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©2016 by Robin L.
Simmons.
Pronoun Agreement
Everyone
should know
their
pronouns?
Or his or her
pronouns?
This presentation
covers maintaining
agreement
between a
pronoun and its
antecedent.
A pronoun agreement item
on an objective test might
look like this ...
Sample Item
Spendthrifts are quickly parted from their
their
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.
B.
C.
D.
The
second
Is the
first their,
his or her
does
not agree
a person
, orwith
the
someone
a person
an error
second, their
a
that choice
C fixes.
problem?
his
his
No change is necessary.
Agreement in a 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 your pronouns.
Singular
Plural
 he, she, it
 him, her, it
 his, her, hers,
its
 himself,
herself, itself




Singular!
they
them
their, theirs
themselves
Plural!
Two [or mor e] singular
things joined by and make a
plur al antecedent.
The new puppy and kitten have destroyed
their owner’s sofa.
W hen each or ever y pr ecedes
two [or mor e] singular things
joined by and , you have a
singular antecedent.
Each new
Every
newpuppy
puppyand
andkitten
kittendestroy
destroyssits
its
owner’s sofa.
I n t h i s s i t u at i o n , n o m at t e r
how m any s i n g u l a r n o u n s yo u
j o i n w i t h and , t h e a n t e c e d e n t
i s sti l l s i n g u l a r.
Each new puppy, kitten, rabbit, tarantula,
python, parrot, turtle, and ferret destroys its
owner’s sofa.
Use caution with these three
c o n j u n c t i o n s : ei ther … or ,
nei ther … nor , a n d not onl y …
but al s o .
Not only Louise
the Smiths
but also
but also
the Smiths
Louise fixed
fixed
her
their famous
squid
squid eyeball
stew
the
their famous
famous
squid eyeball
eyeball
stew for
forstew
the
picnic.
for
the picnic.
If you
You’ll
wanthave
to use
two
their,
you
antecedents
will need to—flip
the
the
Smiths
Smithsand
andLouise
Louise—but
so
that
only the
the Smiths
closer one
are
closercounts
to the pronoun.
!
T hese indefinite pr onouns
ar e always singular [even
w hen they seem plur al].





Each, either, neither
Anyone, anybody, anything
Everyone, everybody, everything
No one, nobody, nothing
Someone, somebody, something
Everyone on Earth =
more than one
person—billions of
people, in fact.
The word everyone,
however, is still
singular.
Bewar e inter r upting phr ases.
Neither
my
two
brothers
show
s much
Neither ofof
my
two
brothers
show
much
sense when they
he dates
women.
date women.
my two
ThisOfsentence
might
brothers
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 , or ganization ,
depar tment , and school
names ar e singular .
One urban legend is that Tito’s Taco Palace
makes their
its burritos
burritoswith
withkangaroo
kangaroomeat.
meat.
We did
not!
Did you
know
that?
Quick 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 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 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
committo
to
tosummer
summer
summerschool.
school.
school.
C
A.
B.
C.
D.
his or her
Every
she
she
No change is necessary.
Item 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 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.
B.
C.
D.
he or she
Its
Its
their
No change is necessary.
Item 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 6
If people
everyone
everyone
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
allergies kick
kick in
in to
to
C
overdrive!
A.
B.
C.
D.
people
people
he or she
his or her
No change is necessary.
Item 7
Weaver Hill High has strange school colors. Their
Their
hot pink and bright yellow combination really
stands out on the field.
A. Its
Its
B. His
C. His and her
D. No change is necessary.
Item 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.
B.
C.
D.
his
him
his
his
No change is necessary.
Item 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 10
Everyone
Everyone
The
students
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.
B.
C.
D.
The students
students
him or her
his or her
No change is necessary.
Grammar Bytes!
provides additional
handouts and exercises on
pronoun agreement.
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to
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The End.