Understand the problem.

1 1 RULES FOR FINDING AND FIXING PRONOUN AGREEMENT ERRORS Understand the problem . Whenever you use a personal pronoun like she, it, or they, you first have to have an antecedent, the word that the pronoun is replacing. Read this sentence: G u s t a v o s l o w e d t o t h e s p e e d l i m i t w h e n he s a w t h e p o l i c e c r u i s e r i n t h e r e a r v i e w m i r r o r . The pronoun he replaces Gustavo. Pronouns like he will keep you from repeating Gustavo, Gustavo, Gustavo over and over again.

2 The pronoun must agree with its antecedent. To navigate this agreement successfully, you will need to know these singular and plural pronoun forms: SI N G U L A R PL U R A L he, she, it him, her, it his, her, hers, its himself, herself, itself they them their, theirs themselves The general rule for pronoun agreement is straightforward: A singular antecedent requires a singular pronoun; a plural antecedent needs a plural pronoun. Read these examples: T h e b o y s c r a t c h e d h i s a r m p i t . T h e b o y s s c r a t c h e d t h e i r a r m p i t s.

3 2 In most cases, you won't need to debate whether you need the 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 tricky situations. English unfortunately includes some special agreement situations. These will require your more careful attention. KN O W H O W E A C H A N D E V E R Y C A N C OM P L I C A T E P R O N O U N A G RE E M E N T. 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.

4 Read these examples: T h e w o o d p e c k e r a n d h i s m a t e t r i e d t h eir b e s t t o o u s t t h e s q u i r r e l w h o h a d s t o l e n t h e i r n e s t . R o n a l d w a n t e d t h e a t t e n t i o n o f t h e c h e e r l e a d e r a n d t h e b a t o n t w i r l e r , b u t h e c o u l d n o t m a k e t h e m l o o k h i s w a y . The plural pronouns their and them are logical and ear-pleasing choices for woodpecker + mate and cheerleader + baton twirler, respectively.

5 Two words, however, have incredible sentence power. Each and every are singular and can strong-arm an otherwise plural antecedent to become singular as well. Watch what happens: T h e c o w b o y a n d h i s h o r s e dr a n k t h e i r f i l l a t t h e d e s e r t o a s i s . E a c h c o w b o y a n d h o r s e d r a n k h i s f i l l a t t h e d e s e r t o a s i s . E v e r y c o w b o y , h o r s e , p a c k m u l e , t r a i l h a n d , a n d c o o k d r a n k h i s f i l l a t t h e d e s e r t o a s i s.

6 Each and every will also change the verbs that have to agree: W h e n e v e r a d i n e r w a l k s i n f i v e m i n u t e s b e f o r e c l o s i n g , t h e c o o k a n d w a i t r e s s s i g h a n d r o l l t h e i r e y e s . 3 W h e n e v e r a d i n e r w a l k s i n f i v e m i n u t e s b e f o r e c l o s i n g , e v e r y c o o k a n d w a i t r e s s s i g h s a n d r o l l s h e r e y e s . UN D E R S T A N D H O W C O R R E L A T I V E C O N J U N C TI O N S C A N C O N F U S E P R O N O UN A G R E E M E N T.

7 Exercise caution when you use correlative conjunctions like either .. or, neither .. nor, and not only .. but also. Because correlative conjunctions have two parts, you'll find two separate antecedents. Read these examples: N o t o n l y t h e h a n d p i c k e d f l o w e r s b u t a l s o t h e h o m e m a d e p e a n u t b u t t e r p i e w i l l w i n B r i a n a ' s h e a r t w i t h i t s t h o u g h t f u l n e s s . N o t o n l y t h e h o m e m a d e p e a n u t b u t t e r p i e b u t a l s o t h e h a n d p i c k e d f l o w e r s w i l l w i n B r i a n a ' s h e a r t w i t h t h e i r t h o u g h t f u l n e s s.

8 Notice that you have two antecedents, the homemade peanut butter pie and the handpicked flowers. Use the closer of the two antecedents to determine if you need a singular or plural pronoun. RE C O G N I Z E T H E P R O B L E MS T H A T S I N G U L A R I N D E F I N I T E P R O N O U N S C A N CAUSE. Indefinite pronouns, a special class of words, will often be antecedents. Some indefinite pronouns despite the illogic are always singular: SI N G U L A R IN D E F I N I T E PR O N O U N S each, either, neither anybody, anyone, anything everybody, everyone, everything nobody, no one, nothing somebody, someone, something When people talk, logic wins, so you will hear plural pronouns with these words.

9 But when you write, words like everyone, somebody, and nothing are singular and require a singular pronoun for agreement. 4 E v e r y o n e o n t h e p l a n e t d e s e r v e s c l e a n w a t e r t o q u e n c h t h e i r h i s t h i r s t . C a n y o u b e l i e v e i t ? S o m e b o d y l e f t t h e i r h e r d o g i n a h o t c a r w i t h t h e w i n d o w s r o l l e d u p ! N o t h i n g i s i n t h e i r i t s p l a c e a f t e r t h e v i o l e n t s h a k i n g f r o m t h e e a r t h q u a k e.

10 Because this group of indefinite pronouns is singular, your choice of singular pronoun might strike some people as sexist. If, for example, you say, E v e r y b o d y s h o u l d t a k e h i s s e a t . then the females present might take offense that you have excluded them. Or if you say, N o o n e n e e d s h e r m o n e y b e c a u s e t h e f o o d i s f r e e . then the males might wonder why they have to pay. One solution is to include both genders with constructions like he or she, him or her, his or hers, or him or herself.