A Linguistics Workbook, 4th Edition

Name

Section

8.8 Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement: English

The following "agreement principle" can be found in College Entrance Reviews in

English Composition (revised 1971). Study "Principle 9" and answer the questions

that follow.

Principle 9. The number of a pronoun is determined by its antecedent. Every, each,

everyone, anybody, no one, etc., are singular antecedents. In most instances, in

order to avoid awkwardness, he or his is used to denote both masculine and

feminine genders.

1. If anybody is looking for an exciting plot, let him (not them) read this book.


2. Every one of them spoke up for his own point of view.


3. Every girl and every boy in the class is making his oral report on the
   supplementary book today.

Questions

A. Under the view expressed in Principle 9 it is "incorrect" to write a sentence

like example 4.

4. Every one of them spoke up for their own point of view.

Nonetheless, examples such as 4 are certainly common these days. Ask your

peers whether examples 5 and 6 sound "okay" or not and record your results.

5. Anyone who thinks they can graduate in two years without working is either
   a genius or out of touch.


6. Somebody in the house left the lights on, didn't they?