Usage - Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

A pronoun is a word used to stand for (or take the place of) a noun.

A word can refer to an earlier noun or pronoun in the sentence.

Example:

We do not talk or write this way. Automatically, we replace the noun Lincoln's with a
pronoun. More naturally, we say

The pronoun his refers back to President Lincoln. President Lincoln is

the ANTECEDENT for the pronoun his.

An antecedent is a word for which a pronoun stands. (ante = "before")

The pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number.

Rule: A singular pronoun must replace a singular noun; a plural pronoun must replace a
plural noun.

Thus, the mechanics of the sentence above look like this:

Here are nine pronoun-antecedent agreement rules. These rules are related to the
rules found in subject-verb agreement.

1. A phrase or clause between the subject and verb does not change the number
of the antecedent.
 Example:

2. Indefinite pronouns as antecedents

 Singular indefinite pronoun antecedents take singular pronoun referents.

Example:

 Plural indefinite pronoun antecedents require plural referents.

PLURAL: several, few, both, many

Example:

 Some indefinite pronouns that are modified by a prepositional phrase may be

either singular or plural.

EITHER SINGULAR OR PLURAL: some, any, none, all, most

 Examples:

Sugar is uncountable; therefore, the sentence has a singular referent

pronoun.

Jewelry is uncountable; therefore, the sentence has a singular referent

pronoun.

Examples:

Marbles are countable; therefore, the sentence has a plural referent

pronoun.
 Jewels are countable; therefore, the sentence has a plural referent
pronoun.

3. Compound subjects joined by and always take a plural referent.

Example:

4. With compound subjects joined by or/nor, the referent pronoun agrees with the
antecedent closer to the pronoun.

Example #1 (plural antecedent closer to pronoun):

Example #2 (singular antecedent closer to pronoun):

Note: Example #1, with the plural antecedent closer to the pronoun, creates a
smoother sentence
than example #2, which forces the use of the singular "his or her."

5. Collective Nouns (group, jury, crowd, team, etc.) may be singular or

plural, depending on meaning.
 In this example, the jury is acting as one unit; therefore, the referent pronoun
is singular.

In this example, the jury members are acting as twelve individuals; therefore,
the referent
pronoun is plural.

In this example, the jury members are acting as twelve individuals; therefore,
the referent
pronoun is plural.

6. Titles of single entities. (books, organizations, countries, etc.) take a

singular referent.

EXAMPLES:
7. Plural form subjects with a singular meaning take a singular referent. (news,
measles, mumps, physics, etc)

EXAMPLE:

8. Every or Many a before a noun or a series of nouns requires a singular referent.

EXAMPLES:

9. The number of vs A number of before a subject:

 The number of is singular.

  A number of is plural.

1. During early rehearsals, an actor may forget ( his or her, their ) lines.

2. The Washington team was opportunistic; ( it, they ) took advantage of

every break.

3. A person needs to see ( his or her, their ) dentist twice a year.

4.The committee members put ( its, their ) signatures on the document.

5. If any one of the sisters needs a ride, ( she, they ) can call me.

6. When someone has been drinking, ( he or she, they ) may drive poorly.

7. If the board of directors controls the company, ( it, they ) may vote for a
raise.

8. Neither the pilot nor the attendants gave ( his or her, their ) opinion about
the mishap.

9. Each of these companies had ( its, their )books audited.

10. Some of the china has lost ( its, their ) luster.

 Unclear Pronoun Antecedents:

Note in the following sentence how unclear pronouns might refer to more than one
antecedent, leaving the reader unsure of the writer's intended meaning.

Lizzy told her mother that her sweater had a hole in it.

In this red sentence above, who has the hole in her sweater? Is it Lizzy? Or her mother? The
reader might become confused. The rule of thumb is that the pronoun refers to the the
closest antecedent, in this case, the word mother. If the writer intends to indicate
that Lizzy is the one whose sweater is ragged, the sentence needs rewriting.

Lizzy told her mother, "My sweater has a hole in it."

Or, if the writer intends the opposite meaning, she might write this version:

Lizzy told her mother, "Your sweater has a hole in it."

Unclear pronouns are particularly dangerous with the pronoun it. The best way to fix the
problem is to rephrase the sentence in a new way. However, if there is more than one
possible antecedent, the result is ambiguous.

When Alexander drove the car through the garage door, he badly damaged it.

Did Alexander damage badly his car? Or the garage door?

Cathy was surprised she had been voted president by her classmates who never had much
self-confidence.

Was Cathy surprised her classmates all voted for her because she herself had little self-
confidence? Or was Cathy surprised because her classmates voted for her, even
though they never had much self-confidence?

The convention is that such pronouns refer to the closest noun or pronoun. One way to cure
this problem is to move the who-clause so that is closer to what it modifies. For example,
we might rewrite the sentence with Cathy this way:

Cathy, who never had much self-confidence, was surprised she had been voted president by
her classmates.

Or, if we wish to emphasize that the classmates are the ones lacking confidence, we could
try this way:
Cathy was surprised she had been voted president by her classmates since they never had
much self-confidence.