PronounAntecedent Agreement What is an Antecedent Pronouns get

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

What is an Antecedent? Pronouns get their meaning from the words they stand for; these words are called antecedents. Antecedents are the words that pronouns take the place of later on in the sentence.

How to find an antecedent: 1. Find the pronouns in the sentence 2. Find what the pronouns are renaming- that is your antecedent.

Examples Michael said he lost his watch at the fair. Pronouns: He, his Antecedent: Michael

Examples When the Levines moved, they gave their pets to neighbors. Pronouns: They, their Antecedent: Levines

Examples Attending the Mardi Gras can be tiring, but it can be a lot of fun! Pronouns: It Antecedent: Attending the Mardi Gras

Agreement • Personal pronouns must agree with their antecedents in – gender and in – number

Agreement in GENDER • The gender of a pronoun MUST match the gender of its antecedent!! • Nouns referring to males, such as uncle, boy, and actor, are MASCULINE. • Nouns referring to females, such as aunt, mother, and actress, are FEMININE. • Nouns that do not refer to males or females, such as stone and freedom, are NEUTRAL.

Agreement in NUMBER • Just like subject verb agreement, pronouns and their antecedents MUST agree in number • Number refers to a word being either SINGULAR or PLURAL • Typically it is easy to make pronouns and antecedents agree in number • Ex. Charlene accessed her friend’s Home Page.

Agreement in NUMBER • Where it gets tricky: Compound Antecedents • RULE: Use a SINGULAR personal pronoun to refer to two or more SINGULAR antecedents joined by OR or NOR. • Ex. Neither Keith nor Rob remembers his password.

• RULE: Use a PLURAL personal pronoun to refer to two or more antecedents joined by AND (this makes the antecedent PLURAL!) • Ex. Gene and Rita have checked their e-mail.

Singular Pronouns Masculine • him • his • himself • hisself is NOT a word!!!!! Feminine • she • herself Neutral it, itself

Plural Pronouns • we • us • our, ours • ourselves • they • them • their, theirs • themselves

Beware the “Shift in Person” • RULE: You must not make a “shift in person” in the middle of a sentence • What is shift in person? Becca is studying programming, a course you need for a degree in computer science. Should say “…a course Becca needs…”

When it is Unclear • RULE: When gender is NOT specified , use the masculine AND feminine pronouns OR rewrite the sentence. • Ex. A student should keep his or her password a secret. Or Students should keep their passwords a secret.

When it is Unclear • Sometimes it is still seen as acceptable to choose JUST a masculine or feminine pronoun. • Ex. A student should keep his password a secret.

Directions: Write an appropriate personal pronoun in the blank to complete each sentence. One computer pioneer is Alan Kay. __1__ is noted for __2__ role in the development of the laptop computer. Before Kay introduced graphics and animation, __3__ had not been seen before on PCs. In the 1970’s, the average person did not have a computer in __4__ home. Diana Adams, who sees _5__ as a modern woman, takes a laptop with __6__ wherever __7__ goes. However, you and I don’t even have to leave home. __8__ can access the world through __9__ PCs.

Reflexive Pronouns • Reflexive pronouns end in –self or –selves and point back to a noun or pronoun near the beginning of the sentence. • RULE: Reflexive pronouns MUST have an antecedent in the sentence in which they appear.

Reflexive Pronoun Examples • Incorrect Use. Todd helped Jen and myself to search the Internet. • Correct Use. Todd helped Jen and me to search the Internet. Jen searched the Internet herself.

Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns • RULE: Use a SINGULAR pronoun to refer to a SINGULAR indefinite pronoun. And Use a PLURAL pronoun to refer to a PLURAL indefinite pronoun.

Singular Indefinite Pronouns ALWAYS Singular: anybody everyone anyone everything anything neither each no one either nobody everybody nothing one somebody someone something

Plural Indefinite Pronouns • • Both Few Many Several These words are ALWAYS plural!

Can be EITHER Singular OR Plural: These words may be singular or plural…you MUST check their function within the sentence. • all • any • more • most • none • some

Examples Singular: One of the boys will print his document. Plural: All of the boys will print their documents.