Common Pronoun Mistakes: Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Pronoun-antecedent agreement means that the pronoun must agree in number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) with the noun it refers to (the antecedent). Here are some common mistakes:  

Mismatched Number

• Incorrect: Everyone brought their own food.
• Correct: Everyone brought his or her own food. (Or “their” if using a gender-neutral pronoun)

Mismatched Gender

• Incorrect: The dog wagged its tail.
• Correct: The dog wagged its tail.

Ambiguous Antecedents

• Incorrect: John told Tom he should study harder.
• Correct: John told Tom that he should study harder. (Specify who “he” refers to.)

Practice Exercises:

1. Everyone brought (their/his or her) own book.
2. The cat wagged (its/their) tail.
3. John told Mary (she/her) should study harder.
4. The book, which is on the table, is (its/their) favorite.
5. Neither you nor I brought (our/their) homework.

Answers:

1. his or her (or their)
2. its
3. she
4. its
5. our

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Practice

Identify the correct pronoun in each sentence.

1. Everyone brought (their/his or her) own book.
2. The cat wagged (its/their) tail.
3. John told Mary (she/her) should study harder.
4. The book, which is on the table, is (its/their) favorite.
5. Neither you nor I brought (our/their) homework.
6. The students, who were late, missed (their/its) class.
7. The dog buried (its/their) bone in the yard.
8. The teacher gave (his or her/their) students a quiz.
9. Neither John nor Mary brought (his or her/their) homework.
10. The team lost (its/their) game.

Answers:

1. his or her (or their)
2. its
3. she
4. its
5. our
6. their
7. its
8. his or her (or their)
9. their
10. its