ESL003: Upper-Intermediate English as a Second Language

After reviewing subject-verb agreement rules, let's take a look at pronoun-antecedent agreement in more detail to see how they can always be matched in our sentences.

In the previous lesson, we learned that all parts of a sentence must match or agree. In addition to subject-verb agreement, we should also make sure we are using pronouns correctly. Since we know from ESL001 that pronouns replace nouns or noun phrases, we must make sure that our pronouns match the nouns they replace, or their antecedents, in number (singular or plural), in person (first, second, or third), and case (subjective, objective, or possessive). In order to check this agreement, you must understand the concept of antecedent, or referent, in order to check the relationship between pronouns and the nouns they replace.

Antecedent Clarity

As we learned in ESL001, a pronoun is a word that can be used in place of a noun. We use pronouns so we do not have to repeat words. It sounds better if pronouns are used to replace nouns. To do so successfully, we must first introduce the noun before using a pronoun to refer to it throughout the rest of the sentence.

Therefore, as a pronoun replaces a noun, and because a pronoun is replacing a noun, its meaning is dependent on the noun that it is replacing. This noun is called the antecedent or referent. Let's look at these two sentences we just read again:

• Because a pronoun is replacing a noun, its meaning is dependent on the noun that it is replacing. This noun is called an antecedent.

Therefore, an antecedent simply means the noun (or phrase) that a pronoun is replacing. Since both nouns and pronouns have number, person, and case, it's important to make sure the pronoun matches or agrees with the noun to which it refers. This will make it possible for readers to understand the sentence the first time they read it, not the third, fourth, or tenth time, or only after they have had to go backward to reread the previous sentence to guess the antecedents. In other words, pronoun-antecedent agreement will ensure our writing has clarity.

TIP 1: Avoid using a pronoun that refers confusingly to two possible antecedents.

TIP 2: Avoid using implied antecedents such as "they", "it", and "one". In other words, antecedents must always be clearly stated.

Sometimes, the antecedent of one sentence appears in the sentence that came before it. For instance, the sentence used in this example could be preceded by the following sentence:

• Professors use web-based software. At the college, they like to use Blackboard.

In this case, the antecedent "professors" appears in the first sentence. The pronoun "they" appears in the second sentence. Since the antecedent of "they" (professors) is clearly stated in the previous sentence, there is no need to repeat the antecedent (professors) again, so the pronoun "they" can be used instead.

Let's see some explanations and examples of this important relationship between pronouns and their antecedents:

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Rules

Pronoun-antecedent clarity involves asking whether the pronouns you use to refer back to your nouns and concepts match the person, number, and gender of the antecedent. When that matching happens, we say that the pronoun agrees with its antecedent. Let's look at a couple of examples:

• I hate it when Zacharias tells me what to do. He's so full of himself.
• The Smiths are shouting again. I swear you could hear them from across town!

In the first sentence, Zacharias is singular, third person, and masculine. The pronouns he and himself are also singular, third person, and masculine, so they agree. In the second sentence, the Smiths is plural and third person. The pronoun them is also plural and third person.

1. Person, Number, and Gender Agreement

Some of the trickiest agreements are with indefinite pronouns. Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that do not refer to a specific person or thing. Singular indefinite pronouns refer to or take the place of singular nouns or pronouns. Plural indefinite pronouns refer to or take the place of plural nouns or pronouns.

Words like every and nobody are singular and match, at the level of formal grammar, with singular pronouns. Here are some more words that fall into this category of indefinite pronouns:

anybody	anyone	anything	each	either	every
everybody	everyone	everything	neither	no one	nobody
nothing	one	somebody	someone	something

Some of these may feel "more singular" than others, but they all are technically singular.

Thus, using "he or she" is correct in terms of antecedent agreement insofar as both those pronouns are singular. However, the pronouns "he or she" (and its other forms) can make your sentences clunky, so concerns about stylistic elegance might also outweigh correctness. When such clunkiness threatens, undergraduate writers often write something like this:

• The way each individual speaks can tell us so much about him or her. It tells us what groups they associate themselves with, both ethnically and socially.

As you can see, in the first sentence, him or her agrees with the indefinite pronoun each. However, in the second sentence, the writer has shifted to the plural they, even though the writer is talking about the same group of people. Your writing seems smoother if your agreement is consistent, so one better solution might be to make the antecedent of "they" a plural noun, like "people" in this example:

Creating a plural antecedent appeals more to most of us than the now unpopular method of avoiding the clunky "he or she" by deciding that the default "neutral" pronoun is "he" which can be perceived as a sexist choice.

Singular They

Another solution, an increasingly popular one, is to use what's known as "singular they". We use singular they in speech all the time, in formulations like "To each their own" or "Someone is singing in the corridor. If they haven't stopped in two minutes, I'm going to have to take drastic measures". If you think about your own speech, it's very likely that you use they as a singular pronoun for someone whose gender you don't know and don't want to assume.

Let's see some explanations and examples about this new option:

Also, writing can lack clarity when using demonstrative pronouns. Demonstrative pronouns substitute for things being pointed out. They include this, that, these, and those.

This and these refer to something that is "close" to the speaker, whether this closeness is physical, emotional, or temporal. That and those are the opposite: they refer to something that is "far".

• Do I actually have to read all of this by tomorrow?
  By using "this", the speaker is indicating a text that is close by.
  
  
• That dissected fish is not coming anywhere near me.
  The speaker is distancing herself from the object in question, which she doesn't want to come any closer. The far pronoun helps indicate that.
  
  
• You're telling me you guessed all of these correct answers?
  The speaker and the audience are likely looking directly at the answers in question, so the close pronoun is appropriate.
  
  
• Those paintings are all really derivative of Picasso.
  The speaker gestures toward a wider group by using the word "those".
  
  

2. Case

Some of the most common pronoun mistakes occur with the decision between "you and I" and "you and me". People will often say things like, "You and me should collaborate on this presentation". Or – thinking back on the rule that it should be "you and I" – they will say, "Dr. Brewer assigned the task to both you and I". However, both of these sentences are grammatically incorrect.

Remember that every time you use a pronoun, you need to make sure that you're using the correct case: subject, object, or possessive.

Let's take a look at the first example: "You and me should collaborate on this presentation". Both pronouns are the subject of the sentence, so they should be in subject case: "You and I should collaborate on this presentation". In the second sentence ("The instructor assigned the task to both you and I"), both pronouns are the object of the sentence, so they should be in object case: "The instructor assigned the task to both you and me".

Remember, to avoid pronoun and antecedent problems, you should take three steps:

1. Identify the antecedent.
2. Determine if the antecedent is singular or plural.
3. Make sure the antecedent and pronoun match, preferably by making both plural if possible.

Let's see some explanations and examples of the agreement required between pronouns and their antecedents:

Now that we know how to create agreement in our sentences in English, let's put our knowledge into practice.

---

Content adapted from:

Source: Gillian Paku and Lumen Learning, https://www.geneseo.edu/~baldwin/intd105/fall2019/INTD106.pdf
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Source: Confederation College Communications Department and Paterson Library Commons , https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/cs050academicwritingandgrammar/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Source: Khan Academy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9kIACViG60
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Source: Oregon State University School of Writing, Literature, and Film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCkNtwSHNHk
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Source: Prof Myhren, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-3p8QCbi6g
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.