REFER TO = INDICATE

• Pronoun Reference = Subject-Verb & Pronoun Agreement:

  • Rule #1 still applies

    • Singular goes with Singular

    • Plural goes with Plural

• The Trifecta:

  • In the end, subjects, verbs, and pronouns should agree -

    • singular Subject, singular Verb, and singular Pronoun

    • plural Subject, plural Verb, and plural Pronoun

• *SO WHAT?!:

  • Since you have but one chance to communicate clearly and unequivocally your ideas to the reader, you must construct sentences with proper Pronoun Reference.

  • The alternative quite often leads to confusion (and a poor grade!).

• Pronouns substitute or replace nouns.

  • rather than repeating the noun

• Pronouns come in various types:

  • personal

  • possessive

  • demonstrative

  • indefinite

  • relative

  • reflexive

  • interrogative

  • reciprocal

• Pronouns come in 3 main forms:

  • subject

  • object

  • possessive

• CONSISTENCY:  be consistent throughout essay

  • match in terms of GENDER

    • Maria has brought her guitar to class.

  • match in terms of NUMBER

    • (singular noun with singular pronoun, plural with plural)

    • The drama students go to the Green Room to rehearse before their first performance.

• AND:

  • if AND joins the two nouns, the pronoun must be plural

  • subject can be replaced with “they” because there is no choice; both are referred to

  • Shakira and Shaquika practice their dance moves.

  • They practice their dance moves.

• EITHER/OR:

  • the noun antecedent nearest the pronoun will decide if the pronoun is singular or plural

  • here, there is a choice; both are not referred to; only the antecedent nearest the pronoun matters grammatically

  • Either the Piccarelli siblings or Juan has removed his car from the driveway.

  • Either Juan or the Piccarelli siblings have removed their car from the driveway.

• INDEFINITE PRONOUNS:

  • most Indefinite Pronouns are considered SINGULAR

    • and thus take singular Verbs and Pronoun Referents

  • 4 Indefinite Pronouns are considered PLURAL

    • and thus take plural Verbs and Pronoun Referents

  • 6 Indefinite Pronouns take either singular or plural verbs and pronoun referents,

    • depending on the Object of the Preposition

    • if the OP is singular, then the Verb and Pronoun Referent are singular

    • if the OP is plural, then the Verb and Pronoun Referent are plural

• Every vehicle without a parking sticker has received a ticket on its windshield.

• Several students have forgotten their assignments.

• Everyone wants success, but only some of us are willing to work for theirs.

• Each of the women on the cross country team runs well in her new shoes.

• Everybody has a place that he/she likes to visit often.

  • (*generalizations like this frequently begin your essays—so get it right*)

• Some of the moldy bread is still in its wrapper.

• Some of the men have begun to grow their playoff beards.

• Several, fearing the amount of required work, sprint to the Registrar’s Office immediately following their first class with Dr. Housenick.

• HINT:  

  • a hint to the singular nature of most of these pronouns = "body" and "one"

• COLLECTIVE NOUNS:

  • collective nouns

    • such as audience, class, army, jury, family, team, and herd

  • usually take the SINGULAR verb (is/was) and SINGULAR pronoun (its)

    • because they usually are functioning as a single unit

  • however, when the members of these groups act separately or individually, then such collective nouns are PLURAL

  • HINT: 

    • if the word "individual" (or its adverb form with an -ly) fits into the sentence,

    • then the sense is PLURAL:  the verb (are/were) and pronoun (their) are plural

  • SIMPLE SOLUTION:

    • when we write, most of us automatically put in the sense we intend

    • for example:

      • The individual members of the jury took their seats.

      • The individual soldiers fired their guns.

      • The committee members submitted their ballots.

• COMPARING with PRONOUNS:

• remember to spell “thAn” correctly (“thEn” is an adverb)

• use the subjective form of the pronoun

  • when we speak comparisons, we often abbreviate the sentence, dropping the verb:

    • Jennifer believes she is smarter than she/her.

    • Rob can dance better than she/her.

  • to determine the proper pronoun choice, add the verb at the end of the sentence:

    • Jennifer believes she is smarter than she/her is.

    • Rob can dance better than she/her can dance.

• PRONOUNS referring to POSSESSIVE NOUNS and OBJECTS OF PREPOSITION:

  • pronouns cannot refer back to a Possessive Noun AND

  • pronouns cannot refer back to nouns functioning as Objects of a Preposition:

    • In Thomas Harris’ recent novel, he discusses the childhood of Hannibal Lecter.

  • SIMPLE SOLUTION:

    • make the noun the subject of the sentence:

    • Thomas Harris discusses the childhood of Hannibal Lecter in his recent novel.