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Agreement with antecedents of who, which, and that

Like most pronouns, the relative pronouns who, which, and that have antecedents, nouns or pronouns to which they refer. Relative pronouns used as subjects of subordinate clauses take verbs that agree with their antecedents.

Example sentence: Take a suit that travels well.

one of the . . .

When faced with a construction such as one of the students who (or one of the things that), do not assume that the antecedent must be one. Instead, consider the logic of the sentence.

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: Our ability to use language is one of the things that sets us apart from animals. Revised sentence: Our ability to use language is one of the things that set us apart from animals. Explanation: The word 'sets' has been replaced by 'set.'

The antecedent of that is things, not one. Several things set us apart from animals.

only one of the . . .

When the word only comes before one, you are safe in assuming that one is the antecedent of the relative pronoun.

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: Veronica was the only one of the first-year Spanish students who were fluent enough to apply for the exchange program. Revised sentence: Veronica was the only one of the first-year Spanish students who was fluent enough to apply for the exchange program. Explanation: The word 'were' has been replaced by 'was.'

The antecedent of who is one, not students. Only one student was fluent enough.

Subject-verb agreement at a glance

When to use the -s (or -es) form of a present-tense verb

Exercises:

Subject-verb agreement 1

Subject-verb agreement 2

Subject-verb agreement 3

Subject-verb agreement 4