Pronouns Antecedent Agreement and Its Uses

Pronouns Antecedent Agreement 

An antecedent is the subject that is replaced by another word. 

• Most times, it is replaced by a pronoun. (or it could be replaced by a noun or noun phrase) 
• When Dolly was outside, it rained. She didn’t have any umbrella with her. So,she got wet.Since Dolly got wet in the rain, Dolly had gotten a cold. Now Dolly must go to see Dr. Harper who is Dolly’s doctor.  
• (Here the subject ‘Dolly’ is repeated unnecessarily. So, to avoid it, we use pronouns ‘she’, ‘her’. So, Dolly is the antecedent which is replaced by pronouns.) 
• The antecedent and the word it is replacing must agree in number. If the antecedent is singular, the pronoun must also be singular. 
• Dolly – she, her (all singular) 

• If the antecedent is plural, the pronoun must also be plural. 

Compound subjects as antecedents 

• If there are two subjects, then look at the conjunction (and, or, etc.), to decide whether to use singular or plural pronouns. 
• Tim and Tiff any went to Miami, where they visited their grandparents. (‘and’ means both people, so use plural pronoun.) 
• Either Tina or Tiff any will go help her grandparents to repaint the house. (‘or’ means only one. So, use singular pronouns)