Pronoun-antecedent agreement ensures that pronouns correctly refer to their antecedents in terms of person, gender, and number. It is important for clarity and professionalism in writing.
Pronoun-antecedent agreement is a concept within the language in which a pronoun must function correctly and agree with the antecedent to which it refers. A pronoun takes the place of a noun in a sentence, such as “it” or “his,” while an antecedent is the noun in a sentence referred to by a pronoun and takes its place. For example, in the sentence “Bill ate the pizza he made”, the pronoun “he” refers to “Bill”, which is the antecedent. Pronoun-antecedent agreement is ensured when the person, gender, and number are correct between both.
The idea behind the pronoun-antecedent agreement stems from the need to ensure logical consistency within a sentence. Pronouns and antecedents must agree to ensure that a reader or listener is able to clearly understand what a pronoun refers to. It is also a grammatical rule, however, and the lack of pronoun-antecedent agreement can make the writing look unprofessional and be criticized in scholarly works.
One of the first things that must be ensured for the pronoun-antecedent agreement is that the “person” is kept between them. In this case, “person” refers to first, second, or third person language usage. The word “I” is considered in the first person, as it expresses something from the point of view of the writer, while “you” is in the second person and is addressed to the reader. In the sentence “Bill went to the store and you bought some groceries”, there is a lack of agreement between “Bill”, the third person and “you”. It should read “Bill went to the store and bought some groceries” for clarity and accuracy.
It is also important to maintain gender consistency for correct pronoun-antecedent agreement. In the sentence “Bill quickly opened the door because he heard the phone ringing”, there is a lot of room for confusion. Unless the context has established a basis for the gender reassignment of “Bill,” this sentence doesn’t make much sense. This is also an important consideration in avoiding sexism in writing; the use of neuter antecedents with masculine pronouns is often considered unprofessional.
The number of objects is also important for pronoun-antecedent agreement. If the antecedent is plural, the pronoun must also be plural. “My dog likes to bark when they hear me coming home” doesn’t make sense because there is no numerical agreement. The antecedent should be changed to “dogs” or the pronoun should become singular. In this case the verb “listen” is also used since it is based on the number of the pronoun.
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