Pronouns stand in for or take the place of nouns. They often refer to nouns mentioned earlier or elsewhere in a sentence or passage. These nouns are called antecedents. Just like subjects must agree with their verbs, pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number.
Jeremy gave his sister a gift that he had picked out by himself.
Tips for Ensuring Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
⚜ TIP #1: Don't be confused by intervening prepositional phrases.
If a pronoun's antecedent is the subject of a clause or sentence, the antecedent will not be a noun in a prepositional phrase. These nouns cannot be the subjects of clauses or sentences.
Example:
⚜ TIP #2: Know how to handle indefinite pronoun antecedents.
Some indefinite pronouns are always singular and should always agree with singular pronoun referents.
Singular Indefinite Pronouns
Each
Everyone
Either
Someone
Neither
Anyone
One
Nobody
No one
Somebody
Everybody
Anybody
Example:
Example:
Some indefinite pronouns are always plural and should always agree with plural pronoun referents.
Plural Indefinite Pronouns
Both
Several
Few
Many
Example:
Some indefinite pronouns can be either singularorplural depending on the context. A prepositional phrase following the indefinite pronoun may provide the context.
Singular or Plural Indefinite Pronouns
Some
Any
None
All
Most
Example:
Example:
⚜ TIP #3: Don't be confused by non-count nouns that sound plural.
Even if they end in -s, non-count nouns agree with singular pronoun referents.
Example:
⚜ TIP #4: Know how to handle compoundsubject antecedents.
Compound subjects joined by "and" agree with plural pronoun referents.
Example:
Compound subjects joined by "or" or "nor" have pronoun referents that agree with the antecedent closest to them.
Example:
Example:
⚜ TIP #5: Collective noun antecedents are usuallysingular, but can sometimes be plural.
Example:
Example:
⚜ TIP #6: Titles and names of works, organizations, and countries agree with singular pronoun referents.
Example:
Example:
⚜ TIP #7: The word "every" before a noun or nouns denotes a singular antecedent.
Example:
⚜ TIP #8: Know how to handle the antecedent "number."
When the words "The number of" precede a noun, the pronoun referent is singular.
Example:
When the words "A number of" precede a noun, the pronoun referent is plural.