Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

• Pronouns should agree with their antecedents in number, gender, and person to ensure clarity.
• Singular antecedents require singular pronouns.
  • Wrong: Alexa, with Amanda, goes to the cafeteria during lunch. She loves eating cheese sticks.
  • Correct: Amanda, who loves eating cheese sticks, goes to the cafeteria during lunch with Alexa.
• Plural antecedents require plural pronouns.
  • Wrong: Jake has dogs and he puts them in their beds. They are about to sleep.
  • Correct: Jake has dogs that are about to sleep. He puts them in their beds.
• Indefinite pronouns like anything, everyone, everybody, everything, either, neither, nobody, no one, one, little, much are singular.
  • Example: Either of the students got a perfect score. She studied very well the night before.
• Indefinite pronouns like all, almost, most, and some can be singular or plural, depending on the nouns they refer to.
  • Example: Most of the juice has been finished. It was very tasty.

Relative Pronouns: Whom vs. Who/Whose

• Who/Whose: Used for people; subject pronoun; can be replaced by he, she, they.
  • Whose example: Sim Jaeyun, whose music was recognized by Gabbie Bautista, performed his concert last night.
  • Who example: Jose Rizal, who was a Filipino Hero, fought for Philippines Freedom.
• Whom: Used for people; object pronoun; can be replaced by them, her, him, you.
  • Example: Steph Avancena, whom we were talking about, is a grade 11 student.

Relative Pronouns: That vs. Which

• That: Used if the antecedent is not specific; no comma precedes it.
  • Example: The book that I read was really exciting.
• Which: Used if there is a comma before it; provides more information about the word it refers to.
  • Example: Sinulog is a feast, which people from Cebu celebrate on the 3rd Sunday of January; it was celebrated on January 19, this year.
• Examples
  • Dwayne Johnson, who is also known as “The Rock” voiced Maui in Moana 1 and 2.
  • Inside out 2, whose author is Pixar studios Inc, was released last 2024.
  • The cake that we ate last night was yummy.

Voices of Verbs: Passive Voice

• The object is the subject of the sentence.
• The subject receives the action.
• Often in past tense form.
• Sentence Pattern: Subject, Linking Verb, Action Verb (S, LV, AV)
  • Example: The water in the ocean is being polluted.
    • S = water, LV = is, AV = being polluted

Voices of Verbs: Active Voice

• Person or animal is the subject of the sentence.
• The subject does the action.
• Subject is the actor.
• Sentence Pattern: Subject, Verb, Direct Object (S, V, DO)
  • Example: Humans often cause climate change.
    • S = Humans, V = cause, DO = climate change

More Examples: Passive Voice

• Climate change is caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels or pollution.
• The cake tasted so yummy that I ate very much.
• The cheetah is being fought by the lion.
• Humans are being affected by climate change.

More Examples: Active Voice

• When humans burn fossil fuels or pollute, they cause climate change.
• I ate very much cake because it tasted so yummy.
• The ocean is calm.
• The tree is growing apples.