Antecedent pronoun agreement is a grammatical concept that is essential to producing clear and concise writing. It concerns the agreement between a pronoun and its antecedent, which is the noun or noun phrase that the pronoun replaces. The pronoun must agree in number and gender with the antecedent to ensure that the meaning of the sentence is clear.
For example, consider the following sentence:
„Sarah told John that she would meet him at the park.”
In this sentence, „she” is the pronoun and „Sarah” is the antecedent. The pronoun „she” agrees with the antecedent „Sarah” in gender, as both are feminine. Additionally, the pronoun „him” is the antecedent, and it agrees with the pronoun „John” in gender and number.
Antecedent pronoun agreement is important to ensure that the reader can easily follow the writer`s train of thought. If the agreement between the pronoun and antecedent is incorrect, the sentence can become confusing or even meaningless.
Consider the following incorrect sentence:
„John told Sarah that he would meet her at the park, but she forgot to bring his jacket.”
In this sentence, there is confusion over the antecedent of the pronoun „his.” It is unclear whether it refers to John or Sarah. To correct this, the sentence could be revised as follows:
„John told Sarah that he would meet her at the park, but Sarah forgot to bring her jacket.”
In this revised sentence, the pronoun „her” agrees with the antecedent „Sarah” in gender and number, making it clear that Sarah forgot her own jacket.
In conclusion, antecedent pronoun agreement is an essential aspect of clear and concise writing. Writers should pay close attention to ensure that their pronouns agree with their antecedents in gender and number to avoid confusion and ensure that their message is effectively communicated to their readers.