Pronoun agreement exercise 1

Grammar review Making a pronoun match its noun

A pronoun (like he, she, they, his, her, their) has to match the noun it stands for. If the noun is one person, use a singular pronoun. If it's more than one, use a plural pronoun.

Words like everyone, everybody, someone, anyone, nobody are singular, even though they can feel like they mean "many people." Traditionally this meant using he or she: Everyone needs to bring his own lunch. Today, using they for one unknown person is also widely accepted: Everyone needs to bring their own lunch.

With "either...or" and "neither...nor," the pronoun matches whichever noun is closer to it: Neither Karen nor her sisters had finished their homework. (sisters is closer, so their)

With "both...and," the subject is always plural: Both the lamp and the mirror had their prices reduced.

Watch for distractions. A noun sitting close to the pronoun isn't always the one it refers back to. Read the whole sentence and find the actual noun the pronoun is replacing before deciding if it should be singular or plural.