Pronouns and Antecedents

Pronouns and Antecedents

By Obie Ellmoos

• A pronoun takes the place of one or more nouns in a sentence.

• A personal pronoun refers to a person or thing

• Personal pronouns include I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, and them

• An antecedent is what a pronoun refers to.​

​

Pronouns & Antecedents

​

• Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number.

  • Put the bat and the ball in the bag. Put them in the bag​

• Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in gender.​

  • Gamme bakes pies. She bakes pies.​

​

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

​

Multiple Choice

What is a pronoun?

• A literary device.
• A word or that is used to take the place of one or more nouns.
• An action word.

Multiple Choice

What is an antecedent?

• A Person, Place, Thing, or Idea
• An Action Word
• A word that describes nouns
• The word the pronoun is replacing

Multiple Choice

Choose the word that is not a pronoun.

• is

• me

• he

• they

Multiple Choice

Emma and Priscilla made a 100 on their tests.
What is the antecedent for their?

• tests
• Emma
• Emma and Priscilla
• Priscilla

Multiple Choice

The boy and the girl were playing in the mud, causing both to stain their shirts.

What is the antecedent for their?

• Boy, girl

• playing, causing

• mud, stain

• shirts

Multiple Choice

What is the antecedent of the pronoun it?

Ivan left some music at the office. It was on a CD.

• Jinx

• music

• It

• CD

Multiple Choice

Xavier secretly admitted to his classmates that Mrs. Walker was his favorite teacher.

What is the antecedent for his?

• classmates
• Mrs. Walker
• teacher
• Xavier

Multiple Choice

What is the antecedent of the pronoun "her"?
My mother ate her salad.

• My
• Mother
• ate
• salad

• Avoid using pronouns that refer to either of two antecedents.

  • My mum called my aunt when she got home.​

• Avoid referring to a hidden antecedent.

  • The candy bowl is empty, but I'm done eating it anyway.​

• To fix a vague pronoun reference, rephrase or replace it with a noun.

  • The candy bowl is empty, but I'm tired of eating candy anyway.​

​

Vague Pronoun References

​

Multiple Choice

What is a pronoun?

• figurative language

• words that replace nouns in a sentence

• words that describe a noun

• words that modify a verb

Multiple Choice

When is a pronoun vague?

• when a pronoun shows possession

• when a pronoun is used to ask a question

• when a pronoun could refer to more than one subject or the subject that the pronoun refers to is only implied

Multiple Choice

Which sentence contains a vague pronoun error?

• Although the bike hit the tree, the bike was not damaged

• Although the bike hit the tree, it was not damaged

Multiple Choice

Which sentence has a vague pronoun error?

• Armand visited George after his graduation ceremony had ended.

• Armand visited George after Armand's graduation ceremony had ended.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence contains a vague pronoun?

• As Joe was talking to Sam, Sam started to cry

• As Joe was talking to Sam, he started to cry.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence has a vague pronoun error?

• Eli is always thinking about computers; it seems to be his only interest.

• Eli is always thinking about computers; technology seems to be his only interest.

Multiple Choice

Which of the below sentences contains the vague pronoun?

• Despite the heat wave, they say that Seattle is a cool city.

• Despite the heat wave, the travel brochures say that Seattle is a cool city.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence contains the vague pronoun?

• The fans booed and jeered at the referee because he had called the game unfairly.

• The fans booed and jeered at the referee because he had called it unfairly.

Multiple Choice

What is a vague pronoun?

• A pronoun hiding in a secret location

• A pronoun with an unclear meaning

• A pronoun that mumbles when it talks

• A pronoun that is easy to identify

Multiple Choice

Which of the below sentences contains the vague pronoun?

• Dad yelled at Rick, but he was just being silly.

• Dad was just being silly when he yelled at Rick.

Open Ended

Correct the errors in the sentence:

Many youth groups have after-school activity, and they keep kids off the street.

Open Ended

Correct the errors in the sentence:

The leaves on the trees are changing color. It will soon fall to the ground.

Open Ended

Correct the errors in the sentence:

Lisa and I are in the school play because I excell at acting.