Self Teaching Unit:
Pronoun - Antecedent Agreement
In order to understand pronoun – antecedent agreement, you must first understand pronouns.
A pronoun is a word used to stand for (or take the place of) a noun.
Below are the personal pronouns. They are called “personal” because they usually refer to persons (except for it, which refers to things).
Look at this sentence.
There are two nouns in this sentence: John and man.
Either of these nouns can be replaced by a pronoun. If we replace John (the subject of the sentence) with a pronoun, we choose he, a subject pronoun.
These sample sentences tell us some important things about pronouns:
1. A pronoun takes the place of a noun.
2. The pronoun which replaces the noun must agree with it in these ways:
a) A subject pronoun must replace a subject noun.
An object pronoun must replace an object noun.
b) A feminine pronoun must replace a feminine noun.
A masculine pronoun must replace a masculine noun.
c) A singular pronoun must replace a singular noun.
A plural pronoun must replace a plural noun.
A pronoun can also refer to an earlier noun or pronoun in the sentence.
Look at this sentence.
The pronoun his refers to President Lincoln.
In this sentence, the pronoun his is called the REFERENT because it “refers back.”
We call President Lincoln the ANTECEDENT because it comes before the pronoun that refers to it later. (ante = “before”)
Thus, the mechanics of the sentence look like this:
Look at the examples below to see how to choose the right pronoun for two antecedents joined by and, or, or nor.
1. When two or more singular noun antecedents are joined by and, they make a PLURAL antecedent. (1 + 1 = 2)
example:
NOTE: The plural pronoun their replaces both masculine and feminine nouns.
If both noun antecedents joined by and are plural, then the referent pronoun will also be PLURAL.
2. When two or more noun antecedents are joined by or or nor, choose a pronoun referent to agree with the antecedent CLOSEST TO THE VERB.
Examples:
A. Two singular antecedents
B. Two plural antecedents
C. One singular antecedent followed by a plural antecedent
D. One plural antecedent followed by a singular antecedent
In the above examples, C and D are the most difficult because the antecedents have both a singular and a plural noun. Remember these two guidelines . . .
1. For antecedents joined by and – always choose a plural referent pronoun.
2. For antecedents joined by or or nor – choose a referent pronoun to agree with the antecedent closest to the verb.
Sometimes a personal pronoun may be an antecedent.
In this sentence, he is the antecedent for the referent pronoun his.
His is both masculine and singular to agree with the masculine, singular antecedent he.
In the following sentence, she is the antecedent for the referent pronoun her.
Her is both feminine and singular to agree with the feminine, singular antecedent she.
In this sentence, I is the antecedent for the referent pronoun, my.
My is singular to agree with the singular antecedent, I.
Remember this important guideline:
A referent pronoun agrees with its personal pronoun antecedent.
