One thing constantly overlooked is pronoun antecedent agreement. This describes exactly what it is and how you should avoid that mistake in your writing.
2. What is a pronoun?
• The part of speech that
can take the place of a
noun in a sentence and
function as a noun.
• Jake is a good athlete. He
excels at football, soccer,
and baseball.
3. What is an antecedent?
• The word, phrase, or clause
referred to by a pronoun.
• If a pronoun does not refer
clearly to the word it substitutes
for (its antecedent), readers will
have difficulty grasping the
pronoun’s meaning.
• Jake is a good athlete, and he
excels at football, soccer, and
baseball.
5. Single Antecedent
• Emily Dickinson is sometimes
compared with Jane Austen,
but she was quite different.
Clear Revisions:
• Emily Dickinson is sometimes
compared with Jane Austen,
but Dickinson was quite
different.
• Despite occasional
comparison, Emily Dickinson
and Jane Austen were quite
different.
6. Close Antecedent
• Jody found a dress in the attic
that her aunt had worn.
Clear Revisions:
• In the attic Jody found a dress
that her aunt had worn.
7. Pronoun Antecedent Agreement
• Homeowners fret over their tax
bills.
• For clarity, a pronoun should
always agree with its
antecedent in person (first,
second, third), number
(singular, plural), and gender
(masculine, feminine, neuter).
8. Pronoun Antecedent Agreement
• The instructor and the sergeant
have offered their help.
• Note: When each or every
precedes the compound
antecedent, the pronoun is
singular.
• Every boy and man took his
seat.
9. Pronoun Antecedent Agreement
• Everyone on the women’s team
now has her own locker.
• Each of the men has his own
locker.
10. Pronoun Antecedent Agreement
• Each athlete is entitled to his
own locker.
• All athletes are entitled to their
own lockers.
Or
• Each athlete is entitled to a
locker.
11. Where’s the problem?
• A reader may often not like
Faulkner’s “Barn Burning”
because the story confuses
them.
• Readers may often not like
Faulkner’s “Barn Burning”
because the story confuses
them.
12. Where’s the problem?
• An author’s cultural
background can play a large
part in their writing.
• An author’s cultural
background can play a large
part in her writing.
13. Take a look at this…
• Tan planned this trip, so she could
learn more about her mother,
such as where she had lived and
see her daughters she had left
behind.
• Tan planned this trip, so she could
learn more about her mother,
such as where she had lived and
see the daughters that she had
left behind.
