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Hey guys! Welcome to this Mometrix video over pronoun-antecedent agreement.
Let’s first start by reviewing what a pronoun and antecedent are.
What is a Pronoun?
A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun to refer back to a noun.
For example:
Her is the pronoun referring back to the noun Lucy.
What is an Antecedent?
An antecedent is the noun that the pronoun is referring back to, or the noun that the pronoun is taking the place of. The prefix ante- means “before,” so the word antecedent just means that something is coming before something else.
In our last example, Lucy is the antecedent that the pronoun her is referring back to.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Now, the phrase pronoun-antecedent agreement refers, basically, to using the correct pronoun to take the place of the noun and the pronoun replacing the noun must agree with it in certain ways.
The pronoun must agree with the antecedent in number, and in gender. But more specifically here is how that plays out:
1. Only a Subject Pronoun Should be used to Replace a Subject Noun
A subject noun is the noun that does what the verb is saying it does.
For example:
Matthew is the noun that is doing the verb: he ran.
Therefore, Matthew is a subject noun. And remember, to replace a subject noun, we must use a subject pronoun.
There are two types of subject pronouns, singular subject pronouns and plural subject pronouns. In this case we have a singular subject noun, so we must use a singular subject pronoun. Singular subject pronouns include: I, you, he, she, and it. Now, in our example sentence, “Matthew ran in the 300 meter race,” “Matthew” is a person and not a thing, so we would not use the pronoun ‘it.’
Remaining on the list, ‘he’ is the singular subject pronoun that makes the most sense. So, we could use the singular subject pronoun, ‘he’ to replace the singular subject noun Matthew, “He ran in the 300 meter race.”
2. Only an Object Pronoun Should be Used to Replace an Object Noun
An object noun is a noun that takes upon the action of the verb; so, the verb is acting on this noun.
For example:
Kids is the noun that is taking upon the action drove. They are being driven, they are not driving; so, they are taking or receiving the action of the verb.
Kids is a plural object noun, so we need to use a plural object pronoun to replace it. Plural object pronouns include: you, us, and them. The plural object pronoun that makes the most sense in the context of this sentence is them. So, then when we replace the object noun kids as well as the article adjective the with them, we now have “The bus driver drove them to school every morning.”
3. Only a Feminine Pronoun Should be Used in Place of A Feminine Noun
For example:
Felicity is the feminine singular noun, so it needs to be replaced with a feminine singular pronoun. So, “She went to the mall with her friend.”
4. Only a Masculine Pronoun Should be Used in Place of A Masculine Noun
For example, let’s look back at the sentence we used in our first point: “Matthew ran in the 300 meter race.”
We’ve already looked at this one, and replaced it with the correct pronoun. We replaced the singular masculine subject noun with the singular masculine subject pronoun he. This is important, because Matthew, at least in this case, is referring to a male, so we need to use the correct pronoun.
5. Only a Singular Pronoun Should be Used in Place of A Singular Noun
We’ve already looked at a couple examples of this, but here is another:
Car is a singular noun, so it needs to be replaced with the singular pronoun it.
6. Only a Plural Pronoun Should be Used in Place of A Plural Noun
For example:
Children is the plural noun, so it needs to be replaced with the plural pronoun they.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Examples
Example #1
The following words are always singular indefinite pronouns:
- Anyone
- Anybody
- Someone
- Somebody
- Something
- Each
- Either
- Neither
- Everyone
- Everybody
- Everything
- No one
- Nobody
An example of this in a sentence would b
Now, notice that it would be incorrect to use the pronoun they to refer back to anyone, because they is a plural pronoun, and remember only singular pronouns can refer back to singular nouns. That is why “he or she” is used to refer back to the singular indefinite pronoun anyone.
Example #2
The words several, both, few, and many are always plural indefinite pronouns. If one of these plural indefinite pronouns is an antecedent, then you must use a plural pronoun to refer back to it.
Here is an example:
Few is the plural indefinite pronoun antecedent, and their is the plural pronoun referring back to the antecedent.
Example #3
Anytime you have a compound subject or compound antecedent that is linked by and, then you use a plural referent. A referent is just the pronoun referring to the antecedent.
For example:
The noun Madison is singular by itself, and the noun Lindsay, by itself, is singular; but, because Madison and Lindsay are joined by and, it is a compound subject and therefore plural.
So that is why the plural referent their is used.
Example #4
Anytime you have a compound subject that is linked by or or nor, then the referent pronoun should always agree with the antecedent that is closest in proximity to the pronoun.
That may sound confusing at first, but let’s look at some examples of what this means:
Since players is closest to the referent, the referent should be plural, because players is plural.
Example #5
Look at this example:
Coach is closest to the referent, so the referent should be singular, because coach is singular.
Example #6
Be aware of the meaning of a collective noun, it may be singular or plural. Collective nouns include words like team, crowd, group, choir, flock, jury, committee, and so on.
Let’s look at an example of one of these nouns being used as both singular and plural:
Class in this sentence is singular, so the singular pronoun its is the referent.
Example #7
Now, look at this example:
In this example, class is a plural collective noun, so their is the plural pronoun used to refer back to it.
Example #8
Titles of a single entity should have a singular pronoun referent. Titles of a single entity might include things like books, countries, an organization, and so on.
For example:
The Silence of the Lambs is singular therefore we use the singular possessive noun its as its referent.
Example #9
Another example might be:
The United States is singular so the singular possessive pronoun its is used to refer back to it.
Example #10
If the word every or many a comes right before a noun, or even a sequence of nouns then it takes a singular referent.
For example:
It may be counterintuitive to think of every as being singular, but such is the case.
Example #11
When the phrase “a number of” comes before a noun, then it is plural and should be followed by a plural referent. When the phrase “the number of” comes before a noun, then it is singular and should be followed by a singular referent.
Here are some examples:
The number of geese flew its way south for the winter.
“A number of” is plural so it takes on the plural referent their.
“The number of” is singular, and therefore takes on a singular referent its.
Example #12
If there is a clause or a phrase in between the subject and the verb, then it does not alter the number of the antecedent. This sounds more confusing than it is.
Let’s take a look:
Even though the clause that is in between the subject teddy bear and the verb sits is plural, it does not alter the fact that teddy bear is singular, so its referent needs to be singular.
That was a lot of information at once, if you need to, be sure and look back for review.
I hope that this video over pronoun-antecedent agreement was more helpful than overwhelming.
See you guys next time!