Pronouns and antecedents

1. Pronouns and
Agreement

2. Pronouns and
Antecedents

3. Pronoun A word used to replace a previously
mentioned or known noun.

4. Antecedent The original noun replaced by the
pronoun.

5. •Kate was tired so she went to bed.
•Michael took the children with him.
•Kieran’s face was close to mine.
•That is a good idea.
•Anything might happen.
Antecedent
Pronoun

6. Problem 1: Missing / Faraway Antecedents
Breathe in through
your nose, hold it for
a few seconds, then
breathe out through
your mouth.
(Does it refer to the
nose or to the
breath?)
Cathy was surprised
she had been voted
president by her
classmates who
never had much self-
confidence.
(Does who refer to
the classmates or to
Cathy?)

7. Problem 2: Anticipatory Antecedents
If it is available, be
sure to order the
champagne.
Mr. Hytner is a
director with a
vision; whether you
agree with them or
not, he makes his
points with boldness
and panache.
In both cases, the reader has to finish the sentence to understand what it or
them refers to: this is confusing for readers.

8. Problem 3: Ambiguous Antecedents
Lizzy told her
mother that her
sweater had a
hole in it.
(Does her refer to
Lizzy or her
mother?)
Sarah and Shawna
went to the store,
but she could not
find what she was
looking for.
(Does she refer to
Sarah or
Shawna?)

9. Subject-Verb
Agreement

10. Verb
Action verb
Mel kicked the ball.
Linking verb
Mel is a soccer player.

11. Subject
Every verb has a subject.
• Subject = who/what did the verb.
• Mel kicked the ball.
Action verb
• Subject = who/what is being described.
• Mel is a soccer player.
Linking verb

12. Agreement
Singular subjects  singular verb form
The child kicks the ball.
Plural subjects  plural verb form
The children kick the ball.

13. Compound Subjects +
And
• Subject + and + subject
plural verb
• Jack and Jill play soccer.

14. Compound Subject + Or/Nor
• Singular subject + or/nor + singular subject  singular verb
• Neither Jack nor Jill plays soccer.
• Plural subject + or/nor + singular subject  singular verb
• Neither the boys nor Jill plays soccer.
• Singular subject + or/nor + plural subject  plural verb
• Neither Jill nor the boys play soccer.

15. Watch out for phrases between a subject and verb
The woman with all the dogs walks down my street.
Subject Phrase (describes subject) Verb

16. Collective Nouns
• Many individual elements
treated as a single entity.
• Take a singular verb.
• The team runs during practice.

17. In there
is/there are
sentences,
the subject
follows the
verb.
There are many questions.
There is a question.

18. Trick Words
The following words may look plural, but they’re
singular.
• Each (one)
• Either, neither
• Everyone, anyone, someone, no one
• Everybody, anybody, nobody, somebody