Agreement with compound antecedents

Treat compound antecedents joined by and as plural.

Example sentence: Joanne and John moved to Luray, where they built a log cabin.

With compound antecedents joined by or or nor, make the pronoun agree with the nearer antecedent.

Example sentence: Neither the mouse nor the rats could find their way through the maze.

If one of the antecedents is singular and the other plural, as in the second example, put the plural one last to avoid awkwardness.

EXCEPTION:If one antecedent is male and the other female, do not follow the traditional rule. Usually you will need to recast the sentence.

Incorrect example sentence: Either Bruce or Anita should receive first prize for her short story.

Exercises:

Pronoun-antecedent agreement 1

Pronoun-antecedent agreement 2

Pronoun-antecedent agreement 3

Pronoun-antecedent agreement 4