Pronoun/Antacendent
Agreement
Rules, Rules, Rules!
Singular Antacendent
• Singular antecedents take
singular pronouns.
Plural Antecedent
• Plural antecedents take plural
pronouns.
Compound Antecedents
“AND”
• A compound antecedent
whose parts are joined by
“and” always requires a
plural pronoun.
Compound Antecedent
“OR / NOR”
• When the parts of a compound
antecedent are joined by or or
nor, the pronoun should agree
with the antecedent closest
to it.
3 Categories for
Indefinite Pronoun Antecedents
• ALWAYS SINGULAR
• ALWAYS PLURAL
• GOES BOTH WAYS
Always Singular
• Singular indefinite pronouns
always take a singular verb
Use
Singular Verb
•
•
•
•
•
•
someone
anyone
everyone
no one
Each
Neither
somebody
anybody
everybody
nobody
Another
One
something
anything
everything
nothing
Much
Use Plural Verb
• Both
• Few
• Many
• Several
Go both Singular and Plural
• All
• Any
• More
• Most
• None
• Some
Go Both Ways
• For indefinite pronouns that can
be either singular or plural
• Look at what it is referring to in
the sentence.
• IF it is referring to one person
or thing, go singular
• IF it is referring to two or more
people or things, go plural