The definition of subject/ pronoun and verb agreement: The idea that the subject verb agreement must match the Pronoun.
You will now your pronoun matches the subject/verb agreement when your subject(numbers of things) has a pronoun that can properly replace the subject.
You will now your pronoun matches the subject/verb agreement when your subject(numbers of things) has a pronoun that can properly replace the subject.
In the picture to the left there are a few examples of what singular, plural, and both singular and plural pronouns might look like.
Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that are set up to be singular by its prepositional phrases, and some examples of a prepositional phrase might be words like, for, to, and of.
Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that are set up to be singular by its prepositional phrases, and some examples of a prepositional phrase might be words like, for, to, and of.
In the example to the left there is two examples of correct and incorrect use of subject/verb and pronoun agreement.
In the first incorrect example it doesn't follow the rules of indefinite pronoun agreements.
Since the subject is "Everyone" and we know that everyone is a singular pronoun, the matching pronoun should also be singular. However, the pronoun was made plural by using the word "they" which made the sentence incorrect.
This was easily fixed in the correct example right below the first. Since "Everyone" is singular it only needs a matching singular pronoun. In the second example they use "he or she" as the singular pronoun. Now the sentence has a subject and pronoun agreement, perfect!
The idea is still the same in the second example. They use "someone" which is a singular subject, and try to match it with a plural pronoun "their".
So to fix the mistake they use "his or her" as their singular pronoun to match the singular subject "someone". Now that both the subject and pronoun have came to an agreement, we have another perfect sentence!
In the first incorrect example it doesn't follow the rules of indefinite pronoun agreements.
Since the subject is "Everyone" and we know that everyone is a singular pronoun, the matching pronoun should also be singular. However, the pronoun was made plural by using the word "they" which made the sentence incorrect.
This was easily fixed in the correct example right below the first. Since "Everyone" is singular it only needs a matching singular pronoun. In the second example they use "he or she" as the singular pronoun. Now the sentence has a subject and pronoun agreement, perfect!
The idea is still the same in the second example. They use "someone" which is a singular subject, and try to match it with a plural pronoun "their".
So to fix the mistake they use "his or her" as their singular pronoun to match the singular subject "someone". Now that both the subject and pronoun have came to an agreement, we have another perfect sentence!
Now that we have a good idea about how subject/verb and pronoun agreements work, lets see if you can do a few of these on your own!
For the next few examples try and guess which of the two pronouns best match or subject.
Good luck!
Example 1) Some young man has blocked the parking lot exit with (his, their) sports car.
Example 2) Everyone in the women's group has volunteered some of (her, their) time for the voting drive.
Example 3) Neither of the men arrested as terrorists would reveal (his, their) real name.
For the next few examples try and guess which of the two pronouns best match or subject.
Good luck!
Example 1) Some young man has blocked the parking lot exit with (his, their) sports car.
Example 2) Everyone in the women's group has volunteered some of (her, their) time for the voting drive.
Example 3) Neither of the men arrested as terrorists would reveal (his, their) real name.
The cheat sheet!
Example 1) Some young man has blocked the parking lot exit with his sports car.
The reason we use "his" instead of "their" is because when we say "some young man" that is our subject, and since this subject is singular our pronoun must be singular in order to have a perfect sentence.
Example 2) Everyone in the women's group has volunteered some of her time for the voting drive.
This one was pretty tricky, but nothing we can't handle! To solve example two we should check our subject. In this example it was "Everyone", so if you go back to the beginning where we learned that "Everyone" is actually singular; All we need is a matching singular pronoun(her).
Example 3) Neither of the men asserted as terrorists would reveal his real name.
The third example uses the subject "Neither of the men" which tells us the subject is singular. Now that we know the subject is singular, we just need to find the singular pronoun. In the case of this example it was the word "his".
Example 1) Some young man has blocked the parking lot exit with his sports car.
The reason we use "his" instead of "their" is because when we say "some young man" that is our subject, and since this subject is singular our pronoun must be singular in order to have a perfect sentence.
Example 2) Everyone in the women's group has volunteered some of her time for the voting drive.
This one was pretty tricky, but nothing we can't handle! To solve example two we should check our subject. In this example it was "Everyone", so if you go back to the beginning where we learned that "Everyone" is actually singular; All we need is a matching singular pronoun(her).
Example 3) Neither of the men asserted as terrorists would reveal his real name.
The third example uses the subject "Neither of the men" which tells us the subject is singular. Now that we know the subject is singular, we just need to find the singular pronoun. In the case of this example it was the word "his".