Pronoun Antecedent Agreement: Definition, Rules, Examples

Much like how subjects and verbs ought to agree in a sentence, pronouns and their antecedents too must be in agreement for a sentence to be grammatically sound. In fact, there are several rules governing pronoun and antecedent agreement that must be followed while writing.

This article explains pronoun antecedent agreement and provides a complete list of the rules to be followed with relevant examples.

What is Pronoun Antecedent Agreement?

Pronoun antecedent agreement means ensuring that the pronoun in a sentence agrees with its antecedent in number. This means that either both must be singular or both must be plural.

To understand pronoun antecedent agreement better, it is helpful to review what pronouns and antecedents are.

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a previously mentioned noun in a sentence. It is used to avoid recurring mentions of the noun for brevity and clarity.

The noun being substituted by the pronoun is known as the antecedent. Ante means before, so the antecedent usually occurs before the pronoun. The antecedent in a sentence can also be another pronoun – in which case the pronoun following it is called the referent.

Here is an example to illustrate:

• Jacob said Jacob’s parents will be coming to town this weekend.

The repeated use of the noun Jacob in the sentence above is leading to awkward sentence construction. So, to avoid repetition, the second occurrence of the noun can be replaced with a suitable pronoun as follows:

• Jacob said his parents will be coming to town this weekend.

Here, Jacob is the antecedent, while his is the pronoun substituting it, or the referent.

The above example also clearly illustrates pronoun antecedent agreement where the antecedent Jacob (which is singular) agrees with the pronoun his (which is also singular).

However, there are several instances in the English language where ensuring pronoun antecedent agreement is not as simple. Such anomalies are explained by the many rules for pronoun antecedent agreement. These rules also find close links to the rules for subject verb agreement.

Here are some commonly used singular and plural pronoun forms that are useful to know before getting into the pronoun and antecedent agreement rules.

Rules of Pronoun Antecedent Agreement with Examples

1. Pronouns and their antecedents must agree in number.

This fundamental rule of pronoun and antecedent agreement means that a singular pronoun must replace a singular antecedent, while a plural pronoun must replace a plural antecedent. And the first step to verify the rule in a sentence is to identify the antecedent and then verify if the pronoun chosen agrees with it.

Here is an example:

• Olivia finished her assignment on time.

The antecedent here is the singular noun Olivia. Thus, the appropriate singular pronoun that must be used to agree with it is her.

Another example:

• The students finished their assignments on time

The plural noun students is the antecedent here. Therefore, the pronoun that must be used to agree with it is the plural pronoun their.

2. Two or more antecedents linked with the coordinating conjunction and function as a plural antecedent and hence take a plural pronoun.

For example:

• Riley and Raymond shared their Christmas plans with everyone.
• Jada and Janet work on their science fair project every weekend. 

Both sentences have two antecedents connected by and. Therefore, the antecedents are considered plural and hence take the plural pronoun their.

3. In sentences with a correlative conjunction pair like not only…but also, either…or, neither…nor, two antecedents are usually present – one following each conjunction of the pair. In such cases, the antecedent closer to the pronoun will determine whether the pronoun must be singular or plural.

For example:

• Either the teacher or the students will be presenting their ideas this week.

Here, the plural antecedent students is closer to the pronoun than the singular antecedent teacher. Thus, the pronoun takes the plural form their.

• Neither the lieutenants nor the commander attended to his/her job.

Here, since the singular antecedent commander is nearer to the pronoun, the pronoun takes the singular form his/her. However, the sentence construction is awkward and doesn’t read well. So, the sentence might be better rephrased with the plural antecedent lieutenants closer to the pronoun – in which case the pronoun will take the plural form their as follows.

• Neither the commander nor the lieutenants attended to their jobs.

4. Indefinite pronouns functioning as antecedents can sometimes make pronoun antecedent agreement difficult. However, knowing which ones are considered singular and which ones are considered plural can help.

i. These indefinite pronouns are always considered singular antecedents:

They must always be followed by singular pronouns to ensure pronoun antecedent agreement.

For example:

• Everything must always be kept in its place.
• Each of the girls has been asked to do her share of cleaning.
• Neither of the brothers got his food from the kitchen.

All the example sentences above have singular indefinite pronouns as antecedents (mentioned in bold). Therefore, they must agree with singular referent pronouns (shown in italics).

ii.The indefinite pronouns few, several, both, and many are always considered plural antecedents.

Here are a couple of examples to illustrate:

• Both interns are performing well at their workplace.
• Several professionals have found themselves unemployed recently.

The above sentences have plural indefinite pronouns as antecedents (shown in bold). Thus, the referent pronouns following them must be plural (indicated in italics).

iii. The indefinite pronouns most, all, none, any, and some can be singular or plural antecedents depending on the object of the prepositional phrase following them.

For example:

• All of the players have been given their jerseys.

Here, all refers to the plural object players in the underlined prepositional phrase. Therefore, the referent pronoun must also be plural – their.

• Some of the oil was spilled from its container.

In the above example, some refers to the uncountable object oil in the underlined prepositional phrase. Since uncountable objects are considered singular, the referent pronoun must also be singular – its.

5. When the antecedent is a collective noun (like jury, team, or crowd), the pronoun may be singular or plural based on the intended meaning of the collective noun in the sentence.

When all members of the collective are engaged in the same activity at the same time, the pronoun takes the singular form. Else, it takes the plural form.

Here are some examples:

• Our family enjoys all its meals together every day.

Since the intended meaning of the sentence is that all family members eat together at the same time, the collective noun family is considered a single entity. Therefore, the pronoun following it takes the singular form its.

• The committee signed their proposal this week.

In the above sentence, the antecedent is the collective noun committee. Since the members of the committee must function separately as individuals to sign the proposal, the noun is considered plural. Therefore, it is followed by the plural pronoun their.

The sentence may also be rephrased with the word “members” following the antecedent committee for clarity:

• The committee members signed their proposal this week.

6. Most style guides like the Chicago Manual of Style, the APA style manual, and the MLA style manual now widely accept the use of the singular they in formal writing. This means that they can be used to correspond to not just plural antecedents but also singular ones. This helps prevent the use of the singular gendered pronouns he and she.

Here is an example:

• The teacher is expected to guide their students at the beginning of every new term.

While the antecedent teacher is singular here, the pronoun their can be used as a singular pronoun in agreement.

The sentence may also be rephrased with the plural antecedent teachers for simplified pronoun antecedent agreement:

• Teachers are expected to guide their students at the beginning of every new term.

7. The names of entities like organizations, businesses, and schools – which comprise multiple people – are considered singular antecedents and hence must be followed by singular pronouns.

For example:

• Willy’s Junior High ensures that its students have access to the best infrastructure.
• Martin & Associates hires only the best graduates for its internship positions.

The antecedents in the above sentences are the names of a school and an organization, respectively. These are considered singular and hence take the singular pronoun its.

Writers ought to familiarize themselves with the above rules of pronoun antecedent agreement so that they always construct grammatically accurate sentences and communicate effectively.