agreement between indefinite pronouns and their antecedents
agreement between indefinite pronouns and their antecedents
These pronouns are anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody,
everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, somebody, someone,
and something.
➲Everyone in the church is singing his or her best. (His and her are singular
pronouns, and everyone is the singular antecedent.)
Note: Use his or her if you assume that both genders are included, as in the
preceding example.
➲ Everything in this large closet has lost its value over the years.
(Its is a singular pronoun that agrees in number with everything, the
singular antecedent.)
Plural indefinite pronouns, including both, few, many, and several, will
serve as plural antecedents.
➲ Both of the singers have their fans. (Both is the plural antecedent, and
their is the plural pronoun.)
➲ Several of the club officials raised their hands with questions. (Several is
the plural antecedent, and their is the plural pronoun.)
Some pronouns can be either singular or plural, depending upon
their context within the sentence. These pronouns are all, any, more, most,
none, and some.
In these instances, look to see if the object of the preposition is singular or
plural. The verb and antecedent will agree with the object of the preposition.
➲ All of the newspaper is wet, and I cannot read it now. (Newspaper, the
object of the preposition, is singular; use the singular pronoun, it.)
➲ Most of the newspapers have raised their advertising prices. (Newspapers,
the object of the preposition, is plural; use the plural pronoun, their.)
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