PRONOUN AGREEMENT EXERCISE 2
C1–C2 · AdvancedPronouns need to refer clearly and appropriately to the people or things they replace. This exercise examines agreement in sentences with plural subjects, indefinite pronouns, and expressions joined by either...or.
Choose whether each of the following sentences has correct pronoun agreement or not.
1. Each of the students spoke about their siblings.
Correct answer: INCORRECT — each is singular — should be his or her, not their.
2. Some of the teachers were complimented on his/her approach.
Correct answer: INCORRECT — some of the teachers is plural — should be their, not his/her.
3. Either Mr. Williams or Mrs. Crowe has to give her approval.
Correct answer: CORRECT — either...or with singular nouns — use the pronoun matching the closer noun: Mrs. Crowe → her.
4. Everyone has to be in their seat when the bell rings.
Correct answer: INCORRECT — everyone is technically singular — formally should be his or her, not their.
5. Neither of the students passed his test.
Correct answer: CORRECT — neither of + plural noun = singular reference — his is formally correct here.
6. Both my brother and his girlfriend have finished eating their chips.
Correct answer: CORRECT — both is plural — their correctly agrees with both brother and girlfriend.
7. Few lawyers do her job as well as Fiona.
Correct answer: INCORRECT — few lawyers is plural — should be their, not her.
8. Several of the people at the restaurant got sick right after eating their food.
Correct answer: CORRECT — several is plural — their correctly agrees with the plural group.
9. Both my neighbors walk his/her dog every morning.
Correct answer: INCORRECT — both my neighbors is plural — should be their, not his/her.
10. Everybody has to put away his/her phone for the duration of the class.
Correct answer: CORRECT — everybody is singular — his/her is the formally correct agreement.
Did you know?
Pronoun agreement errors are invisible to the writer but immediately visible to the examiner.
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and gender: Every student must bring their own pencil (not his pencil, not its pencil) is now standard in academic writing. But more problematic are agreement errors with collective nouns (the team, the committee) and indefinite pronouns (everyone, nobody), both frequently tested in TOEFL sentence correction and Cambridge Use of English.
IELTS Grammatical Range & Accuracy penalises consistent agreement errors because they interfere with meaning. This exercise targets the agreement patterns that cause the most trouble at B2 and above.
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and gender: Every student must bring their own pencil (not his pencil, not its pencil) is now standard in academic writing. But more problematic are agreement errors with collective nouns (the team, the committee) and indefinite pronouns (everyone, nobody), both frequently tested in TOEFL sentence correction and Cambridge Use of English.
IELTS Grammatical Range & Accuracy penalises consistent agreement errors because they interfere with meaning. This exercise targets the agreement patterns that cause the most trouble at B2 and above.
KEEP PRACTICING: MORE EXERCISES FOR YOU
Pronoun agreement is one of the trickier advanced grammar points; these exercises cover the full pronoun system.
More pronoun exercises:
Subject pronouns 1 (A1/A2)
Subject pronouns 2 (A1/A2)
Subject pronouns 3 (A1/A2)
Direct object pronouns 1 (A1/A2)
Direct object pronouns 2 (A1/A2)
Possessive pronouns 1 (A2/B1)
Reflexive pronouns 1 (A2/B1)
Reflexive pronouns 2 (A1/A2)
Reflexive or object pronoun? 1 (A2/B1)
Indefinite pronouns 1 (B1/B2)
Indefinite pronouns 2 (B1/B2)
Related subject-verb agreement:
Subject-verb agreement 1 (B1/B2)
Subject-verb agreement 2 (B1/B2)
Browse all grammar exercises →
Pronoun agreement is one of the trickier advanced grammar points; these exercises cover the full pronoun system.
More pronoun exercises:
Subject pronouns 1 (A1/A2)
Subject pronouns 2 (A1/A2)
Subject pronouns 3 (A1/A2)
Direct object pronouns 1 (A1/A2)
Direct object pronouns 2 (A1/A2)
Possessive pronouns 1 (A2/B1)
Reflexive pronouns 1 (A2/B1)
Reflexive pronouns 2 (A1/A2)
Reflexive or object pronoun? 1 (A2/B1)
Indefinite pronouns 1 (B1/B2)
Indefinite pronouns 2 (B1/B2)
Related subject-verb agreement:
Subject-verb agreement 1 (B1/B2)
Subject-verb agreement 2 (B1/B2)
Browse all grammar exercises →
