Rules for Finding and Fixing Pronoun Agreement Errors

Understanding the Problem

Whenever you use a personal pronoun like she, they, or it, you first have to have an antecedent, the word the pronoun is replacing.

Read this sentence:

• Gustavo lowered the heat when he realized the conference room was getting too warm.

The pronoun he replaces Gustavo. Pronouns like he will keep you from repeating Gustavo, Gustavo, Gustavo over and over again.

The pronoun must agree with its antecedent. To use this agreement correctly, you will have to know these singular and plural forms:

The general rule for pronoun agreement is straightforward: A single antecedent requires a singular pronoun; a plural antecedent needs a plural pronoun.

Read these examples:

• The boy played his video games after school.
• The boys played their video games after school.

In most cases, you will not need to question whether you need a singular or plural form. The spoken English you have heard will help you make the right pronoun choice when you write.

Use the Correct Pronoun in Special Situations

English unfortunately includes some special agreement situations. These will require your more careful attention.

Know How Each and Every Can Complicate Pronoun Agreement.

In math, 1 + 1 = 2. This rule applies to pronoun agreement as well. If you have 1 singular noun + 1 singular noun, then together they = 2 things or a plural antecedent.

Read these examples:

• The teacher and her assistant tried their best to create interesting and informative lessons.
• Ronald wanted the attention of the coach and the trainer, but he could not make them look his way.

The plural pronouns their and them are logical and ear-pleasing choices for teacher + assistant and coach + trainer in the two examples.

Two words, however, have incredible sentence power. Each and every are singular and can force an otherwise plural antecedent to become singular as well.

Watch what happens:

• The gymnast and her buddy drank their fill of milk at the school cafeteria.
• Each gymnast and buddy drank her fill of milk at the school cafeteria.
• Every gymnast, buddy, trainer and scorekeeper drank her fill of milk at the school cafeteria.

Each and every will also change the verbs that have to agree:

• Whenever a student walks into class late, the teacher and paraprofessional sigh and shake their heads.
• Whenever a student walks into class late, every teacher and paraprofessional sighs and shakes his head.

Understand How Correlative Conjunctions Can Confuse Pronoun Agreement.

Be careful when you use correlative conjunctions like either…or, neither…nor, and not only…but also. Because conjunctions have two parts, you will find two separate antecedents.

Read these examples:

• Not only the handpicked flowers but also the homemade sweet potato pie will win Briana’s heart because of its thoughtfulness.
• Not only the homemade sweet potato pie but also the handpicked flowers will win Briana’s heart with their thoughtfulness.
  (NOTICE that you have two antecedents, the homemade sweet potato pie and the handpicked flowers. Use the closer of the two antecedents to determine if you need a singular or plural pronoun.)
• Not only the handpicked flowers but also the homemade sweet potato pie (singular noun) will win Briana’s heart because of its (singular pronoun) thoughtfulness.
• Not only the homemade sweet potato pie but also the handpicked flowers (plural noun) will win Briana’s heart with their (plural pronoun) thoughtfulness.

Recognize the Problems that Singular Indefinite Pronouns can Cause

Indefinite pronouns, a special class of words, will often be antecedents. Some indefinite pronouns, despite the illogic, are always singular.

When people talk, logic wins, so you will hear plural pronouns with these words. But when you write, words like everybody, somebody and nothing are singular and require a singular pronoun for agreement.

• Incorrect: Everyone on the planet deserves clean water to quench their thirst.
• Correct: Everyone on the planet deserves clean water to quench her thirst.

• Incorrect: Can you believe it? Somebody left their dog in a hot car with the windows rolled up!
• Correct: Can you believe it? Somebody left his dog in a hot car with the windows rolled up!

Because this group of indefinite pronouns is singular, your choice of a singular pronoun might have some people think you are being sexist. If, for example, you say,

• Everybody should take his seat before the start of the meeting.

then the women present might be offended that you excluded them. Or, if you say,

• No one needs her money because the food is free.

then the men in the group might wonder why they have to pay.

A solution is to include both genders with constructions like he or she, her or him, his or hers or herself or himself.

While these constructions are grammatically correct, they are also clumsy and can interpret the flow of words in a sentence or paragraph. Another solution is to simply omit the pronoun. Watch:

• Everybody should take his seat before the start of the meeting.
• Everybody should take a seat before the start of the meeting.

• No one needs her money because the food is free.
• No one needs money because the food is free.

Realize that Not All Indefinite Pronouns are Strictly Singular

Another group of indefinite pronouns are singular or plural depending on the information from the prepositional phrase that follows.

Read these examples:

• Some of this footwear is wet because Tina wears it in the rain.
• Some of these shoes are wet because Tina wears them in the rain

In the first sentence, footwear makes some singular, so it is the pronoun that agrees. In the second sentence, shoes, a plural noun, has all the power. Some becomes plural too, and them is the appropriate pronoun for agreement.

Know How to Handle Pronoun Agreement with Collective Nouns

Collective nouns name groups (things) composed of members (usually people). Here are examples:

When the members of the group act in unison (everyone doing essentially the same thing at the same time), then the collective noun is singular and requires singular pronouns for agreement.

Read these examples:

• The family is at the table, ready for its dinner.
• The jury was very serious about its civic responsibility.
• The committee decided to spend its budget on extra classroom supplies.
• The team agreed to host a car wash to raise money for its uniforms.

When, however, the members of the group act as individuals – each person taking on separate responsibilities or actions – then the collective noun is plural and requires plural pronouns for agreement.

• When grandpa begins telling his old-time stories, the family quickly make plans for their day.
• At the car wash, the team took their places so that each vehicle got vacuumed, washed and dried.
• The committee disagree if they should offer additional compensation to the injured staff member.

If deciding whether the collective noun is singular or plural is confusing, there are a couple of options.

First, substitute a regular plural noun for the collective noun. Then, use a natural-sounding plural pronoun.

• The team football players (or athletes or teammates) earned 5000 dollars for their trip.

A second option is to add the word members after the collective noun. Members is a plural antecedent and requires a plural pronoun.

• The committee members were pleased that they were able to spend their surplus funds on food for
  needy families.

Unlike Collective Nouns, Named Businesses, Schools and Organizations are Always Singular

Many people comprise a business, school or organization. For the purposes of pronoun agreement, however, consider these three groups singular and use it, its or itself to maintain agreement.

• To increase its sales, Taco Bell offers its customers daily specials.
• Roosevelt High School encourages its students to order healthy salads at lunchtime.
• The Red Cross is proud that it offers help around the world.
• The Salvation Army is proud of itself for the services it provides to local communities.