Pronoun Antecedent Agreement Examples with Explanations for Sixth Grade ELA

📚 Quick Study Guide: Pronoun Antecedent Agreement

• 💡 What's a Pronoun? A word that takes the place of a noun (like he, she, it, they, them, us, her, his).
• 🎯 What's an Antecedent? The noun that the pronoun replaces or refers to. Think of it as the "boss noun" that comes before the pronoun.
• 🔢 Agreement Rule #1: Number! If the antecedent is singular, the pronoun must be singular. If the antecedent is plural, the pronoun must be plural.
  • ✨ Example (Singular): The dog wagged its tail. (Dog = singular, its = singular)
  • 🌟 Example (Plural): The students finished their homework. (Students = plural, their = plural)
• 🚻 Agreement Rule #2: Gender! If the antecedent has a clear gender (like 'boy' or 'girl'), the pronoun should match (he/him/his for male, she/her/hers for female).
  • 👦 Example: Carlos read his book.
  • 👧 Example: Maria loved her new shoes.
• 🤔 Tricky Ones: Indefinite Pronouns! Words like 'everyone,' 'nobody,' 'each,' 'either,' 'neither,' 'anyone,' 'somebody,' 'one' are usually singular.
  • 🧠 Remember: Everyone needs to bring his or her own pencil. (Many people think 'their' here, but 'everyone' is singular!)
  • ✅ Correct: Each of the girls brought her lunch.
• 🤝 Compound Antecedents:
  • ➕ If two singular antecedents are joined by "and," use a plural pronoun.
    • 👫 Example: Tom and Jerry always cause trouble for their owner.
  • ⚖️ If two singular antecedents are joined by "or" or "nor," the pronoun agrees with the antecedent closer to it.
    • 🚶‍♀️ Example: Neither Sarah nor her brothers remembered to bring their jackets.
    • 🚶‍♂️ Example: Neither her brothers nor Sarah remembered to bring her jacket.

✍️ Practice Quiz: Pronoun Power!

Choose the best pronoun to complete each sentence.

1. The baker carefully decorated the cake before ______ delivered it.
   1. he
   2. she
   3. they
   4. it
2. The students knew ______ had a big test coming up.
   1. he
   2. she
   3. they
   4. it
3. Each of the girls brought ______ favorite book to share.
   1. their
   2. her
   3. his
   4. its
4. My dog, Buster, loves to chase ______ tail.
   1. his
   2. her
   3. its
   4. their
5. Neither the boys nor the girl remembered to bring ______ umbrella.
   1. their
   2. his
   3. her
   4. its
6. Anyone who wants to join the club needs to sign ______ name on the list.
   1. their
   2. her
   3. his or her
   4. its
7. The team celebrated ______ victory with a big party.
   1. its
   2. their
   3. his
   4. her