Antecedent-Pronoun Agreement

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Just as there must be agreement between nouns, so must there be agreement between nouns and pronouns. We call this antecedent-pronoun agreement.

An antecedent is the noun or noun phrase represented by and giving meaning to a pronoun.

A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun or noun phrase when it’s already clear what noun we’re referring to.

Common Pronouns
	Singular	Plural
Subject	I, you he, she, it, one	we, you, they
Object	me, you, her, him, it, one	us, you, them
Possessive	mine, yours, hers, his, its, one’s	ours, yours, theirs
Possessive adjective	my, your, her, his, their, its, one’s	our, your, their
Reflexive	myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, oneself	ourself, yourself, themselves

Example 1
The antecedent-pronoun combination helps avoid repeating the same noun. The following sentence sounds strange because the cat appears twice:

After the cat took a nap, the cat ate some food. 🚫

An antecedent + pronoun fixes the issue. In this sentence the cat is the antecedent and she is the pronoun.

After the cat took a nap, she ate some food. ✅

Example 2

The antecedent-pronoun combination can be used within a single sentence or across two or more sentences.

Julia had spent months preparing for the audition. She was determined to get the part.
Echinacea and lavender are great pollinator-friendly additions to your garden. Like most wildflowers, they are easy to care for. They also have a number of medicinal properties.

Example 3
In most cases, the antecedent appears before the pronoun in a sentence, as in the examples above. However, the antecedent can also appear after the pronoun. For example:

Once he had completed the research phase, John began writing the report.
After they had been restored to their original condition, the buildings were registered as historical landmarks.

Technically, the correct term for the noun in each of these examples would be postcedent. However, antecedent is widely used to denote nouns that appear both before and after their corresponding pronouns.

Antecedent-pronoun agreement is achieved by ensuring the pronoun matches its antecedent’s number, person, and gender.

Example	Explanation
When the players arrived at the gym, they began to practice free throws.	Because the antecedent, the players, is plural, the corresponding pronoun must also take the plural form they.
Although Ms. Smith preferred walking, she decided to take the bus.	Ms. Smith is singular and feminine, so the pronoun must be she

How Will the Test Try to Trick You?
It vs. They	Singular collective nouns (ex. the government, the city council, the class) are replaced with it instead of they: Incorrect 🚫 By the time the theater group disbanded, *they* had long outlived *their* fame. Correct ✅ By the time the theater group disbanded, it had long outlived its fame. Remember! If the sentence mentions individuals in a group (students in a class, members of the jury, etc.), then use they instead of it: By the time the members of the cast retired, they had long outlived their reputations.
One and You	If the sentence has the pronoun one or you in the first half of the sentence, make sure to repeat the same pronoun in the second half. Incorrect 🚫 If you run five miles every day, one will become fit. If one goes to the movies, you will likely spend more than $10. Correct ✅ If you run five miles every day, you will become fit. If one goes to the movies, one will likely spend more than $10.
Its vs. It’s	Its is the possessive form of the singular pronoun it. Only its can be used to refer to an antecedent. It’s is the contraction for it is. Its’ doesn’t exist. Incorrect 🚫 When the university opened it’s doors in the early 20th century, only 1,000 students were enrolled. Correct ✅ When the university opened its doors in the early 20th century, only 1,000 students were enrolled. When you spend a long time at the beach, it’s imperative to wear sunscreen
Unclear antecedent	The test will often give you a vague or ambiguous pronoun and ask you how to best fix the sentence: Example Joshua wanted to give Rob his computer later that day, but he was out of town. 🚫 To whom do the pronouns *his* and he refer? Joshua or Rob? The test will ask you how to best correct a sentence like this, and often the answer is to replace pronouns with nouns:Correction Joshua wanted to give Rob his computer later that day, but Rob was out of town. ✅ Now the sentence is more precise and tells the reader exactly whose computer it is and who went out of town.

Tips and Strategies
When you encounter underlined text that includes a pronoun, the issue is likely one of agreement. Identify and underline the antecedent for the pronoun. Remember that it can appear in the same sentence or the previous sentence. Determine whether the pronoun and antecedent agree in number, person, and gender. If not, select the answer option with the correct pronoun.
For sentences that have an unclear antecedent, the answer options will include a revision that replaces the pronoun with a noun. Use context to select the noun that best fits.
Remember that compound antecedents always require a plural pronoun.

Antecedent-Pronoun Agreement

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