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The Pronoun Agreement error might be difficult to catch on the first read-through.
(A) “in order for” is fine. Make your own sentence. In order for her to gain weight, Jules learned
to cook.
(B) cross out the prep phrase for the basketball team to simplify the sentence. It now reads: In
order to believe in and be engaged by... The “to” is distributed to both “believe” and “engaged”
and to believe in and be engaged by are parallel.
(C) “they” is a pronoun, so let’s first check for ambiguity. What could “they” refer to? “Team” is
singular, so can’t be that, and “coach” is singular so can’t be that. The “they” is vague. If it does
refer to coach, then we would have a pronoun agreement error. Let’s change they have to
he has.
(D) “expert” is a noun, so let’s check for noun agreement. “Coach” is singular and “expert” is
singular so they both check.
Revised sentence:
In order for the basketball team to believe in and
A he has Pronoun Agreement/Ambiguity
be engaged by the new coach, they have to come
B C
across as an experienced expert on the court.
D
No error
E
Correct Answer: (C)
- Our new business partners are the most
A
hardworking people we have ever known, and our
B
chief priorities, increasing profit and strengthening
C
client relations, are similar to them. No error
D E
Sometimes your ear will catch the Pronoun Case rule. But if you missed it, let’s check the answer choices.
(A) “most” tells us to check for a possible counting error. Should it be “more” instead? I think it is
safe to assume that they have met more than two people in their lives, so “most” is correct.
(B) “have ever known” is a present perfect verb. (Notice the have connected to the past participle
known.) Is this an action that occurred at no set time in the past or that has continued on into
the future? Yes! We have ever known indicates everyone they’ve met in the past AND everyone
they’ve met in the present.
(C) “chief” is an adjective modifying the noun “priorities.” Might also want to check for noun
agreement. There are two priorities listed: increasing profit AND strengthening client relations,
so “priorities” should indeed be plural.