EXERCISE 4. IN EACH SENTENCE BELOW, WRITE A PRONOUN THAT AGREES WITH I...

5. The building will have _____ roof repaired.

Indefinite Pronouns

Many problems of agreement arise with the words on the following list. They are

called indefinite pronouns. A personal pronoun that has one of these words as an an-

tecedent must be singular.

anybody either neither one

Note the following correct forms.

miiiiiiiiiiii

x

Each of the girls must bring her track shoes.

Each is singular. Her is singular.

mhiiiiiiiiiijr

x

hii

_x

Everybody must report to his or her adviser.

Everybody is singular. His . . . her with or is singular. Even though everybody “sounds”

plural, it isn’t. The use of their with everybody—or with any other word on the list—is in-

correct in formal English.

With either . . . or or neither . . . nor, use the nearer antecedent when choosing a

pronoun.

miiiiiii

_x

Either Jill or Claire will bring her records to the dance.

Jill . . . Claire is a compound subject. Since Jill is singular and Claire is also singular, the

singular her is used.

miiii

_x

Neither Norm nor his cousins buy their groceries here.

Norm is singular, but cousins is plural. Therefore, the plural their is used to agree with the

nearer antecedent, cousins.