 | LEO: Literacy Education Online Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement |
- Pronoun
- A pronoun is a substitute for a noun. It refers to a person, place, thing, feeling, or quality but does not refer to it by its name. The pronoun in the following sample sentence is bolded.
- The critique of Plato's Republic was written from a contemporary point of view. It was an in-depth analysis of Plato's opinions about possible governmental forms.
- Antecedent
- An antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers, understood by the context. The antecedent in the following sample sentence is bolded.
- The critique of Plato's Republic was written from a contemporary point of view. It was an in-depth analysis of Plato's opinions about possible governmental forms.
- While the pronouns I and you can be replaced by nouns, the context of a sentence does not always require the nouns to make clear to which persons I and you refer. However, the third person pronouns (he, she, it, they) almost always derive their meaning from their antecedents or the words for which they stand. Remember that pronouns in the third person communicate nothing unless the reader knows what they mean:
- It is the best source available. What source is that?
- Agreement
- A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in three ways:
Grammar Conflicts
- Incorrect Sentence
If a person wants to succeed in corporate life, you have to know the rules of the game.
- Explanation
| Antecedent | a person (third person) |
| Pronoun | you (second person) |
| Conclusion | no person agreement |
- Solution
Although the antecedent and the pronoun agree in number, they do not agree in person. This problem can be remedied in two ways.
Solution Example Change the second person singular, you, to a third person singular pronoun. If a person wants to succeed in corporate life, he or she has to know the rules of the game. Change the third person singular antecedent, a person, to a second person singular antecedent. If you want to succeed in corporate life, you have to know the rules of the game.
Number
- Incorrect Sentence
If anybody wants to succeed in corporate life, they have to know the rules of the game.
- Explanation
| Antecedent | anybody (third person singular) |
| Pronoun | they (third person plural) |
| Conclusion | no number agreement |
- Solution
Although the antecedent and pronoun agree in person, they do not agree in number. This problem can be remedied in two ways.
Solution Example Make the antecedent plural. If people want to succeed in corporate life, they have to know the rules of the game. Make the pronoun singular. If anybody wants to succeed in corporate life, he or she has to know the rules of the game.
Gender
- Incorrect Sentence
If a person wants to succeed in corporate life, he has to know the rules of the game.
- Explanation
| Antecedent | a person (third person neutral singular) |
| Pronoun | he (third person masculine singular) |
| Conclusion | no gender agreement |
- Solution
Even though there is person and number agreement between the antecedent, a person, and the pronoun, he, there is no gender agreement; in other words, the language appears to favor one sex over the other. This problem can be remedied in two ways.
Solution Example Replace the pronoun he with he or she. If a person wants to succeed in corporate life, he or she has to know the rules of the game. Make the entire sentence plural. If people want to succeed in corporate life, they have to know the rules of the game.
Usage - Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
A pronoun is a word used to stand for (or take the place of) a noun.
A word can refer to an earlier noun or pronoun in the sentence.
Example:
We do not talk or write this way. Automatically, we replace the noun Lincoln's with a pronoun. More naturally, we say
The pronoun his refers to President Lincoln.
In this sentence, the pronoun his is called the REFERENT because it "refers back."
It refers back to President Lincoln, the ANTECEDENT. An antecedent is a word for which a pronoun stands. (ante = "before")
The pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number.
Rule: A singular pronoun must replace a singular noun; a plural pronoun must replace a plural noun.
Thus, the mechanics of the sentence above look like this:
Here are nine pronoun-antecedent agreement rules. These rules are related to the rules found in subject-verb agreement.
1. A phrase or clause between the subject and verb does not change the number of the antecedent.
Example:
2. Indefinite pronouns as antecedents
- Singular indefinite pronoun antecedents take singular pronoun referents.
Example:
- Plural indefinite pronoun antecedents require plural referents.
PLURAL: several, few, both, many
Example:
- Some indefinite pronouns that are modified by a prepositional phrase may be either singular or plural.
EITHER SINGULAR OR PLURAL: some, any, none, all, most
Examples:
Sugar is uncountable; therefore, the sentence has a singular referent pronoun.
Jewelry is uncountable; therefore, the sentence has a singular referent pronoun.
Examples:
Marbles are countable; therefore, the sentence has a plural referent pronoun.
Jewels are countable; therefore, the sentence has a plural referent pronoun.
3. Compound subjects joined by and always take a plural referent.
Example:
4. With compound subjects joined by or/nor, the referent pronoun agrees with the antecedent closer to the pronoun.
Example #1 (plural antecedent closer to pronoun):
Example #2 (singular antecedent closer to pronoun):
than example #2, which forces the use of the singular "his or her."
5. Collective Nouns (group, jury, crowd, team, etc.) may be singular or plural, depending on meaning.
In this example, the jury is acting as one unit; therefore, the referent pronoun is singular.
In this example, the jury members are acting as twelve individuals; therefore, the referent
pronoun is plural.
In this example, the jury members are acting as twelve individuals; therefore, the referent
pronoun is plural.
6. Titles of single entities. (books, organizations, countries, etc.) take a singular referent.
EXAMPLES:
7. Plural form subjects with a singular meaning take a singular referent. (news, measles, mumps, physics, etc)
EXAMPLE:
8. Every or Many a before a noun or a series of nouns requires a singular referent.
EXAMPLES:
9. The number of vs A number of before a subject:
- The number of is singular.
- A number of is plural.
