Name______Date______

Writing Workshop

Revising Faulty Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement:

Integrating Grammar Skills

Revising Faulty Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

A pronoun should agree with its antecedent in person, number, and gender. The antecedent is the word or words to which a pronoun refers. In the following example, the pronoun she and its antecedent, Laura, are both third-person, singular, and female.

Laura arrived late because she missed the first bus.

Use a plural pronoun to refer to a compound antecedent joined by and. Use a singular pronoun to refer to singular antecedents joined by or or nor.

Neither Laura nor Jack arrived on time because they missed the first bus.

Be careful with number when the antecedent is an indefinite pronoun. The indefinite pronouns each and one, as well as those ending in -body and -one, are always singular. The indefinite pronouns both, few, many, others, and several are always plural. The indefinite pronouns all, any, more, most, none, and some may be singular or plural, depending on the nouns to which they refer.

Most of the children arrived late because they missed the first bus.

Identifying Correct Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

A. DIRECTIONS: Circle the pronoun in parentheses that correctly completes each sentence.

Underline the antecedent with which the pronoun agrees.

1. Everyone needed (his or her, their) bus pass to get on the bus.

2. Many of the students brought (his or her, their) lunch with them.

3. A few of my friends bought (his or her, their) lunch in the school cafeteria.

4. Neither Liane nor Stacy could find (her, their) bus pass.

Fixing Errors in Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

B. DIRECTIONS: On the lines provided, rewrite the following sentences so that they use the

correct pronouns. If a sentence is correct as presented, write correct.

1. Most of the students liked his or her trip to the planetarium.

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2. Everyone on the trip had their chance to interact with the exhibits.

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3. Either Juan or Nancy had their questions answered by museum guides.

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4. All of the guides offered their assistance to visitors.

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Grade 9 Unit 1