AGREEMENT = NUMBER

• Pronoun Agreement = Subject-Verb 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 Agreement.

  • 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

• A) 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.

• B) 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.

• C) 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.

• D) INDEFINITE PRONOUNS:

  • most Indefinite Pronouns are considered SINGULAR - so

    • use singular pronouns to refer to the indefinite pronouns “each” or “every”

    • use singular verbs to agree with most indefinite pronouns

    • use plural verbs to agree with the 4 plural indefinite pronouns

    • typically, we ignore Prepositional Phrases when it comes to agreement,

      • but in 6 cases, refer to the Object of the Preposition

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

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

  •  see below

• HINT: 

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