Pronoun agreement is an important grammatical concept that should be mastered by anyone looking to communicate clearly and effectively. Simply put, pronoun agreement is all about making sure that the pronouns used in a sentence agree in terms of number, person, and gender with the nouns they are referring to.
For example, consider the following sentence:
“John went to the store, and he bought a sandwich for him and his friend.”
In this sentence, “he” is being used as a pronoun to refer to John. The pronoun “his” is also being used to refer back to John, showing possession. The pronoun “him” is used to refer to John`s friend. All of these pronouns are in agreement with the nouns they are referring to in terms of number, person, and gender.
But what happens when the pronouns don`t agree? Let`s take a look at an example:
“Melissa and me are going to the movies.”
In this sentence, “me” is being used instead of “I”. This is a common mistake that people make when trying to sound more casual or conversational. However, it`s important to remember that “I” is the proper pronoun to use in this case because it is the subject of the sentence. So the correct version of this sentence would be:
“Melissa and I are going to the movies.”
Another common mistake is to use a plural pronoun to refer to a singular noun. For example:
“Each student must bring their own pencil.”
In this case, “their” is being used as a gender-neutral pronoun to refer to “student”. However, “student” is singular, and “their” is plural. To fix this, you could rephrase the sentence to avoid the pronoun altogether:
“Each student must bring his or her own pencil.”
Or you could use a singular gender-neutral pronoun like “they” or “them”:
“Each student must bring their own pencil” becomes “Each student must bring their own pencil. They can buy one at the store if they forget.”
In conclusion, pronoun agreement is an important part of writing and speaking correctly and clearly. When using pronouns, always remember to make sure they agree with the nouns they are referring to in terms of number, person, and gender. By doing so, you`ll be well on your way to becoming a master communicator.