17 Lack of pronoun-antecedent agreement

17
Lack of pronoun-antecedent agreement

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Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in gender (male or female) and in number (singular or plural). Many indefinite pronouns, such as everyone and each, are always singular. When a singular antecedent can refer to a man or a woman, either rewrite the sentence to make the antecedent plural or to eliminate the pronoun, or use his or her, he or she, and so on. When antecedents are joined by or or nor, the pronoun must agree with the closer antecedent. A collective noun such as team can be either singular or plural, depending on whether the members are seen as a group or as individuals. (See 27b.)