Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. The antecedent of a pronoun is the word to which the pronoun refers. The pronoun and its antecedent agree in gender and number. Jane called her friend.
Jane and her are both singular and feminine.
John called his friend.
John and his are both singular and masculine.
The girls finished their job. The plural pronoun agrees with the plural antecedent.
The boys finished their job. The plural pronoun agrees with the plural antecedent.
The pronoun is masculine (he, his, him) when the antecedent is masculine, and feminine (she,
her, hers) when the antecedent is feminine, and neutral (it, its) when the antecedent has no
gender association.
A plural pronoun should be used with a compound antecedent joined by and. Mary and Bill ran until they were exhausted.
A singular pronoun is used to refer to two or more singular antecedents joined by or or nor. A plural pronoun is used with two or more plural antecedents joined by or or nor. Ben or Tom will give his presentation today.
Either the juniors or the seniors are singing their class song.
When a singular antecedent and a plural antecedent are joined by or or nor, use a pronoun that agrees with the nearer antecedent. The boy or his parents will present their idea.
The parents or the boy will present his idea.
Use a singular pronoun when a collective noun refers to a group as a single unit. Use a plural pronoun when the collective noun refers to a group's members as individuals. The class decided it wanted to do the project.
The class stayed in their desks.
