Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement - Grade 6 Assessment

In grammar, we talk about pronouns and antecedents. What job does the antecedent do in a sentence?

• It's the noun or nouns that a pronoun refers back to.

• It's an action word, like 'run' or 'jump'.

• It's a word that describes a verb, like 'quickly'.

• It's the main subject that is always at the start.

Answer explanation

The antecedent is the specific noun that a pronoun replaces or refers to. The prefix 'ante-' means 'before,' and the antecedent usually comes before the pronoun.

Read this sentence carefully. Is the pronoun-antecedent agreement correct as it is written? Sentence: The dog wagged their tail when I came home from school.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

This is false. The antecedent 'dog' is singular, so the possessive pronoun should also be singular. The correct pronoun would be 'its' (The dog wagged its tail...). 'Their' is a plural pronoun.

Read the sentence below. Locate the antecedent (the proper noun) for the underlined pronoun 'he'. Write that one word in the blank. Sentence: My brother, David, got a new video game, and he plays it all the time.

Answer explanation

The pronoun 'he' is a singular, masculine pronoun. It refers back to the specific person being talked about, whose name is David. David is the antecedent.

Imagine you're talking about yourself and a friend. Which sentence correctly uses a pronoun to replace the antecedent 'Maria and I'?

• Maria and I went to the library, and she checked out three books.

• Maria and I went to the library, and they checked out three books.

• Maria and I went to the library, and you checked out three books.

• Maria and I went to the library, and we checked out three books.

Answer explanation

When the antecedent includes 'I' (first person), the correct plural pronoun to use is 'we'. 'They' would be used for two other people, like 'Maria and Sam'.

The students finished their group project on ancient Rome. Fill in the blank with the pronoun that best fits the sentence and agrees with the antecedent 'students'. Sentence: ______ were very proud of the poster they made.

Answer explanation

The antecedent 'students' is plural. The pronoun 'They' is the correct subject pronoun to refer to a plural noun like 'students'.

The school is having a fundraiser for the basketball team. Which sentence uses the possessive pronoun 'its' correctly to show something belongs to the school?

• The school is proud of it's students.

• The school knows its going to be a success.

• The school announced its goal is to raise $1,000.

• Its a great day for a fundraiser!

Answer explanation

'Its' is a possessive pronoun that shows ownership (like 'his' or 'her'). 'It's' is a contraction for 'it is'. In the correct answer, the 'goal' belongs to the school, so 'its' is the right choice.

A good sentence makes it totally clear what a pronoun is referring to. Read the sentence below. Is the antecedent for the pronoun 'it' clear? Sentence: Maya put the book on the shelf, but then she couldn't find it.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

This is false because the pronoun 'it' is unclear, or ambiguous. We don't know if 'it' refers to the 'book' or the 'shelf'. A clearer sentence would be: 'Maya couldn't find the book after she put it on the shelf.'

This next sentence has a common mistake with the indefinite pronoun 'Each'. Fill in the blank with the one word that corrects the pronoun error. Sentence: Each of the girls brought their own lunch to the field trip. Corrected version: Each of the girls brought ____ own lunch to the field trip.

Answer explanation

The indefinite pronoun 'Each' is singular, even though it refers to a group of 'girls'. Therefore, it requires a singular possessive pronoun. Since the group is 'girls,' the correct pronoun is 'her'.

When an antecedent is unclear, it can confuse the reader. Which of the sentences below is the clearest and avoids this problem?

• After Jake talked to his dad, he was in a much better mood.

• When the car hit the lamppost, it was badly damaged.

• I took the soda can out of the bag and recycled it.

• The teacher gave the student her phone back.

Answer explanation

This sentence is the clearest because 'it' can only logically refer to the 'soda can' (you recycle a can, not a bag). In the other options, the pronouns 'he,' 'it,' and 'her' could refer to more than one noun, making them unclear.

Let's practice fixing an error. In the sentence below, the pronoun 'it' does not agree with its antecedent 'laptops'. Fill in the blank with the correct pronoun to fix the sentence. Sentence: The new laptops are very fast, but it needs to be charged every night.

Answer explanation

The antecedent 'laptops' is a plural noun. The pronoun that refers to it must also be plural. The correct plural subject pronoun to replace 'it' is 'they'.