do you agree? pronoun/antecedent agreement by mrs. peterson english i

Do you agree?Do you agree?Pronoun/Antecedent Pronoun/Antecedent

AgreementAgreement

By Mrs. PetersonBy Mrs. Peterson

English IEnglish I

What is agreement?What is agreement?Words in sentences must agree with

each other.

Words can either be singular or plural.

Singular vs. Plural wordsSingular vs. Plural words• Singular Words

hesheKarenPaullikeseats

• Plural Wordstheirtheygirlsboyshelpeat

PronounsPronouns

Pronouns, like other words, are either singular or plural.

Her = Singular (you are referring to one girl).

It = Singular (one thing).They=Plural (more than one person).

Indefinite PronounsIndefinite Pronouns

Some pronouns are indefinite…the number of people it refers to is not known…it is indefinite.

•Anyone

•Anybody

•Everyone

•Someone

These indefinite pronouns are ALWAYS singular:

•Somebody

•No one

•Either

•Neither

•Nobody

Pronoun vs. AntecedentPronoun vs. Antecedent

• A pronoun refers to something earlier (antecedent) in the sentence.

EXAMPLE: Sarah ate her food.

PronounAntecedent

The word “her” is referring to “Sarah.” Without the word Sarah in the sentence, a reader would not know who “her” is.

Without the pronoun the sentence would read:

Sarah is eating Sarah’s food.

• Pronouns and Antecedents must agree in: – Number– Gender

Pronoun vs. AntecedentPronoun vs. Antecedent

EXAMPLE: Sarah ate her food.

Sarah = singular/female

Her = singular/female

They Agree!

Let’s look at another Let’s look at another example:example:

Tom drank his milk.

The word “his” is referring to “Tom.”

Tom = Singular/male

His = Singular/maleThey Agree!

Remember: a pronoun must agree with its antecedent in gender and number.

Let’s try a few: Let’s try a few:

Directions: Click on the correct answer

Fill in the blank of the correct pronoun that agrees with the antecedent . (I’m trying to say Megan likes the bicycle of Megan!).

Megan likes ____ bicycle. A.His

B.Their

C.Her

D.They

OOPS!OOPS!

Try again!

OOPS!OOPS! Megan likes Their?

bicycle.

Sorry, they don’t agree in number. Remember - I’m trying to say Megan likes the bike of Megan.

Try again!

OOPS!OOPS! Megan likes They?

bicycle.

This doesn’t agree in number. Megan is singular and They is plural. Remember - I’m trying to say Megan likes the bike of Megan.

Try again!

You are a You are a Superstar!Superstar!

Great!

Megan = Singular/female

Her = Singular/female

The pronoun agrees with its antecedent!

Ready for another? Ready for another?

Directions: Click on the correct answer

Fill in the blank of the correct pronoun that agrees with the antecedent . (I’m trying to say Michael gave the shirt of Michael to Julie!).

Matthew gave ___shirt to Julie. A.His

B.Their

C.Her

D.They

OOPS!OOPS!Matthew gave Their?

shirt to Julie

That wasn’t very nice of Michael! What right does he have to give away a group shirt?

Michael = singular

Their = plural

THEY DON”T AGREE

Try again!

OOPS!OOPS!

Though they agree in number (Michael = singular and her = singular), her is a female word!

NO AGREEMENT

Try again!

Matthew gave HER? shirt to

Julie.

OOPS!OOPS!

This doesn’t even make sense!!!

NO AGREEMENT

Matthew = singular

They = plural

Try again!

Matthew gave THEY? shirt to

Julie.

You are a You are a Superstar!Superstar!

Great!

Michael = Singular/male

His = Singular/male

The pronoun agrees with its antecedent!

Easy, Easy, Right?Right?

Looking at Indefinite Looking at Indefinite Pronouns: Pronouns: Things get more complicated when you

throw indefinite pronouns into the mix.

Indefinite pronouns are a little tricky because many of them look like they are plural – but they are really singular!

•Anyone

•Anybody

•Everyone

•Someone

•Somebody

•No one

•Either

•Neither

•NobodySin

gula

r Pro

noun

s!!

Example with an indefinite Example with an indefinite pronoun…pronoun…Everyone ate his/her food.

Pronoun

Antecedent

Everyone = Singular (yes, Maratha…it’s singular!) with an unknown gender.

His/Her = Singular and to be gender equitable we use both his and her (we don’t want to offend anyone)!

Another indefinite Another indefinite example…example…Nobody completed his/her homework.

Pronoun

Antecedent

Nobody = Singular with an unknown gender.

His/Her = Singular and again to be gender equitable we use both his and her (we don’t want to offend anyone)!

Why is this not right?Why is this not right?Someone gave me their book.

?

Answer…Answer…

Someone gave me their book.

AntecedentPronoun

Someone = Indefinite Singular Pronoun

Their = Plural

They DON’T Agree!

Correct Sentence:Correct Sentence:

Someone gave me his/her book.

Someone = Indefinite Singular Pronoun

His/Her = Singular

They Agree!

Remember the Indefinite Remember the Indefinite Singulars: Singulars: • Anyone

• Anybody

• Everyone

• Someone

• Somebody

• No one

• Either

• Neither

• Nobody

“Mrs. Peterson wants me to remember these… I know I can!”

A (old) “thinking” English I student!

CHS

Let’s test your new Let’s test your new knowledge: knowledge:

Directions: Click on the correct answer

Fill in the blank of the correct pronoun that agrees with the antecedent .

Everyone sang ____song.

A.His

B.Their

C.His/Her

D.They

OOPS!OOPS!Remember the indefinite pronouns!

Try again!

You are a You are a Superstar!Superstar!

Great!

Everyone = Singular

His/Her = Singular

The pronoun agrees with its antecedent!

Another: Another:

Directions: Click on the correct answer

Either Tom or Dan gave his money.

A.Correct

B.Incorrect

OOPS!OOPS!Remember the indefinite pronouns!

Try again!

You are a You are a Superstar!Superstar!

Great!

Either/or = Singular

His = Singular

The pronoun agrees with its antecedent!See it diagrammed!

Diagrammed!Diagrammed!

Either Tom or Dan gave his money.

Eith

er

or

Tom

Dan

gavemoney

his

Another: Another:

Directions: Click on the correct answer

Somebody gave me their money.

A.Correct

B.Incorrect

OOPS!OOPS!Remember the indefinite pronouns!

Try again!

You are a You are a Superstar!Superstar!

Great!

The pronoun agrees with its antecedent!

Another: Another:

Directions: Click on the correct answer

Did anyone keep their pens?

A.Correct

B.Incorrect

You are a You are a Superstar!Superstar!

Great!

The pronoun agrees with its antecedent!

OOPS!OOPS!You got it wrong! The correct answer is:

Figure out why this is the correct

answer!

Did anyone keep his/her

pens?

Why?Why?Why is this the correct answer?

Did anyone keep his/her pens?

A. His/her is singular & anyone is singular

B. Anyone is plural…plurals are singulars match.

C. Antecedents can’t agree with pronouns.

D. None!

Yahoo!Yahoo!You are You are correct!!correct!!

Oh, no…Oh, no…try again!try again!

Another: Another:

Directions: Click on the correct answer

Everyone played well in their game.

A.Correct

B.Incorrect

OOPS!OOPS!Remember the indefinite pronouns!

Try again!

You are a You are a Superstar!Superstar!

Great!

The pronoun agrees with its antecedent!

Another: Another:

Directions: Click on the correct answer

Does anybody have their ticket?

A.Correct

B.Incorrect

OOPS!OOPS!

You are a You are a Superstar!Superstar!

Great!

The pronoun agrees with its antecedent!

Another: Another:

Directions: Click on the correct answer

No one has his homework.

A.Correct

B.Incorrect

OOPS!OOPS!You got it wrong!

Try another!

You are a You are a Superstar!Superstar!

Great!

The pronoun agrees with its antecedent!

Another: Another:

Directions: Click on the correct answer

Wow, everyone did really well on their tests! A.Correct

B.Incorrect

OOPS!OOPS!You got it wrong!

Try another!

You are a You are a Superstar!Superstar!

Great!

The pronoun agrees with its antecedent!

Another: Another:

Directions: Click on the correct answer

Somebody gave me their money.

A.Incorrect

B.Correct

OOPS!OOPS!You got it wrong! The correct answer is:

Somebody gave me his/her

money.

You need a little more You need a little more practice!practice!

Check this out: http://owlet.letu.edu/grammarlinks/pronouns/proagrtests/proagrtest1.html

You should also try this exercise

again!

You are a You are a Superstar!Superstar!

Great!

The pronoun agrees with its antecedent!

Bravo, Muy Bien, Bravo, Muy Bien, Way 2 go, you are Way 2 go, you are

cool, Yippee!cool, Yippee!Now correct the agreement in your book reports!

Need more practice? Try again.

Try your luck on web: http://owlet.letu.edu/grammarlinks/pronouns/proagrtests/proagrtest1.html