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Pronoun-Antecedent
Agreement
We use the words called pronouns to refer to or to replace
other words (which are always nouns), which we call their antecedents
or referents—the terms are interchangeable. The connection between
the pronoun and its antecedent or referent must always be clear in
order to avoid confusion: pronouns need to agree in person, number,
and gender with their antecedents.
Agreeing in Person
In grammar when we talk about person, we are really talking about
the relationship between the writer, the reader, and the subject
of the conversation. It’s like pointing a finger.
The first person pronouns are I, me, my, mine, myself,
we, us, our, ours, and ourselves. The writers who use first person
are obviously
referring back to themselves. The finger points back at the
writer.
Ex: I should go home to finish my essay for ENG 3430.
The second person pronouns are you, your, and
your, yourselves. Writers who use second person are speaking
directly to a reader. The pronoun refers directly to the reader. The
finger
points
at the reader.
Ex: You should go home to finish your essay for ENG
3430.
***Note: You should not use you to refer to everyone,
as in the following sentence:
You pay your taxes.
In this case the writer wants to say all taxpayers should
pay their taxes, not the reader specifically.
The third person pronouns are he, she, it, they,
him, her, them, his, hers, its, and theirs, himself, herself,
itself, themselves.
When writers use the third person, the pronoun refers to the persons
or things being spoken about. The finger points, not at writer or
reader, but at someone or something else.
Ex. She should go home to finish her ENG 3430
essay.
Pronouns that refer to the same noun or nouns shouldn't
shift from one "person" to another within a discussion.
Incorrect Ex: Psychologists should review their patients' records carefully before you make a diagnosis. (The pronouns their and you both refer to psychologists, the noun being spoken about, which requires that they both be third person pronouns.)
Revised Ex: Psychologists should review their
patients' records carefully before they make a diagnosis. (This
kind of shift is the most common
problem writers have in making pronouns agree with their antecedents
in person.)
Agreement in Number
In grammar, number indicates how many, whether something is singular
(one) or plural (more than one). Pronouns should always agree with
their antecedents in number.
- When two or more antecedents are joined by the word "and," then
the pronoun referring to the antecedents should be plural.
Incorrect Ex: Helen and Allie showed us her Easter hat.
Revised Ex: Helen and Allie showed us their Easter hats.
- When two or more singular antecedents are joined
by the word "or" or "nor," then the
pronoun referring to the antecedents should agree with the
nearest
of the antecedents.
Incorrect Ex: Either the officers or Jeff will present their ideas at the meeting.
Revised Ex: Either the officers or Jeff will present
his ideas at the meeting.
- A pronoun used as the subject of a sentence agrees in
number with its antecedent even though the antecedent comes after
the pronoun.
Incorrect Ex: They are the tourist who signed up for the mountain
hike.
Revised Ex: She is the tourist who signed up
for the mountain hike.
- Collective nouns have either singular or
plural pronouns,
depending on the situation. When the collective noun acts
as a unit, use a third person singular pronoun (it). When the
individual
members of the collective are acting individually, use the
third person plural (they).
Incorrect Ex: The committee is going to give their approval
on Tuesday.
Revised Ex: The committee is going to give its approval
on Tuesday.
(In this case, the committee is acting as a unit, so
the singular pronoun is called for.)
- Indefinite pronouns like everyone, each, everybody,
anyone, anybody, everything, either, one, neither, someone,
something refer to nonspecific persons or things. They
seem to be plural, but they are really singular. Use singular
pronouns.
Incorrect Ex.: Everyone wants to take their essay home to complete it.
Revised Ex.: Everyone wants to take his
or her essay home to
complete it.
Being Gender Sensitive
When the gender of an antecedent is not clear or not known,
pronouns should not automatically default to either gender.
For instance, not all doctors are male or all nurses
female. Though not in itself an agreement issue, being
gender sensitive sometimes causes agreement problems,
most often in number.
Incorrect Ex.: A professor should always write comments
on his graded assignments.
(This example is incorrect because it assumes that professors are men.)
Incorrect Ex.: A professor should always write comments on their graded assignments.
(This example is incorrect because the attempt to correct has created a number
agreement problem—professor is singular and their is plural.)
Revised Ex.: A professor should always write comments on his or her graded
assignments.
Professors should always write comments on their graded assignments.
You can test your understanding of this handout by completing Academic
Center exercises available
here.
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