1.

Mother Earth delivered her speech to

mankind.

2. The neighbors let their dogs out

 ANTECEDENT
- It is a noun that comes after the
pronoun

REFERENT
- It is a pronoun that refers
back to noun
Know the difference between these
singular and plural personal
pronouns.
Singular Plural
• He, she, it • They
• Him, her, it • Them
• His, hers, its • Their, theirs
• Himself, herself, • Themselves
itself
A writer who begins
with he or she or him
or her will need to be
consistent. But look
what happens . . .
Wanda Wrighter
Professor Pennington
ENC 1101
May 17, 2011

Student Success

If a student wants to improve his or her grades, he or she should

Oh, thecenter. There, he or she
walk himself or herself over to the tutoring
horror!
can request a tutor to help him or her with his or her homework.
This preparation for his or her class will ensure that he or she is
ready when taking his or her quizzes and exams. In addition, the
tutor might have old work to share. This way, the student can find
out himself/herself what to expect on the assignments for a specific
instructor that might change his/her assignments rarely. Thus, the
one thing that will insure the success of a student is that he or she
gets a tutor to help him or her.
Let’s learn more about
Antecedent and Referent
 Pronoun
Agreement
Until You Pass Out!
Rule 1: Know the general rule
governing pronoun agreement.

A phrase or clause between the

subject and verb does not
change the number of the
antecedent.
 Examples:
1.
The lizard licked
its eyeball.

Lizard = singular antecedent

its = singular pronoun
2. The can of mongo
beans sits on its shelf

Can = subject
Sits = singular form of a
verb
 Do not
confuse
•I
it’s with its.
•it’s [with an apostrophe] means
it is or it has.
•Its [without an apostrophe]
means belonging to it—for
example, its bowl, its sharp
teeth, its long claws, etc.
 RULE 2:
Indefinite
pronoun as
antecedent
 These indefinite pronouns are always
singular [even when they seem plural].

• Each, either, neither, one

• Anyone, anybody, anything
• Everyone, everybody, everything
• No one, nobody, nothing
• Someone, somebody, something
 These Indefinite
pronouns that are plural:

Both, many, several, few

 Singular indefinite
pronouns antecedents
take singular pronoun.
Rule 2 examples :

Each of the employees

does a good deal of work
around his/her office.
Pronoun indefinite pronoun
antecedents, it require plural
referent.
Example:

Both flowers bend their

stems toward the sun.
 Indefinite pronouns that are
modified by a prepositional phrase
may be either plural or singular
like;

Any, more, none, all and most

 Take note: when object of
preposition is uncountable, use
singular referent pronoun.
Example:
Some of the waves reached
its top!
Waves is uncountable,
therefore the sentence
has a singular referent
pronoun.
 When the object of the
preposition is countable, use
plural referent pronoun.
Example:
Some of the animals
were saved by their owners.
Rule 3:Two [or more] singular things
joined by and become a plural
antecedent.

EXAMPLE:

The new puppy and kitten have

destroyed their owner’s sofa.
 Take note: these may help.
• If both of the antecedents used are
singular and refer to different
persons/things the antecedent is
plural.
However, if the antecedents refer to
one person that takes the place of the
antecedent, it is plural.
 Example:

The cook and housekeeper did

not like his duties.
Rule 4: Singular/Plural
antecedents joined or/nor.

Of the two
antecedents in the
sentence, the pronoun
must agree with the
closer one.
Read this example:
Neither of my two brothers show
much sense when they date
women.

This sentence might sound

right, but it is completely
wrong!

Neither of my two brothers shows much

sense when he dates women. [Neither =
singular.]
 Examples:
1. Neither the director nor actors
did their jobs.
2. Neither the actors nor director
did his jobs.
 Rule 5: Collective nouns are
singular or plural, depending on
context/meaning.

• Collective nouns are groups of people:

team, jury, class, committee,
army, family, etc.
 Read these examples:

The team celebrated

its victory.

If all members are acting in unison,

treat the collective noun as singular
and use a singular pronoun.
 • The team changed
into their street
clothes and went
home happy.

However, all members are acting

individually, treat the noun as
plural and use a plural pronoun.
When you cannot decide if the
collective noun is singular or plural,
insert a plural noun after the collective
noun, like this:

The team members ran out onto

the field to meet their opponent.
Rule 6: Companies, organizations, and
schools are singular and thus require
singular pronouns.

One urban legend is that Tito’s Taco Palace

makes its burritos with kangaroo meat.

The Pencil Enthusiast Society uses the

donations it receives to insure all writing
instruments have sharp points.

Next year, Weaver College will try to solve its

parking woes by requiring students to buy a $75
parking decal.
 Rule 7: Plural form subject with a
singular meaning take a singular
referent (news, measles, physics etc.)

Example:
The news about the forest fires
has lost its rage a few days after.
 Rule 8: Every/Many a before a
noun or a series of nouns requires
a singular referent.

1. Every puppy, kitten, rabbit, tarantula,

python, parrot, iguana, and ferret
destroys its owner’s sofa.
2. Many a fish dreams to swim its trail
along clear waters.
Rule 9: The number of vs A
number of before a subject.

Get confused?
 The number of is singular

Example:
The number of conserved wildlife
habitats increases
its number each year.
 A number of is plural

Example:
A number of wild animals were saved
from their huntsmen.