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 Pronoun
Pronoun Agreement
Agreement

Everyone Or his or her

should know pronouns?
their
pronouns?
 This presentation
covers maintaining
agreement
between a pronoun
and its antecedent.
A
A pronoun
pronoun agreement
agreement item
item on
on
an
an objective
objective test test might
might look
look
like
like this
this ......
 Sample
Sample Item
Item
Spendthrifts are quickly parted from theirtheir
A
money. So a person
personwho
whowants
wantsto tostart
startsaving
saving
B
should not spend all of their
theirtime
his time
timeatat
atthe
the
themall.
mall.
mall.
CC

A.his or her The

The
Is
Is the
the first their
second
second
first their
their,
their,
does
does
a not
not agree
a person,
person,agree orwith
or with
the
the
B.someone aa person,
second an
person,
second an error
theirerror
their aa
C.his
his that
that choice
choice C
C fixes.
problem?
problem? fixes.
D.No change is necessary.
Agreement
Agreement in
in a
a Nutshell
Nutshell

The kangaroo carries

its joey in a pouch.
kangaroo = singular antecedent
its = singular pronoun

The kangaroos carry

their joeys in pouches.
kangaroos = plural antecedent
their = plural pronoun
 Know
Know your
your pronouns.
pronouns.
Singular Plural
 he, she, it  they
 him, her, it  them
 his, her, hers,  their, theirs
its  themselves
 himself,
herself, itself

Plural!
Singular!
Two
Two [or
[or more]
more] singular
singular things
things joined
joined
by
by and
and make
make aa plural
plural antecedent.
antecedent.

The new puppy and kitten have destroyed

their owner’s sofa.
When
When each
each or
or every
every precedes
precedes two
two [or
[or
more]
more] singular
singular things
things joined
joined by
by and
and,,
you
you have
have aa singular
singular antecedent.
antecedent.

Every
Each new puppyand
newpuppy andkitten destroyssits
kittendestroy its
owner’s sofa.
In
In this
this situation,
situation, nono matter
matter how
how many
many
singular
singular nouns
nouns you
you join
join with
with and
and,, the
the
antecedent
antecedent is is still
still singular.
singular.

Each new puppy, kitten, rabbit, tarantula,

python, parrot, turtle, and ferret destroys its
owner’s sofa.
Use
Use caution
caution with
with these
these three
three
conjunctions:
conjunctions: either
either …… or
or,, neither
neither …
…
nor
nor,, and
and not
not only
only …… but
but also
also..

the Smiths
Not only Louise but also the Smiths
but also Louise fixed
her
fixed their famous
their famous
famous squid
squid eyeball
eyeball stew
stewfor
squid eyeball for the
stewthe
picnic.
for the picnic.

If you want to use their,

You’ll have two
you will need to flip the
antecedents — the Smiths
Smiths and Louise so
and Louise — but only the
that the Smiths are
closer one counts!
closer to the pronoun.
These
These indefinite
indefinite pronouns
pronouns are
are
always
always singular
singular [even
[even when
when they
they
seem
seem plural].
plural].

 Each, either, neither

 Anyone, anybody, anything
 Everyone, everybody, everything
 No one, nobody, nothing
 Someone, somebody, something
 Everyone
Everyone on on Earth
Earth ==
more
more than
than one
one person
person
—billions
—billions ofof people,
people, inin
fact.
fact.
The word everyone,
The word everyone,
however,
however, is still singular.
is still singular.
 Beware
Beware interrupting
interrupting phrases.
phrases.

Neither of my two brothers show much

sense when they date women.

ThisOf my two
sentence
brothers
might sound =
prepositional
right, but it isphrase;
neither = singular
completely
wrong!
antecedent.
 Wow,
what a
babe!
Wow, what
a fat
wallet!

Wow,
what a
loser!
Company
Company,, organization
organization,,
department
department,, and
and school
school names
names are
are
singular
singular..

One urban legend is that Tito’s Taco Palace

its burritos
makes their burritoswith
withkangaroo
kangaroomeat.
meat.

We did Did you

not! know
that?
 Quick
Quick Test
Test

Directions: In the items that follow, choose

the option that corrects an error in the
underlined portion(s). If no error exists, choose
“No change is necessary.”

Show me
what you
know.
 Item
Item 1
1

Not only my brothers but also Mom loves to

drench their
their omelets
omelets in
in ketchup.
ketchup.

A.his
B.her
her
C.his and her
D.No change is necessary.
 Item
Item 2
2
The students and their
their professor
professor sweated
sweated in
in the
the
A
hot classroom. Each
Each one
one of
of them
them wondered
wondered why
why
B
they had
they
she had
haddecided
decided
decidedto
to
tocommit
commit
committoto
tosummer
summer
summerschool.
school.
school.
C

A.his or her
B.Every
C.she
she
D.No change is necessary.
 Item
Item 3
3

Robert and Sue Ellen concentrated on the dead

worm on the dissection tray. They
They used
used tweezers
tweezers
to pick through innards looking for the heart.

A.He
B.She
C.He or she
D.No change
changeisisnecessary.
necessary.
 Item
Item 4
4
The students have decided to eat at Tito’s Taco

Palace, where they

they can
can order
order the
the special.
special. Their
Their
Its
A BB
discount burrito and soda will satisfy hunger, and its
its
C
cheap prices will help wallets!

A.he or she
B.Its
Its
C.their
D.No change is necessary.
 Item
Item 5
5
Either of these thick books by respected authors
will have the answer to your research question in
their many
their many pages.
pages.

A.his
B.his or her
C.its
its
D.No change is necessary.
 Item
Item 6
6

If everyone
everyone
people stopped
stopped
stopped
to to
smell
tosmell
smell
thethe
the
roses,
roses,
roses,
they
they
they
might
might
might
AA BB
get stung by bees and have their
their allergies
allergieskick
kickin
into
to
C
overdrive!

A.
A.people
people
B.he or she
C.his or her
D.No change is necessary.
 Item
Item 7
7

Weaver Hill High has strange school colors. Their

Their
hot pink and bright yellow combination really
stands out on the field.

A.
A.Its
Its
B.His
C.His and her
D.No change is necessary.
 Item
Item 8
8

Sam is starving, and his buddies have just ordered

their “upsized”
their “upsized” meals.
meals. Despite
Despite Sam’s
Sam’s drooling,
drooling,
A
neither of them
them will
will part
part with
with their
theirFrench
his French
Frenchfries.
fries.
fries.
B CC

A.his
B.him
C.his
his
D.No change is necessary.
 Item
Item 9
9

Clyde refuses to return to the weight room

because its
its staff
staff always
always pokes
pokes fun
fun of
of his
his skinny
skinny
arms and legs.

A.their
B.his
C.her
D.No change
changeisisnecessary.
necessary.
 Item
Item 10
10
The students
Everyone
Everyone should
should
should
memorize
memorize
memorize
aaShakespeare
Shakespeare
a Shakespeare
AA
monologue for Mrs. Smith because the extra credit

points will help them

them improve
improve their
theiraverages
averagesatat
B C
the end of the semester.

A.
A.The
The students
students
B.him or her
C.his or her
D.No change is necessary.
Grammar Bytes! provides
additional handouts and
exercises on pronoun
agreement. Go to
chompchomp.com!
The End.