CC.1.4.8.F CC.1.4.8.L CC.1.4.8.R ELA.8.C.3.1 8.L.2.S 8.10.D

PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT

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:

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 singular or plural 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:

⚜ 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 compound subject 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:

⚜ TIP #5: Collective noun antecedents are usually singular, but can sometimes be plural.

Example:

⚜ TIP #6: Titles and names of works, organizations, and countries agree with singular pronoun referents.

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.

Example:

❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋

Go to the next page to practice working with correct pronoun-antecedent agreement.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Florida - Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking: ELA.8.C.3.1

Follow the rules of standard English grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling appropriate to grade level.

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