PRONOUNSand their antecedents

WHAT IS AN ANTECEDENT? The antecedent of a pronoun is the word

to which the pronoun refers.The antecedent comes before (ante-) the

pronoun. In these examples, the pronoun and its

antecedent are bolded: Mary earned her final paycheck this week.Keith hit his first home run today.The Fishers returned from their fishing

trip.The company advertises its products on

radio.

GENERAL RULES OF AGREEMENT The pronoun must agree in both number

and gender.Singular antecedents take singular

pronouns.Plural antecedents take plural pronouns:

they, them, theirMasculine antecedents take masculine

pronouns: he, him, his

Feminine antecedents take feminine pronouns: she, her, hers

If the antecedent is neither masculine nor feminine, use a neuter pronoun: it, its

THESE WORDS TAKE A SINGULAR PRONOUN:

each either neither one everyone everybody

no one nobody anyone anybody someone somebody

OTHER RULES Two or more singular antecedents

separated by or or nor should be referred to by a singular pronoun: Neither Sue nor Maria left her books on her

desk. If one of the antecedents separated by or

or nor is plural and the other is singular, then the pronoun should match the antecedent closest to it: Neither the students nor the teacher brought

his lunch. Neither the teacher nor the students brought

their lunch.

OTHER RULES Two or more antecedents joined by and

should be referred to by a plural pronoun:Sue and Maria presented their reports.

Don’t be distracted by phrases after the antecedent:Anybody in the classroom has the right to

express their opinion. (Anybody = singular)

AWKWARD! What if the antecedent could be either

masculine or feminine? Old time usage allowed a writer to use the

masculine form of the personal pronoun. Everyone has handed in his paper.

More culturally aware writers use both masculine and feminine. Everyone has handed in his or her paper.

You can (sometimes) avoid this awkwardness by rephrasing the sentence in the plural: The students have handed in their papers.

But don’t make this common mistake: The student handed in their paper.

PRACTICE1. Each of the women designed _____ own

pattern. (her, their)

2. Neither of the men left ____ coat on the seat. (his, their)

3. One of the girls took ____ umbrella with ___. (her, their)

4. No one brought ____ camera to the party. (his/her, their)