Pro Agree 2

8/4/2019 Pro Agree 2

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Pronoun Agreement

Rules


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Rule 1: Know the general

rule governing pronounagreement.

A pronoun must agree with its antecedentin person and in number

The antecedentis the noun[or other pronoun]being replaced.


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Here are two examples:

The lizardlickeditseyeball.

The lizardslicked

theireyeballs.

Lizard= singular antecedentits= singular pronoun

Lizards= plural antecedenttheir= plural pronoun


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Know the difference between

these singularand pluralpronouns.

S i n g u l a r He, she, it

Him, her, it

His, hers, its

Himself, herself,itself

P l u r a l They

Them

Their, theirs Themselves


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Do not

confuse itswith its.

Its [with an apostrophe] means it isor it has. Its[without an apostrophe] means belonging to it

for example, itsbowl, itssharp teeth, itslong claws,

etc. Possessive pronounsunlikepossessive nounsdo

notneed an apostrophe with the final s.


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Two [or more] singular things joined by andbecome

apluralantecedent.

Rule 2, Part 1: The conjunction andcan causeproblems with pronoun agreement.

The new puppy andkitten have destroyed their

owners sofa.

R l 2 P 2 Wh h


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Rule 2, Part 2: When eachoreveryprecedes two [or more]

singular things joined by and,a singularantecedent is

formed.

Eachnew puppy andkitten destroys itsowners sofa.


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In this situation, no matter how manysingular

nouns you join with and, the antecedent isstillsingular.

Eachnew puppy, kitten, rabbit, tarantula,python, parrot, iguana, andferret destroys itsowners sofa.


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Rule 3: Use caution with these threeconjunctions: either or, neither nor, and not

only but also.

Of the twoantecedents in the

sentence, the pronounmust agree with the

closerone.


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Here are two examples:

+ =

Not only Louise but also the fixed

famous squid eyeball stew for the picnic.

Not only the Smiths but also fixedfamous squid eyeball stew for the picnic.


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Indefinite pronounscause

the biggest headaches forpronoun agreement.


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Rule 4, Part 1: These indefinite

pronounsare always singular[even when they seemplural]. Each, either, neither

Anyone, anybody, anything Everyone, everybody,

everything No one, nobody, nothing

Someone, somebody,


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Everyoneon Earth = more thanone personbillionsof people,in fact.

The word everyone, however, is still singularand requires a

singular pronounfor agreement.


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Neitherof my two brothers showsmuch sensewhen he buysgadgets. [Neither= singular.]

Neither of my two brothers show much sensewhen they buy gadgets.

This sentence might soundright, but it is completely

wrong!

Read this example:


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Rule 4, Part 2: When fixing an

agreement error, try to avoidsexist languagethat mightoffendyour readers.

The sentence below soundsnatural but has an error.

Someone left theirlights on.


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A writer who begins with he or

sheor him or herwill need to beconsistent throughout the paper.

Look what happens ...


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Oh, thehorror!

September 2011

Student Success

If a student wants to improve his or her grades, he or she

should walk himself or herself over to the tutoring center. There,

he or she can request a tutor to help him or her with his or herhomework. This preparation for his or her class will ensure that

he or she is ready when taking his or her quizzes and exams. In

addition, the tutor might have old work to share. This way, the

student can find out himself/herself what to expect on the

assignments for a specific instructor that might change his/her

assignments rarely. Thus, the one thing that will insure the success

of a student is that he or she gets a tutor to help him or her.


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In the 21st century, fix the error

withoutthe annoying repetition.

Theres a

car withitslights on.

Thankfully,

my wheelsdont have

thatproblem.


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Rule 4, Part 3: Some indefinite

pronouns are singular or plural,depending on context.

All

Any

None*

More Most

Some

Allof Beverlys hairgets itscolor from abottle.

Allof Beverlysfingernails get theircolor from a bottle.


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Some groupsof people, like ajury, also cause pronounagreement problems.


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Rule 5: Collective nounsare

singular or plural, dependingon context.

Collective nouns are groups of people: team,jury, class, committee, army, family, etc.

If all members are acting in unison, treat thecollective noun as singularand use a singular

pronoun. If, however, all members are acting individually,

treat the noun aspluraland use apluralpronoun.


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Read these examples:

The team celebrated itsvictory.

The team changed intotheirstreet clothes andwent home happy.


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When you cannot decideif the

collective noun is singular or plural,

insert aplural nounafter the

collective noun, like this:

The team membersran out onto the fieldto meet their opponent.


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Rule 6: Companies, organizations, and schoolsare singularand thus require singularpronouns.

One urban legend is that McDonalds makes itshamburgers with kangaroo meat.

The De Beers Consortium uses the considerablepower it has to control the price of diamonds allover the world.

Next year,Holy Angel University will try to solveits parking woes by requiring students to buy aPhp 500 parking decal.


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The End.

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