STUDENT LESSON SUMMARY LESSON COPYMASTER Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement 8 ACADEMIC VOCABULARY antecedent: the noun or pronoun that a pronoun refers to number (in grammar): singular or plural gender (in grammar): masculine, feminine, or neutral person (first, second, or third): who is addressed by words or text HERE’S HOW Singular Plural First Person I, me, my, mine we, us, ours Second Person you, your, yours you, you, yours Third Person (masculine) he, him, his -- Third Person (feminine) she, her, hers -- Third Person (neutral) it, its they, them, their, theirs Step 2: Make sure that a pronoun has an antecedent. the pronoun may be unclear. Without an antecedent, Step 3: Make a pronoun agree with its antecedent in number. • Use a plural pronoun for antecedents joined by and. • For a pronoun that refers to nouns or pronouns joined by or or nor, use the number that agrees with the antecedent nearest to the pronoun. • For a collective noun, use a singular pronoun if the noun names a group acting together. Use a plural pronoun if the group’s members act independently. EXAMPLES Rama and Ravana clash when they fight over Rama’s wife Sita. (plural) Neither Rama’s troops nor Ravana can defeat his foes. (singular) Step 4: Make a pronoun and its antecedent agree in person. Avoid switching from one person to another in the same sentence or paragraph. EXAMPLES Grammar 8 Copyright by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company Step 1: Review the types of personal pronouns. Incorrect: Most Indians know the stories of your famed epics. Correct: Most Indians know the stories of their famed epics. (third person) Step 5: Be sure the gender of a pronoun and its antecedent match. Don’t use masculine pronouns when you mean to refer to both genders or to neutral gender. EXAMPLES Unclear: Every reader of the Ramayana has his favorite tales. Clear: Every reader of the Ramayana has his or her favorite tales. Clear: Readers of the Ramayana have their favorite tales. Standards Lesson Files Book 5: Grammar Grade 9 71 Name LESSON 8 Date PRACTICE WORKSHEET A COPYMASTER Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Directions: Correct any errors in pronoun-antecedent agreement by rewriting each sentence. If the sentence is correct as is, write C. 1. Rama and Ravana are well known in India because of his roles in the epic Ramayana. 2. In the epic, either Rama or his half-brother Bharata must give up his claim to the throne. 3. Rama, his wife Sita, and his brother Lakshmana leave his or her home to live in the forest. 4. There, the demon king Ravana and his army kidnap Sita and take her away to its land. 5. Rama and Lakshmana cannot rescue Sita until a band of bears and monkeys offers 6. At the head of the band is their leader, the mighty monkey-general Hanuman. 7. Neither Ravana nor his demons are easy to defeat because of his ability to change shape. 8. However, Ravana is defeated by Rama’s army through your many individual feats of strength and bravery. Grammar 8 9. Ravana’s army must accept their defeat. 10. Rama and Sita return to his or her country’s capital, where Rama is crowned king. 72 Book 5: Grammar Grade 9 Standards Lesson Files Copyright by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company him help. Name Date LESSON 8 PRACTICE WORKSHEET B COPYMASTER Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement A. Directions: Correct any errors in pronoun-antecedent agreement by rewriting each sentence. If the sentence is correct as is, write C. 1. Mount Everest divides Tibet from Nepal, with Nepal situated on their south side. 2. Mount Everest was formed about 60 million years ago, but until May 29, 1953, no one had ever climbed to his highest point. 3. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first men to do so when they reached the summit on that date. 4. Hillary, a beekeeper from New Zealand, and Norgay, from a farming family in Nepal, first met when he joined an expedition to climb Everest. B. Directions: Rewrite the boxed paragraph, correcting any errors in pronoun-antecedent agreement. (HINT: There are five changes that must be made.) (6.) The group lost many of their members when climbers turned back. (7.) However, neither Hillary nor Norgay wanted to give up their dream. (8.) After a superhuman effort, either Hillary or Norgay put their foot on the summit first, but neither would say who did so. (9.) Hillary and other climbers have written books about his experiences conquering the world’s highest mountain. (10.) For example, Jon Krakauer describes an adventure on Mount Everest in its book, Into Thin Air. Grammar 8 Copyright by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company 5. When the men began the expedition, it all dreamed of being the first to reach the summit. Standards Lesson Files Book 5: Grammar Grade 9 73