks.
 Person indicates whether a
1.3
pronoun refers to:
the one(s) speaking the one(s) spoken to the one(s) spoken of
(1st person) (2nd person) (3rd person

1st Person
I promised myself yesterday that
I would clean my room.
2nd Person
Do you have your library card with you?
3rd Person
They built their new house themselves.
2
Some indefinite pronouns are
singular, some are plural, and
some can be either of the two,
depending on how they are used
in the sentence.
 Use a singular pronoun to refer to any
2.1
of the following antecedents:

Anybody Anyone Anything Each

Either Everybody Everyone Everything

Neither Nobody No one Nothing

One Somebody Someone Something

Examples:
Each of the birds had staked out its own territory.
Someone left a pair of shoes on the boys’ locker room floor,
and he had better pick them up before the coach sees them.
 Indefinite pronouns do not indicate gender.
Often, a word in a phrase following such a
pronoun indicates the gender of the
pronoun.

Examples
Each of these women runs her own
business.
One of the men in the audience forgot his coat.
If the antecedent may be either masculine
or feminine, use both the masculine and
feminine pronouns to refer to it.

Examples
Everyone here knows how he or she
can get help.
Each of the participants in the contest paid his
or her own entry fee.
 Inclusive constructions (his or her), while
technically correct, sound awkward and
wreck the cadence of a good sentence.

Revise the sentence so that a pronoun is unnecessary.

- Each of the participants in the contest paid an entry
fee.

Use the plural form of both the antecedent and the pronoun.
- All of the participants in the contest paid their own
entry fees.
 In informal situations, plural pronouns are often
used to refer to singular antecedents that can
be either masculine or feminine.

Examples Everybody stayed late at the dance because

they were enjoying themselves.

Misleading
Everybody stayed late at the dance because
he or she was enjoying himself or herself.
Revised
All of the students stayed late at the dance
because they were enjoying themselves.
2.2 Use plural pronouns to refer to any
of the following indefinite pronouns:
both, few, many, or several.

Examples:
Several of the seniors discussed with the principal their
ideas about forming another service club.

The judge met with both of the attorneys and

their clients.
2.3 Use singular or plural pronouns, depending on
the meaning of the sentence, to refer to any of
the following indefinite pronouns:

All Any More Most None Some

Examples

Singular
I accidentally deleted some of the document.
Is there a way that I can retrieve it?
Plural
I accidentally deleted some of the files. Is there a
way that I can retrieve them?
 Use a plural pronoun to refer to
3 two or more antecedents joined by
and.
Examples
Hilda and Lupe presented their reports.
After Ethel, Jared, and Cam ate lunch together,
they went to their next class.
Special Case:
For my birthday dinner, Dad made chicken and yellow
rice. He knows it is my favorite dish.
 Use a singular pronoun to refer to
4 two or more singular antecedents
joined by or or nor.

Examples
Either Paul or Diego is willing to drive his
car to the retreat in September.
Neither John nor Maria remembered to bring
her vacation photos with her.
Special Problems in
Pronoun-Antecedent
Agreement
 A collective noun may either be
5 singular or plural depending on how
it is used.

Examples

Singular
The tour group surprised its tour guide by
presenting her with a lovely thank-you gift.
Plural
The guide surprised the tour group by presenting
them with lovely souvenirs.
 An expression of an amount

6 (measurement, percentage, fraction, etc.)

may take a singular or plural pronoun,
depending on how it is used.
Examples

Singular
The magazine costs four dollars, and I don’t have it.
Plural
He had dropped four dollars, so I picked them up
for him.
Singular
One third of the casserole is left, but it will be gone soon.
Plural
One third of the bagels are left, but they will be gone soon.
 Some nouns that are plural in
7 form take singular pronouns.

Civics Economics Electronics Genetics

Gymnastics Linguistics Mathematics Physics

News Molasses Mumps Measles

Examples
I am taking physics this year, and it is very challenging.
Have you heard the news on the recent terror
attack? It was horrible!
On Nouns ending in -ics
Examples
Today, our government class discussed ethics and the role it
has played in recent political campaigns.
We believe that the candidate’s ethics are beyond reproach; we
have seen no evidence that would
cause us to question them.

Singular when a noun ending in -ics names a science,

system, or skill
Plural when the noun names qualities, activities, or
individual items
 A few nouns that refer to single items take
plural pronouns.
Binoculars Pants Shears

Eyeglasses Pliers Shorts

Olympics Scissors Slacks

Examples
The pliers are not in the toolbox. Have you seen them?
I want to attend the next Olympics. They will be held in Japan.

Special Case
I’m thinking of getting this pair of pants.
Don’t you think its color fits me well?
 Even when in plural form, the titles of
creative works, names of countries, cities,
and organizations generally take singular
pronouns.

Examples
Have you ever watched The X-Files? I think I have
seen every episode of it.
Sleeping Musicians was painted by Rufino
Tamayo. It is one of his best works.
 Organizations
Examples

Singular
The Bayview Rockets won its first game of the
season.
Plural
The Bayview Rockets left the field, waving their
helmets high over their heads.

Singular when it refers to the organization as a

unit
Plural when the name refers to the
members of the organization
 The gender and number of the relative

6 pronoun that, which, or who is

determined by the number of the word to
which it refers - its antecedent.
Examples

Singular
Wendy, who was elected president of the student council a
few weeks ago, has already fulfilled most
of her campaign promises.
Plural
The retainers that my orthodontist made for me
have my name on them.
 FINAL
ACTIVITY

Wrap up
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