GMAT Prep - Verbal - Sentence Correction - Pronouns with Compound Antecedents by Knewton

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Pronouns need to agree with their antecedents, so singular antecedents need to take singular pronouns and plural pronouns must refer to plural antecedents. This can get confusing if the antecedent of a pronoun is compound, meaning composed of two or more nouns. If these two nouns are connected by the conjunction "and," the pronoun almost always takes a plural form. Let's look at some examples.

This sentence reads:

My car and my truck need to be washed so that rust doesn't damage it.

The antecedent of the pronoun, "it," is proceeded by "my car and my truck," a compound noun connected by the conjunction "and." Since this is connected by the conjunction "and," it should be treated as a plural noun and we need a plural pronoun. So instead of "it," we should use "them."

The correct sentence reads:

My car and my truck need to be washed so that rust doesn't damage them.

On the other hand, pronouns for subjects connected by or, either/or, or neither/nor agree only with the final noun. Check out this example:

Either Jack or Jill should receive first prize for their painting.

Our pronoun needs to agree with the final noun in our compound antecedent, Jill. Since our antecedent is singular and feminine, our pronoun should not read "their," but should instead read "her."

This sentence is correctly rewritten as:

Either Jack of Jill should receive first prize for her painting.

Similarly, take a look at this sentence:

Neither the mouse nor the rabbits could find its way through the maze.

The pronoun "its" ought to agree with the final noun in the construction, "rabbits." "Rabbits" is a plural noun, so we should use a plural pronoun "their."

This sentence is correctly written as:

Neither the mouse nor the rabbits could find their way through the maze.




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[Alyssa18326]

concise and very effective.

[myb7ls]

(We think that Joe and Reg should make up a game plan and stick to them) find the pronoun and the antecedent for that....

[myb7ls]

so is neither single?

[ooimizuoo]

For the second example:

Either Jack or Jill should receive First Prize for their painting.

can you please explain why you would use "her painting" and not "his/her painting"?

Thanks!!

[Ingenue001]

cool

[Ronwang]

One-on-One GMAT Instructor Available

I am working for GMAT Verbal at downtown Chicago for one-on-one tutoring. Please contact me at 312-560-1688 right the way. Donation would be appreciated.

Best wishes,

Ron Wang

Math 43/51 AWA 5/6

DePaul University Alumni

[ankitraheja]

good video but don't you think your videos should be much longer and encompass more questions... and you can talk abt some exceptions to the rule also. I believe 2 min is little too less to explore a rule properly

Btw.. Good work :-)....that you are using online media to reach to wider segment.

[lld1903]

Very clear to understand.

[cowboybill104]

Nice and informative. Glare on the speaker's glasses is a little distracting.

[viky1147]

It is clear about the content and it is usefull.