3 Rules for Compound Antecedents Use a SINGULAR PERSONAL Use a PLURAL FORM with two or @ PRONOUN with TWO OR MORE more antecedents Joined by AND. singular antecedents joined by Don and Barbara are rehearsing for OR or NOR. their concert. Either Eve or Dory will bring her gown. ‘Use PLURAL PERSONAL pronouns if any part of a compound antecedent joined by OR or NOR is plural. ‘When the children or their guardian arrives, give them this package. SECOND (spoken to) You ea) pERSON DO NOT SHIFT/CHANGE PERSON OR GENDER Shift in person: My son loves to travel because you learn a lot from your experiences. (from third to second) GENDER THIRD PERSON SINGULAR Only the personal pronoun in the third person has gender. Pronouns| should agree with antecedent in person and gender. Correct: loves to travel because he learns a lot from his experiences. Shift In gender: The seal threw its head back and stood on his hind legs. Correct: The seal threw its head back and stood on jts hind legs. FIGURE NO. 29PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT syonouns or pronouns that refer to persons agree in (1) person (first, second oy, (2) number (singular or plural), and (3) gender (masculine, feminine Snily the third person of the personal pronoun has gender (he, she, it). The dnd you (first and second persons), do not assume any gender. pronouns mpound Antecedents » compound antecedents (or noun references) are used as subjects in @ sentence, with Co y gpserve the following rules: Use a singular personal pronoun with two or more singular antecedents joined by or or nor 1. Examples: Neither the father nor the son will get his share of the property. Either Miss Jones or Miss Adams will wear her gown. Either a notebook or a pen has its trademark. 2. When the antecedents joined by correlative conjunctions have mixed number, the antecedent that is closer to the pronoun determines the agreement. Examples: Neither the mother nor her daughters will bring their purses. Neither the daughters nor their mother will bring her purse. Not only the mother but also her daughters will wear their gowns. Not only the daughters but also their mother will wear her gown. Use a plural personal pronoun when two or more antecedents are joined by and, unless the object or matter discussed refers to another individual besides the subjects. Examples: Stanley and Betsy are rehearsing for their concert tomorrow. (The concert is theirs.) Stanley and Betsy are rehearsing for my concert. (The concert is not Stan and Betsy’s but mine. They are my guests.) You and | need to talk about our project. 3. Use a plural personal pronoun if any part of a compound antecedent joined by or or nor is plural. Examples: If the guests or the host arrives, give them the token. II introduce will in When the manager or his assistants are called, they themselves. 159AGREEMENT WITH INDEFINITE PRONOUNS (IP) USE HE/SHE or HIM/HER USE A PLURAL PERSONAL PRONOUN to refer to a person of unspecific gender. for plural indefinite pronouns. Foch child got his or her own pencil Allof the participants left their Somebody lost his or her wallet, notes in the room. USE THE SINGULAR THEY Few are willing to bet their with derivatives them and their. money on online investments. their wallet. Somebody lost SINGUy a Both, Few, Several, Anyone can Many, Others present their talent in this show. Agreement is not affected by ; All, Any, Most, intervening phrase “Ay, 2 None, Some or clause. pSNING HRASE oR Either efthetions will perform for its trainer. si th flavor. coms at i t One of thewomen in the class would like to Fe eae offer her time for a volunteer work at the hospice, Some of the countries sent their troops:AGREEMENT WITH INDEFINITE PRONOUNS The following rules apply for indefinite pronouns: 1. For plural indefinite pronouns (e. g. both, few, several, many, others), use a plural personal pronoun Examples: Both actors deserve to receive their awards. Few apologized for their behavior last night. Several players broke their ankles. 2. For indefinite pronouns that are either singular or plural (e.g. all, any, most, none, some), use the pronoun that agrees with the antecedent. Examples: Some of the pie will lose its flavor. Some of the plates retained their trademarks. 3. When indefinite pronouns with prepositional phrases act as subjects, the personal pronoun agrees with the subject in number and with the antecedent (the object of the preposition) in gender. Examples: it it its paint. Either of the chairs has its pain en it tet (Either is the subject, with chair as the antecedent. Since the an' has no gender, the correct pronoun Is its.) One of the salesmen submitted his report. (The subject is one, with salesmen as tl Pronoun his.) he antecedent, hence theea 4. For singular indefinite pronouns (each, somebody, someone, one, nobody, no one, anyone), use the singular personal pronouns his or her. Be gender-specific if the sentence obviously refers to a particular gender. Examples: Each has his or her own destiny. Can anyone raise his or her hand? Somebody in the women’s room made her bed. The use solely of the masculine gender for singular indefinite pronouns (which was traditionally done in the past), is, nowadays, considered sexist as it is presumed to favor one gender (male) over the other (female). Because of the trend toward a gender-neutral language, the use of the singular they (and its derivative them) has gained wide acceptance in modern English to refer to a person of either sex (male or female) for statements using singular indefinite pronouns. Examples: Anyone can raise their hand. If you love someone, set them free. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light.