{"id":560,"date":"2020-06-23T13:25:40","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T13:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/writing-workshop\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=560"},"modified":"2024-04-25T01:13:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T01:13:00","slug":"pronoun-antecedent-agreement","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/chapter\/pronoun-antecedent-agreement\/","title":{"raw":"Agreement","rendered":"Agreement"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Identify and use verbs to match the subject of a sentence<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Correctly match pronouns and antecedents<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement<\/h3>\r\nYou might recall that pronouns replace nouns or phrases. Consider this little story:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>The box<\/strong> was on the doorstep so I brought <strong>the box<\/strong> inside. <strong>The box <\/strong>was surprisingly light. I opened <strong>the box<\/strong>\u00a0and discovered that\u00a0<strong>the box<\/strong> contained nothing but styrofoam packing peanuts. Then my roommate walked in. My roommate clapped his hands and said: \"Ah! There are <strong>my packing peanuts<\/strong>! I've been waiting for <strong>my packing peanuts!<\/strong><\/p>\r\nPronouns help make this story less repetitive.\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The box was on the doorstep so I brought <strong>it<\/strong> inside. <strong>It\u00a0<\/strong>was surprisingly light. I opened <strong>it<\/strong>\u00a0and discovered that\u00a0<strong>it<\/strong> contained nothing but styrofoam packing peanuts. Then my roommate walked in. <strong>He<\/strong> clapped his hands and said: \"Ah! There are my packing peanuts! I've been waiting for <strong>them<\/strong>!\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_713\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\"]<img class=\"size-medium wp-image-713\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5208\/2020\/06\/24185326\/hand-819279_1920-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"Two hands shaking each other.\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" \/> <strong>Figure 1<\/strong>. Paying attention to your usage of plural and singular nouns and pronouns will help to ensure that your writing exhibits pronoun-antecedent agreement.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe\u00a0<strong>antecedent<\/strong>\u00a0as the noun (or phrase) that a pronoun is replacing.\r\n\r\nIn the case of the sentence \"the box was on the doorstep so I brought it inside,\" \"<strong>the box\"<\/strong> is the antecedent and \"<strong>it\"<\/strong> is the pronoun.\u00a0Pronoun-antecedent agreement means that you have to use the right pronoun for the pronoun. If the sentence said \"the boxes were on the doorstep,\" we'd have to use a different pronoun: \"The boxes were on the doorstep so I brought <strong>them\u00a0<\/strong>inside.\r\n\r\nSome of the trickiest\u00a0agreements are with\u00a0indefinite pronouns:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Every student should do his\u00a0or\u00a0her best on this assignment.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>If nobody lost their scarf, then where did this come from?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWords like\u00a0<em>every<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>nobody<\/em>\u00a0are\u00a0singular, and demand singular pronouns.\u00a0Here are some of the words that fall into this category:\r\n<table>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>anybody<\/td>\r\n<td>anyone<\/td>\r\n<td>anything<\/td>\r\n<td>each<\/td>\r\n<td>either<\/td>\r\n<td>every<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>everybody<\/td>\r\n<td>everyone<\/td>\r\n<td>everything<\/td>\r\n<td>neither<\/td>\r\n<td>no one<\/td>\r\n<td>nobody<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>nothing<\/td>\r\n<td>one<\/td>\r\n<td>somebody<\/td>\r\n<td>someone<\/td>\r\n<td>something<\/td>\r\n<td><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nSome of these may feel \u201cmore singular\u201d than others, but they all are technically singular. Thus, using \u201chis or her\u201d is correct in the example above, but so is the usage of the singular \"they\" in the latter example. How is that? Well, the rules of grammar are constantly evolving.\u00a0\u00a0One of the places we see this is with the use of \"they\" as a singular pronoun.\r\n<h3>Singular <em>they<\/em><\/h3>\r\nA\u00a0common pronoun agreement error\u00a0occurs when a writer uses a singular noun like \"student\"\u00a0to represent students in general. Then, later, the writer may use\u00a0they\u00a0as a pronoun to replace\u00a0student\u00a0because the writer means students in general. This often occurs when people try to avoid that structure and use cumbersome word choices such as he\/she, he or she, or (wo)men as ther is no gender-neutral singular pronoun in the English language. Using these variations is not preferred, and rewriting the sentence is a better option.\r\n\r\nHow to rewrite the sentence will depend on which style guide you are using. Both the MLA 8<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0edition and the APA 7<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0edition support using the singular they. On the other hand, The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) 17<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0edition does not support using the singular they in formal writing unless the person being discussed prefers they. CMOS recommends rewriting the sentence so that the noun and pronoun both agree.\r\n\r\nFor example, you may see something like this:\r\n<div class=\"purple-example \">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li class=\"example\">If\u00a0<strong>a student<\/strong>\u00a0really thinks about how much\u00a0<strong>they<\/strong>\u00a0are paying for college,\u00a0<strong>they\u00a0<\/strong>are likely to be more focused in class.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nAccording to the most recent MLA and APA style guidelines, this is correct. However, according to CMOS, the sentence should be rewritten.\r\n\r\nYou could rewrite it like this:\r\n<div class=\"good-example \">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li class=\"example\">If\u00a0<strong>students<\/strong>\u00a0really think about how much\u00a0<strong>they<\/strong>\u00a0are paying for college,\u00a0<strong>they<\/strong>\u00a0are likely to be more focused in class.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nHere is another example.\r\n<div class=\"bad-example \">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li class=\"example\">When\u00a0<strong>a chef<\/strong>\u00a0adds a recipe to\u00a0<strong>his or her<\/strong>\u00a0Facebook page,\u00a0<strong>he or she<\/strong>\u00a0will often get many likes seemingly instantaneously.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nThis is clunky and not recommended. You can rewrite the sentence with the singular they:\r\n<div class=\"good-example \">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li class=\"example\">When\u00a0<strong>a chef<\/strong>\u00a0adds a recipe to\u00a0<strong>their<\/strong>\u00a0Facebook page,\u00a0<strong>they\u00a0<\/strong>will often get many likes seemingly instantaneously.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nRewritten with a plural subject and plural pronoun:\r\n<div class=\"good-example \">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li class=\"example\">When\u00a0<strong>chefs\u00a0<\/strong>add a recipe to\u00a0<strong>their\u00a0<\/strong>individual Facebook page,\u00a0<strong>they\u00a0<\/strong>will often get many likes seemingly instantaneously.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nRewritten without pronouns:\r\n<div class=\"good-example \">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li class=\"example\">When\u00a0<strong>a chef<\/strong>\u00a0adds a recipe to Facebook, likes appear seemingly instantaneously.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nWhen in doubt, it is always safe to choose a plural subject so that the pronoun\u00a0<strong>they<\/strong>\u00a0flows more smoothly (and will be correct in number according to all style guides).\r\n<h2>Pronoun Reference Errors<\/h2>\r\n<strong>Pronoun reference errors<\/strong>\u00a0can also be problems for beginning writers because it\u2019s so easy to get in a hurry when you write and forget that you need to think about how clear your writing will be for your audience.\r\n\r\nA\u00a0<strong>common pronoun reference error<\/strong>\u00a0occurs when students write about several different people or things and then use a pronoun later like\u00a0<strong>she<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0<strong>it<\/strong>, but the audience has no idea what\u00a0<strong>she<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0<strong>it<\/strong>\u00a0refers to.\r\n\r\nHere is a simple example to give you an idea about what a pronoun reference error looks like:\r\n<div class=\"bad-example \">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li class=\"example\">My mother and my aunt told me I should consider going to college, and she was right.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nHere, the audience wouldn\u2019t be sure which person the writer is referring to. Is it the mother or the aunt?\r\n\r\nYou want to be careful with your writing and make sure you\u2019re clear and correct with your pronouns. Most of the time, slowing yourself down and working on some careful editing will reveal problems like these which can be easily corrected.\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/19f0c4e5-5045-45e7-8dbf-2e5a2ba09524\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/aff97db9-0551-4e35-8fc0-5026bbe59ba1\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"p1\">Subject-Verb Agreement<\/h3>\r\nThe basic idea behind sentence agreement is pretty simple: all the parts of your sentence should match (or\u00a0agree). Just as nouns and pronouns need to agree with antecedents, the verbs in a sentence also need to line up with the surrounding text. Verbs need to agree with their subjects in\u00a0<strong>number<\/strong>\u00a0(singular or plural) and in\u00a0<strong>person<\/strong>\u00a0(first, second, or third). In order to check agreement, you simply\u00a0need to find the verb and ask who or what is doing the action of that verb. For\u00a0example:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>I<\/strong>\u00a0really\u00a0<strong>am<\/strong>\u00a0(first-person singular) vs.\u00a0<strong>We<\/strong>\u00a0really\u00a0<strong>are<\/strong>\u00a0(first-person plural)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The\u00a0<strong>boy sings<\/strong>\u00a0(third-person singular) vs. The\u00a0<strong>boys sing<\/strong>\u00a0(third-person plural)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nIf the nouns are in phrases, you have to pay attention to which noun is the subject of the sentence. To make verbs agree with their subjects, follow this example:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The time between the two wars\u00a0<strong>is<\/strong>\u00a0the focus of the book.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe subject of the verb is \"the time (between the two wars),\" not \"the two wars,\" so the verb has to be singular.\r\n\r\nIn the English language, verbs usually come after\u00a0subjects. But when this order is reversed, the writer must make the verb agree with the subject, not with a noun that happens to precede it. For example:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>On the hillside\u00a0<strong>stand<\/strong>\u00a0many tall trees.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Out of the gutter <strong>grows<\/strong> a maple sapling.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe first subject is \"many tall trees\"; it is plural, so the verb must be \"<strong>stand\"<\/strong>. In the second sentence, the subject is \"a maple sapling,\" so the verb must be singular: \"<strong>grows<\/strong>.\"\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/lumenlearning.h5p.com\/content\/1291048791777950928\/embed\" width=\"1088\" height=\"637\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><script src=\"https:\/\/lumenlearning.h5p.com\/js\/h5p-resizer.js\" charset=\"UTF-8\"><\/script>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\r\n<h3>Writing Workshop:\u00a0<span class=\"s1\">Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span class=\"s2\">Open your Working Document template and find the \u201cPronoun-Antecedent Agreement\u201d heading. <\/span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"s2\">1. First, we're going to write a very short story (1-2 paragraphs) with <strong>no pronouns at all.<\/strong>\u00a0You can make up the situation yourself, or use one of the prompts below. The main thing is, <em>do not use any pronouns<\/em>-- only nouns (like the story about the box: \"<strong>The box<\/strong> was on the doorstep so I brought <strong>the box<\/strong> inside.\u00a0<strong>The box <\/strong>was surprisingly light. I opened <strong>the box<\/strong>\u00a0and discovered that\u00a0<strong>the box<\/strong> contained nothing but styrofoam packing peanuts.\" Note: you <em>can<\/em> use the pronoun \"I\" if you want.)<\/span>\r\n\r\nPrompts:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Receiving a mysterious package<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Learning something surprising about someone<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Taking an unexpected detour<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Avoiding a dangerous animal<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A story that ends: \"These things should come with safety warnings!\"<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A story that begins: \"I'm getting too old for this.\"<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n2. Now copy-and-paste your story into a new section of the Working Document. Replace the nouns with pronouns where appropriate, so that the story flows better \"<span class=\"s2\"><strong>The box<\/strong> was on the doorstep so I brought <strong>it<\/strong> inside.\" Make sure you leave enough antecedents so that your reader knows what's going on!<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify and use verbs to match the subject of a sentence<\/li>\n<li>Correctly match pronouns and antecedents<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement<\/h3>\n<p>You might recall that pronouns replace nouns or phrases. Consider this little story:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>The box<\/strong> was on the doorstep so I brought <strong>the box<\/strong> inside. <strong>The box <\/strong>was surprisingly light. I opened <strong>the box<\/strong>\u00a0and discovered that\u00a0<strong>the box<\/strong> contained nothing but styrofoam packing peanuts. Then my roommate walked in. My roommate clapped his hands and said: &#8220;Ah! There are <strong>my packing peanuts<\/strong>! I&#8217;ve been waiting for <strong>my packing peanuts!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pronouns help make this story less repetitive.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The box was on the doorstep so I brought <strong>it<\/strong> inside. <strong>It\u00a0<\/strong>was surprisingly light. I opened <strong>it<\/strong>\u00a0and discovered that\u00a0<strong>it<\/strong> contained nothing but styrofoam packing peanuts. Then my roommate walked in. <strong>He<\/strong> clapped his hands and said: &#8220;Ah! There are my packing peanuts! I&#8217;ve been waiting for <strong>them<\/strong>!&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_713\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-713\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-713\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5208\/2020\/06\/24185326\/hand-819279_1920-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"Two hands shaking each other.\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-713\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 1<\/strong>. Paying attention to your usage of plural and singular nouns and pronouns will help to ensure that your writing exhibits pronoun-antecedent agreement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0<strong>antecedent<\/strong>\u00a0as the noun (or phrase) that a pronoun is replacing.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of the sentence &#8220;the box was on the doorstep so I brought it inside,&#8221; &#8220;<strong>the box&#8221;<\/strong> is the antecedent and &#8220;<strong>it&#8221;<\/strong> is the pronoun.\u00a0Pronoun-antecedent agreement means that you have to use the right pronoun for the pronoun. If the sentence said &#8220;the boxes were on the doorstep,&#8221; we&#8217;d have to use a different pronoun: &#8220;The boxes were on the doorstep so I brought <strong>them\u00a0<\/strong>inside.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the trickiest\u00a0agreements are with\u00a0indefinite pronouns:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Every student should do his\u00a0or\u00a0her best on this assignment.<\/li>\n<li>If nobody lost their scarf, then where did this come from?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Words like\u00a0<em>every<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>nobody<\/em>\u00a0are\u00a0singular, and demand singular pronouns.\u00a0Here are some of the words that fall into this category:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>anybody<\/td>\n<td>anyone<\/td>\n<td>anything<\/td>\n<td>each<\/td>\n<td>either<\/td>\n<td>every<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>everybody<\/td>\n<td>everyone<\/td>\n<td>everything<\/td>\n<td>neither<\/td>\n<td>no one<\/td>\n<td>nobody<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>nothing<\/td>\n<td>one<\/td>\n<td>somebody<\/td>\n<td>someone<\/td>\n<td>something<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Some of these may feel \u201cmore singular\u201d than others, but they all are technically singular. Thus, using \u201chis or her\u201d is correct in the example above, but so is the usage of the singular &#8220;they&#8221; in the latter example. How is that? Well, the rules of grammar are constantly evolving.\u00a0\u00a0One of the places we see this is with the use of &#8220;they&#8221; as a singular pronoun.<\/p>\n<h3>Singular <em>they<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>A\u00a0common pronoun agreement error\u00a0occurs when a writer uses a singular noun like &#8220;student&#8221;\u00a0to represent students in general. Then, later, the writer may use\u00a0they\u00a0as a pronoun to replace\u00a0student\u00a0because the writer means students in general. This often occurs when people try to avoid that structure and use cumbersome word choices such as he\/she, he or she, or (wo)men as ther is no gender-neutral singular pronoun in the English language. Using these variations is not preferred, and rewriting the sentence is a better option.<\/p>\n<p>How to rewrite the sentence will depend on which style guide you are using. Both the MLA 8<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0edition and the APA 7<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0edition support using the singular they. On the other hand, The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) 17<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0edition does not support using the singular they in formal writing unless the person being discussed prefers they. CMOS recommends rewriting the sentence so that the noun and pronoun both agree.<\/p>\n<p>For example, you may see something like this:<\/p>\n<div class=\"purple-example\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"example\">If\u00a0<strong>a student<\/strong>\u00a0really thinks about how much\u00a0<strong>they<\/strong>\u00a0are paying for college,\u00a0<strong>they\u00a0<\/strong>are likely to be more focused in class.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to the most recent MLA and APA style guidelines, this is correct. However, according to CMOS, the sentence should be rewritten.<\/p>\n<p>You could rewrite it like this:<\/p>\n<div class=\"good-example\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"example\">If\u00a0<strong>students<\/strong>\u00a0really think about how much\u00a0<strong>they<\/strong>\u00a0are paying for college,\u00a0<strong>they<\/strong>\u00a0are likely to be more focused in class.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Here is another example.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bad-example\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"example\">When\u00a0<strong>a chef<\/strong>\u00a0adds a recipe to\u00a0<strong>his or her<\/strong>\u00a0Facebook page,\u00a0<strong>he or she<\/strong>\u00a0will often get many likes seemingly instantaneously.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>This is clunky and not recommended. You can rewrite the sentence with the singular they:<\/p>\n<div class=\"good-example\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"example\">When\u00a0<strong>a chef<\/strong>\u00a0adds a recipe to\u00a0<strong>their<\/strong>\u00a0Facebook page,\u00a0<strong>they\u00a0<\/strong>will often get many likes seemingly instantaneously.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rewritten with a plural subject and plural pronoun:<\/p>\n<div class=\"good-example\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"example\">When\u00a0<strong>chefs\u00a0<\/strong>add a recipe to\u00a0<strong>their\u00a0<\/strong>individual Facebook page,\u00a0<strong>they\u00a0<\/strong>will often get many likes seemingly instantaneously.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rewritten without pronouns:<\/p>\n<div class=\"good-example\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"example\">When\u00a0<strong>a chef<\/strong>\u00a0adds a recipe to Facebook, likes appear seemingly instantaneously.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>When in doubt, it is always safe to choose a plural subject so that the pronoun\u00a0<strong>they<\/strong>\u00a0flows more smoothly (and will be correct in number according to all style guides).<\/p>\n<h2>Pronoun Reference Errors<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Pronoun reference errors<\/strong>\u00a0can also be problems for beginning writers because it\u2019s so easy to get in a hurry when you write and forget that you need to think about how clear your writing will be for your audience.<\/p>\n<p>A\u00a0<strong>common pronoun reference error<\/strong>\u00a0occurs when students write about several different people or things and then use a pronoun later like\u00a0<strong>she<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0<strong>it<\/strong>, but the audience has no idea what\u00a0<strong>she<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0<strong>it<\/strong>\u00a0refers to.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a simple example to give you an idea about what a pronoun reference error looks like:<\/p>\n<div class=\"bad-example\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"example\">My mother and my aunt told me I should consider going to college, and she was right.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Here, the audience wouldn\u2019t be sure which person the writer is referring to. Is it the mother or the aunt?<\/p>\n<p>You want to be careful with your writing and make sure you\u2019re clear and correct with your pronouns. Most of the time, slowing yourself down and working on some careful editing will reveal problems like these which can be easily corrected.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_19f0c4e5-5045-45e7-8dbf-2e5a2ba09524\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/19f0c4e5-5045-45e7-8dbf-2e5a2ba09524?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_19f0c4e5-5045-45e7-8dbf-2e5a2ba09524\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_aff97db9-0551-4e35-8fc0-5026bbe59ba1\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/aff97db9-0551-4e35-8fc0-5026bbe59ba1?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_aff97db9-0551-4e35-8fc0-5026bbe59ba1\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"p1\">Subject-Verb Agreement<\/h3>\n<p>The basic idea behind sentence agreement is pretty simple: all the parts of your sentence should match (or\u00a0agree). Just as nouns and pronouns need to agree with antecedents, the verbs in a sentence also need to line up with the surrounding text. Verbs need to agree with their subjects in\u00a0<strong>number<\/strong>\u00a0(singular or plural) and in\u00a0<strong>person<\/strong>\u00a0(first, second, or third). In order to check agreement, you simply\u00a0need to find the verb and ask who or what is doing the action of that verb. For\u00a0example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>I<\/strong>\u00a0really\u00a0<strong>am<\/strong>\u00a0(first-person singular) vs.\u00a0<strong>We<\/strong>\u00a0really\u00a0<strong>are<\/strong>\u00a0(first-person plural)<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>boy sings<\/strong>\u00a0(third-person singular) vs. The\u00a0<strong>boys sing<\/strong>\u00a0(third-person plural)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If the nouns are in phrases, you have to pay attention to which noun is the subject of the sentence. To make verbs agree with their subjects, follow this example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The time between the two wars\u00a0<strong>is<\/strong>\u00a0the focus of the book.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The subject of the verb is &#8220;the time (between the two wars),&#8221; not &#8220;the two wars,&#8221; so the verb has to be singular.<\/p>\n<p>In the English language, verbs usually come after\u00a0subjects. But when this order is reversed, the writer must make the verb agree with the subject, not with a noun that happens to precede it. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>On the hillside\u00a0<strong>stand<\/strong>\u00a0many tall trees.<\/li>\n<li>Out of the gutter <strong>grows<\/strong> a maple sapling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The first subject is &#8220;many tall trees&#8221;; it is plural, so the verb must be &#8220;<strong>stand&#8221;<\/strong>. In the second sentence, the subject is &#8220;a maple sapling,&#8221; so the verb must be singular: &#8220;<strong>grows<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/lumenlearning.h5p.com\/content\/1291048791777950928\/embed\" width=\"1088\" height=\"637\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><script src=\"https:\/\/lumenlearning.h5p.com\/js\/h5p-resizer.js\" charset=\"UTF-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Writing Workshop:\u00a0<span class=\"s1\">Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"s2\">Open your Working Document template and find the \u201cPronoun-Antecedent Agreement\u201d heading. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"s2\">1. First, we&#8217;re going to write a very short story (1-2 paragraphs) with <strong>no pronouns at all.<\/strong>\u00a0You can make up the situation yourself, or use one of the prompts below. The main thing is, <em>do not use any pronouns<\/em>&#8212; only nouns (like the story about the box: &#8220;<strong>The box<\/strong> was on the doorstep so I brought <strong>the box<\/strong> inside.\u00a0<strong>The box <\/strong>was surprisingly light. I opened <strong>the box<\/strong>\u00a0and discovered that\u00a0<strong>the box<\/strong> contained nothing but styrofoam packing peanuts.&#8221; Note: you <em>can<\/em> use the pronoun &#8220;I&#8221; if you want.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Prompts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Receiving a mysterious package<\/li>\n<li>Learning something surprising about someone<\/li>\n<li>Taking an unexpected detour<\/li>\n<li>Avoiding a dangerous animal<\/li>\n<li>A story that ends: &#8220;These things should come with safety warnings!&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>A story that begins: &#8220;I&#8217;m getting too old for this.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>2. Now copy-and-paste your story into a new section of the Working Document. Replace the nouns with pronouns where appropriate, so that the story flows better &#8220;<span class=\"s2\"><strong>The box<\/strong> was on the doorstep so I brought <strong>it<\/strong> inside.&#8221; Make sure you leave enough antecedents so that your reader knows what&#8217;s going on!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-560\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Greg Melville for Lumen Learning. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Two hands shaking. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: SCY. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Pixabay. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/hand-greeting-agreement-819279\/\">https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/hand-greeting-agreement-819279\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>Other<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: https:\/\/pixabay.com\/service\/license\/<\/li><li>Using Pronouns Correctly. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/chapter\/using-pronouns-correctly\/#footnote-1026-1\">https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/chapter\/using-pronouns-correctly\/#footnote-1026-1<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Pronoun Agreement &amp; Reference. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Excelsior OWL. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/owl.excelsior.edu\/grammar-essentials\/parts-of-speech\/pronouns\/pronoun-agreement-and-reference\/\">https:\/\/owl.excelsior.edu\/grammar-essentials\/parts-of-speech\/pronouns\/pronoun-agreement-and-reference\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Agreement Practice. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Excelsior OWL. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/owl.excelsior.edu\/writing-refresher\/grammar-refresher\/pronoun-agreement-reference\/\">https:\/\/owl.excelsior.edu\/writing-refresher\/grammar-refresher\/pronoun-agreement-reference\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":29,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement\",\"author\":\"Greg Melville for Lumen Learning\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Two hands shaking\",\"author\":\"SCY\",\"organization\":\"Pixabay\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/hand-greeting-agreement-819279\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"other\",\"license_terms\":\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/service\/license\/\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Using Pronouns Correctly\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/chapter\/using-pronouns-correctly\/#footnote-1026-1\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Pronoun Agreement & Reference\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Excelsior OWL\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/owl.excelsior.edu\/grammar-essentials\/parts-of-speech\/pronouns\/pronoun-agreement-and-reference\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Agreement Practice\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Excelsior OWL\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/owl.excelsior.edu\/writing-refresher\/grammar-refresher\/pronoun-agreement-reference\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"9c5237f8-d79d-4d34-ae99-53c0e2f946b0, c01c2b1c-995d-429f-bc8f-1dfc2e3bcfe1, 2bb53b1c-75da-42d9-9345-b31571fc1319","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-560","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":358,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1714,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/560\/revisions\/1714"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/358"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/560\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=560"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=560"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1coreq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}