Introduction
Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And doesn’t know where to find them;
Leave someone alone and it’ll come home,
Wagging his tails behind you.
Wait a minute . . . Something is wrong. This children’s verse has a problem besides lost sheep and a lack of rhyme: the pronouns in the last two lines are incorrect! Let’s look at all the pronouns in the poem to figure out which ones are used correctly and which ones aren’t.
In the first line, Little Bo Peep’s name doesn’t indicate gender for certain, but we know she is a girl because of the picture; the feminine pronoun her, therefore, is correct because it refers to the feminine antecedent Little Bo Peep. The noun sheep might be singular or plural. In this case, the pronoun them at the end of the second line tells us the antecedent sheep is plural. Because sheep and them agree in number, the pronouns that refer to the sheep in the last two lines must also be plural (them, they’ll, their, them). Fortunately for Miss Peep and her sheep, the nursery rhyme makes sense and is grammatically correct when those four pronouns are used.
Although they tend to get lost in the more colorful, perhaps more interesting words, pronouns are important and must be used properly in order for writing to be logical and to have a chance of being grammatically accurate. But why use pronouns at all? The answer is that pronouns replace nouns to keep our writing from getting boring and repetitive. For example, “Little Bo Peep" without pronouns (as shown in the box) is mind-numbing and monotonous. But you can’t simply use pronouns and hope for the best; you must learn how to use them properly.
Little Bo Peep has lost Little Bo Peep’s sheep
And doesn’t know where to find the sheep;
Leave the sheep alone and the sheep will come home,
Wagging the sheep’s tails behind the sheep.
Although the focus of this lesson is editing for pronoun reference and pronoun-antecedent agreement, let’s begin with a review of general information about pronouns. If you feel confident that you can recognize the different kinds of pronouns, skip the section "Types of Pronouns" and move on to the section "Pronoun Agreement" for practice in pronoun reference and pronoun-antecedent agreement. If you're not sure about your pronoun mastery, do the activity at the end of the "Types of Pronoun" section to test yourself. Mastering each of the sections in this lesson will improve the clarity, correctness, and effectiveness of your writing.
Types of Pronouns
Before you can edit for reference and agreement, you must be able to recognize pronouns. I know it looks like a ton of information, but don’t panic.
This basic review is meant to help you, not make you nervous. Just familiarize yourself with the types of pronouns and look at the examples so that you’ll feel better prepared for the sections that follow.
Personal and possessive pronouns
A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing and can be singular or plural. A possessive pronoun indicates possession or ownership, takes the place of the possessive form of a noun, and can also be singular
or plural.
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Personal Pronouns
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Possessive Pronouns
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Singular
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Plural
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Singular
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Plural
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| First person | I, me | we, us | my, mine | our, ours |
| Second person | you | you | your, yours | your, yours |
| Third person | he, him, she, her, it | they, them | his, her, hers, its | their, theirs |
You are probably fairly confident about using these particular pronouns. Be sure to notice, however, that possessive pronouns do NOT have apostrophes like possessive nouns do. And yes, the rule applies to all possessive pronouns, even the possessive word its.
- its corner instead of the box’s corner
- its stars instead of the sky’s stars
Remember: Any possessive pronoun = no apostrophe.
Notice, too, that some possessive pronouns must be used before nouns (i.e., my book, your car, his ear, our hats), but others can stand alone (i.e., The CD is mine; Greta lost hers; Theirs is on the way).
Reflexive and intensive pronouns
Reflexive pronouns and intensive pronouns are easy to recognize because they are distinctive and identical in form: -self or -selves is added to certain, but not all, personal and possessive pronouns. Both of these pronoun types can be singular or plural.
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Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
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Singular
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Plural
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| First person | myself | ourselves |
| Second person | yourself | yourselves |
| Third person | himself, herself, itself | themselves |
Hisself and theirselves do not exist.
Reflexive pronouns are generally used in two situations:
1. When the subject and object receiving the action of the verb are the same person or thing.
- I promised myself to study more.
- Speeding drivers endanger themselves and others.
2. As the object of a preposition, when the subject and the object are the same person or thing.
- Larry made a kite for himself.
- We ate dinner by ourselves.
Intensive pronouns emphasize the noun or pronoun antecedent that comes before it.
- Teresa herself painted the wall.
- They made the cake themselves.
Notice that all the third-person singular pronouns above (personal, possessive, reflexive, and intensive) express gender. He, him, his, and himself are masculine; she, her, hers, and herself are feminine; it, its, and itself are neuter (neither masculine nor feminine.)
Demonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns point out specific persons, places, things, or ideas.
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Demonstrative Pronouns
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| Singular | this, that |
| Plural | these, those |
| Singular or plural | such |
- This is the iPod I want. That is the ugliest shirt in the world. (singular, did you notice that the pronoun this seems closer in space or time than that?)
- These were left here last night. My shoes were better than those. (plural, did you notice that the pronoun these seems closer in space or time than those?)
- Such is life. (singular) Such were my dreams. (plural)
Be aware that the five words that act as demonstrative pronouns can also act as adjectives. Compare the example sentences above, in which the words are used as pronouns, to the example sentences below, in which the same words are used as adjectives.
- I don’t like this pizza. That movie was hilarious. (singular)
- These grammar books weigh about ten pounds each. Are you serious about buying those tickets? (plural)
- Such laughter is refreshing. (singular)
- He had such plans for the future. (plural)
Interrogative
Interrogative pronouns are used to form questions.
- Who is the leader? Whom will Gene ask? Whose mess is this? What are you doing? Which fish did she catch?
Relative pronouns
A relative pronoun is used to begin a subordinate clause and relates the clause to a noun or other pronoun in the main (or independent) clause.
The list of relative pronouns includes the five words that can also be interrogative pronouns (who, whom, whose, what, which) and five more (that, whoever, whomever, whichever, whatever). Even though some of these pronouns are in two categories, the example sentences show how the pronouns are used differently.
- The party, which lasted all night, was very noisy. (which begins the subordinate clause which lasted all night)
- The man who opened the door is my grandfather. (who begins the subordinate clause who opened the door)
Indefinite pronouns
Problems can arise when working with indefinite pronouns because determining their number is sometimes difficult. However, you must know if they are singular or plural in order to edit for pronoun reference and agreement. Hopefully the following information will help you to make those determinations.
Most indefinite pronouns are singular, even though every- and some- would seem to indicate more than one. Think about this: one, body, and thing are all singular, right? That’s the clue as to why the pronouns in the first three rows of the table below are singular. You’ll have to commit others to memory.
| One words | one | anyone | everyone | someone | no one |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Body words | anybody | everybody | somebody | nobody | |
| Thing words | anything | everything | something | nothing | |
| Others | each | either | neither |
A few indefinite pronouns—including both, few, many, and several—are plural.
Some indefinite pronouns (including all, any, more, most, none, and some) can be singular or plural, depending on whether the word they refer to is singular or plural.
It is necessary for you to know whether a pronoun is singular or plural in order to have it agree with its antecedent, so do some preliminary practice by dragging and dropping each pronoun into the “singular,” “plural,” or "singular or plural" box below.
Pronoun Agreement
You have looked at many pronouns, but let’s stop and consider antecedents, the words or groups of words to which pronouns refer. When locating antecedents, it’s helpful to know that they usually, but not always, come before pronouns in a sentence (ante- means before).
- After the tribe lost its land, living became even more difficult. (tribe = antecedent; its = pronoun)
In some sentences like this example, however, the antecedent is after the pronoun:
- Although he was strong, Alvin still became sick. (he = pronoun; Alvin = antecedent)
Now combine the pronoun and antecedent information to begin editing for pronoun-antecedent agreement. Here is the main rule to follow:
Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number (singular or plural); person (first, second, or third person); and gender (male, female, or neuter).
Agreement in number
Be sure singular pronouns are matched with singular antecedents and plural pronouns are matched with plural antecedents. That is fairly simple except when working with indefinite pronouns, which we will discuss further.
Agreement problem #1 – Indefinite pronouns
Sometimes antecedents may be pronouns, but the pronouns and antecedent pronouns must still agree. Agreement can be tricky when the antecedent is an indefinite pronoun because most indefinite pronouns are singular even though they appear to be plural. (Look back at the chart and explanation of indefinite pronouns on earlier screens if you need to.)
Here’s something else to keep in mind as you work with indefinite pronouns. You know the way you speak and write usually aren’t the same because speaking has less structure and fewer rules than writing. Although a sentence such as Everyone says they are smart might sound OK if you and your friends are talking, it is incorrect in writing. The indefinite pronoun Everyone is singular; the pronoun they, however, is plural, but what does they refer to? Yes, it refers to everyone, so there is not pronoun-antecedent agreement. To fix the sentence, you can do one of two things:
- Make the antecedent and verb plural to match the pronoun (People say they are smart), or
- Make the pronoun and verb singular to match the antecedent (Everyone says he or she is smart). Using he and she too much, however, can be awkward; we will address that issue in the upcoming section.
Yes, most indefinite pronouns are singular, but don’t forget the others. Check for pronoun-antecedent agreement in this sentence:
- Both of the boys fixed his own dinner.
The antecedent Both is plural, and the pronoun his is singular, so there is not agreement. One way to fix the sentence would be to make the antecedent singular:
- Each of the boys fixed his own dinner.
Stop for a moment to think about an important point: Sometimes many words, phrases, and/or clauses separate the antecedent and pronoun, but no matter how long the sentence is, the antecedent and pronoun must agree. For example, Each of the girls—no matter whether short or tall, blonde or brunette, fair or dark—hopes to have her name called as a finalist in the pageant. The antecedent is the singular indefinite pronoun Each, which agrees with the singular pronoun her.
Don’t get frustrated and become lost in all the words. Instead, systematically find a pronoun and ask yourself if it agrees in number, gender (if applicable), and person with the word to which it refers. If it does, you have pronoun-antecedent agreement; if not, you will need to change something about the sentence to make it correct.
Agreement in person
Illogical shifts in a sentence from one viewpoint (person) to another can be confusing to readers. For example, the following sentence begins in third person and shifts to second person:
- When people (third person) are interviewing for jobs, you (second person) should speak slowly and clearly.
Agreement Problem #2 – Compound antecedents
Use plural pronouns with most compound antecedents joined by and.
- Lucia waited for Dad and his students to empty their backpacks.
Special situations: Use a singular pronoun if both parts of the compound antecedent refer to the same person or thing, or when the word each or every precedes the compound antecedent.
- Every song and dance was memorable because of its uniqueness. (The word Every precedes song and dance, so the singular pronoun its is correct.)
With compound antecedents joined by or or nor, use pronouns that agree with the nearest antecedent. In this case, if one antecedent is singular and the other is plural, it is best to put the plural antecedent closer to the pronoun to avoid awkward-sounding sentences.
- Either Karol or Tanisha should take her mother home. (singular antecedent Tanisha is closer to singular pronoun her)
- Neither Jerry nor his classmates could finish their tests in time. (plural antecedent classmates is closer to plural pronoun their)
Agreement Problem #3 – Collective nouns
Collective nouns refer to groups of people or things regarded as single entities, so the pronouns used for collective nouns should be singular. Ask yourself if the group is acting together as a whole.
- The school orchestra is known for its enthusiasm.
Occasionally, however, a collective noun refers to the group as individual members, so it needs a plural pronoun. Ask yourself if the unit members are acting individually.
- The senate proudly represented their constituents.
Sometimes the singular or plural verb will give you a clue as to whether the collective noun is singular or plural. In the sentence above, is takes the singular form, which is a clue that orchestra is a singular antecedent and requires a singular pronoun.
Agreement in gender
It’s simple to catch errors in which a man is referred to as she or a woman as he, but those mistakes rarely happen. Using all masculine or all feminine pronouns when referring to antecedents such as worker or nurse, however, can be a dilemma.
Agreement Problem #4 – Gender
Most antecedents are obviously masculine, feminine, or neuter, so there is no problem matching them with appropriate gender-specific pronouns. The need for pronoun-antecedent agreement can, however, create problems with some pronoun gender designation. In the past, it was acceptable to use a masculine pronoun to refer to unspecified or mixed genders (i.e., Each doctor needs to renew his license yearly. The worker ate his lunch at the factory.) However, many people today say it is gender bias to use all masculine (or all feminine) pronouns when gender is unknown. Be aware of implied gender bias and do your best to remove it from your writing. If an antecedent is not gender-specific, use one of the following strategies to maintain pronoun-antecedent agreement but rid your paper of any hint of gender bias.
Revise the sentence to avoid the use of the pronoun altogether.
- Yearly license renewal is required of each doctor. (Instead of Each doctor is required to renew his or her license yearly.)
Make the antecedent plural so you can use a plural pronoun.
- Doctors need to renew their licenses yearly.
Use he or she, his or her, him or her, or his or hers in place of a gender-specific pronoun.
- Each doctor needs to renew his or her license yearly.
While this strategy has its place, using it too often can make writing seem wordy, dry, and artificial. Use it sparingly! In case you’re wondering, alternatives like s/he are even clumsier.
The use of singular indefinite pronouns (everyone, somebody, either, etc.) often calls for the his or her strategy, so be careful.
Pronoun Reference
Pronoun-antecedent agreement is just part of the story. Pronoun reference errors have nothing to do with number, person, and gender; instead, they occur when there is confusion about an antecedent. For good pronoun reference, you should make sure that the antecedent of a pronoun is clearly stated and that a pronoun can’t possibly refer to more than one antecedent. While agreement problems are rather specific, reference problems are more a matter of style and logic. Following these three suggestions will help you edit your writing for better pronoun reference.
Avoid ambiguous pronoun reference, which includes having too many antecedents. Look at the pronoun reference errors in these sentences. Think about how you would improve each sentence by rewording it, with or without the pronoun. One way to fix sentences like these is to substitute a noun for the pronoun. Doing that will make the pronoun reference clear, but the sentence may sound a bit repetitive.
- Although Curtis discussed the deadline with Roy, he did not have the report ready on time. (Who didn’t have the report ready? Curtis or Roy?)
- Remi took the bag out of the car and put it in the garage. (Did the car or the bag go to the garage?)
Using the Take Notes Tool, write down at least two ways to fix this sentence:
- Nathan told Ryan that he needed to buy a new car. (Does he refer to Nathan or Ryan?) When you are done, check your understanding.
Nathan told Ryan that Ryan needed to buy a new car. (replaced pronoun with a noun, as mentioned in the paragraph above the sentences)
Nathan suggested that Ryan buy a new car. (reworded without pronoun)
Nathan told Ryan, “You need to buy a new car.” (made into a quote without pronoun)
Nathan asked Ryan if he was going to buy a new car. (reworded but kept the pronoun)
CloseNever use the vague pronouns this, that, which, and it without a clearly stated noun or pronoun antecedent. When you’re editing your work for vague pronoun reference, be sure that each time you used one of these four pronouns, you have been clear about what you mean the pronoun to stand for.
- Although the actor was wealthy, he didn’t use it well. (no clear antecedent for it)
- Gayle thought she could get away with not bathing. That was her downfall. (no clear antecedent for That)
Using the Take Notes Tool write down two possible ways to fix this sentence:
- I didn’t go to the July 4th parade, which was unpatriotic. (no clear antecedent for which)
I was unpatriotic because I didn’t go to the July 4th parade. (no pronoun so don’t need antecedent)
I did not attend the July 4th parade. My laziness was unpatriotic. (replaced pronoun with a noun)
Be careful using you and they as indefinite pronouns because such improper use results in reference problems. In that situation, no clear antecedent can be found. (By the way, when we use the second-person pronoun you in these lessons, we are using the word correctly because we actually are addressing YOU, the student who is reading the lesson.)
- At the ticket office, they said the concert was sold out. (no antecedent for they)
- You have to be a magician to figure out how to get an A in calculus. (no antecedent for You)
Using the Take Notes Tool write down one possible way to fix each sentence above.
The lady in the ticket office said the concert was sold out. (no pronoun so no antecedent)
A student has to be a magician to figure out how to get an A in calculus. (no pronoun so no antecedent)
Other Common Pronoun Usage Problems
Does using “who” and “whom” confuse you? Does your English teacher roll her eyes when you don’t use these pronouns properly? It’s really easy when you think about it this way: in a sentence, who operates like he and whom operates like him. To correctly choose between who and whom, think about choosing between he or him.
Who is staying at home tonight? (he works, so the correct choice is who)
She’s throwing the party for whom? (him works, so the correct choice is whom)
Has someone ever said to you, “Just between you and I, that man looks familiar”?
Something is said to be between you and me, NOT between you and I. So just between you and me, this brief section is finished!
For some fun with antecedents and pronouns, watch this classic Abbott and Costello routine, “Who’s on first?”
Test Your Understanding
The following short, two-part test will give you a good idea of how well you understand pronoun-antecedent agreement.
The first five sentences prove that everyone makes mistakes! The incorrect versions of these sentences were taken straight from current programs and commercials on national TV and radio.
Click on the pronoun that agrees with the antecedent in each sentence.
For the last part of test, select the appropriate pronoun from the drop-down menu to complete each sentence correctly. The passage is taken from Hound of the Baskervilles, a Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Resources
Resources Used in this Lesson: Bibliography
Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir. The Hound of the Baskervilles. Project Gutenberg.
Harris, Theodore L., and Richard E. Hodges, eds. The Literacy Dictionary: The Vocabulary of Reading and
Writing. Newark, DE: International Reading Assn., 1995.