Pronoun Antecedent

Agreement
Pronoun Antecedent
Agreement
An antecedent is the word a pronoun
replaces.

Example: Billy took his medicine.

Billy is the antecedent in this sentence

because his replaces Billy.
Pronoun Antecedent
Agreement
What are the antecedents in the following
sentences?
The teachers wanted their students
to do well on the test.

Each student took his/her own test.

The cat licked its paw.

Pronoun Antecedent
Agreement
Every pronoun must agree with its
antecedent in gender and number.
Example: Billy took his medicine.

Billy is a male name, so we must use the

pronoun his instead of her. Also, Billy is
a singular noun, meaning there is only
one of him, so we must use the pronoun
his instead of their.
 Pronoun Antecedent
Agreement
The following list of pronouns are commonly
mistaken as plural. These pronouns are singular:
Everyone Everybody
Anyone Anybody
No one Nobody
Someone Somebody

Remember “body” and “one” are singular.

 Find the antecedent for each italicized
pronoun.

 1. One of the boys had a cast on his

arm.
 2. You usually bring your own towel to
the pool.
 3. The box isn’t pretty, but the paper
around it is.
 4. Everyone on the team had tears in his
eyes.
 5. One of the glasses had a crack in it.
 Choose the correct pronoun.

 1. Somebody has left (his, their) wallet

on my desk
 2. All of the contestants had (her, their)
entries ready.
 3. Few were able to finish (his or her,
their) work.
 4. Each of the students explained (his or
her, their) project to the class.
 5. The dog scratched (their, its) ear.
 Two or more antecedents joined by and
are referred to by a plural pronoun.

 Ex. Mr. Cox and Mr. Nielsen gave us

their opinion.
 When two or more antecedents are
joined by or or nor, the pronoun agrees
with the closer antecedent.

 Ex. Neither the letters nor the

package reached its destination.
 Collective nouns are referred to by
singular or plural pronouns, depending
on how the noun is used.

 Ex. The group has submitted its project.

The group has been arguing
amongst themselves.
These pronouns are plural:

 Both
 Few
 Many
 Several
These can be singular or plural

 All
 Any
 Most
 None
 Some