What is an Antecedent Pronouns get their meaning from the words they stand for these words are called antecedents Antecedents are the words that pronouns take the place of later on in the sentence ID: 641091
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Slide1
Pronoun-Antecedent AgreementSlide2
What is an Antecedent?
Pronouns get their meaning from the words they stand for; these words are called
antecedents
.
Antecedents are the words that pronouns take the place of later on in the sentence.Slide3
How to find an antecedent:
Find the pronouns in the sentence
Find what the pronouns are renaming- that is your antecedent.Slide4
Examples
Michael said he lost his watch at the fair.
Pronouns:
He, his
Antecedent:
MichaelSlide5
Examples
When the
Levines
moved, they gave their pets to neighbors.
Pronouns:
They, their
Antecedent:
LevinesSlide6
Examples
Attending the Mardi Gras can be tiring, but it can be a lot of fun!
Pronouns:
It
Antecedent:
Attending the Mardi GrasSlide7
Agreement
Personal pronouns must agree with their antecedents in
gender
and in
number Slide8
Agreement in GENDER
The
gender
of a
pronoun
MUST match the
gender
of its
antecedent
!!
Nouns referring to males, such as uncle, boy, and actor, are MASCULINE.
Nouns referring to females, such as aunt, mother, and actress, are FEMININE.
Nouns that do not refer to males or females, such as stone and freedom, are NEUTRAL.Slide9
Agreement in NUMBER
Just like subject verb agreement, pronouns and their antecedents MUST agree in number
Number refers to a word being either SINGULAR or PLURAL
Typically it is easy to make pronouns and antecedents agree in number
Ex-
Charlene
accessed
her
friend’s Home Page.Slide10
Agreement in NUMBER
Where it gets tricky:
Compound Antecedents
RULE:
Use a SINGULAR personal pronoun to refer to two or more SINGULAR antecedents joined by
OR
or
NOR.
Ex.
Neither
Keith
nor
Rob
remembers
his
password.Slide11
RULE:
Use a PLURAL personal pronoun to refer to two or more antecedents joined by AND (this makes the antecedent PLURAL!)
Ex.
Gene
and
Rita
have checked
their
e-mail.Slide12
Singular Pronouns
Masculine
he
him
his
himself
hisself
is NOT a word!!!!!
Feminine
she
her
hers
herself
Neutral
it, its, itselfSlide13
Plural Pronouns
they
them
their, theirs
themselves
we
us
our, ours
ourselvesSlide14
Beware the “Shift in Person”
RULE:
You must not make a “shift in person” in the middle of a sentence
What is shift in person?
Becca
is studying programming, a course
you
need for a degree in computer science.
Should say “…a course
Becca
needs…”Slide15
When it is Unclear
RULE:
When gender is NOT specified , use the masculine AND feminine pronouns OR rewrite the sentence.
Ex.-
A
student
should keep
his
or
her
password a secret.
Or
Students
should keep
their
passwords a secret.Slide16
When it is Unclear
Sometimes it is still seen as acceptable to choose JUST a masculine or feminine pronoun.
Ex-
A
student
should keep
his
password
a
secret
.
Slide17
Directions: Write an appropriate personal pronoun in the blank to complete each sentence.
One computer pioneer is Alan Kay. __
1
__ is noted for
__2__
role in the development of the laptop computer. Before Kay introduced graphics and animation,
__3__
had not been seen before on PCs. In the 1970’s, the average person did not have a computer in __
4
__ home. Diana Adams, who sees
_5__
as a modern woman, takes a laptop with
__6__
wherever
__7__
goes. However, you and I don’t even have to leave home.
__8__
can access the world through
__9__
PCs.Slide18
Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns end in –self or –selves and point back to a noun or pronoun near the beginning of the sentence.
RULE:
Reflexive
pronouns
MUST have an
antecedent
in the sentence in which they appear.Slide19
Reflexive Pronoun Examples
Incorrect Use-
Todd helped Jen and
myself
to search the Internet.
Correct Use-
Todd
helped Jen and me to search the Internet
.
Jen searched the Internet herself.Slide20
Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns
RULE:
Use a SINGULAR pronoun to refer to a SINGULAR indefinite pronoun.
And
Use a PLURAL pronoun to refer to a PLURAL indefinite pronoun.Slide21
Singular Indefinite Pronouns
ALWAYS Singular:
anybody everyone one
anyone everything somebody
anything neither someone
each no one something
either nobody
everybody nothingSlide22
Plural Indefinite Pronouns
Both
Few
Many
Several
These words are
ALWAYS
plural!Slide23
Can be EITHER Singular OR Plural:
These words may be singular or plural…you
MUST
check their function within the sentence.
all
any
more
most
none
someSlide24
Examples
Singular:
One
of the boys will print
his
document.
Plural:
All
of the boys will print
their
documents.