Talk

ing

to t

he t

ext

Talk

ing

to t

he t

extQuestions:

1) What two shootings were mentioned in the article specifically?

2) How many times did the Senate reject a bill to tighten background checks?

3) What issue would possibly be included if the Senate did push for a revote?

1)During away games, neither the basketball players nor

Coach Jones can get their beauty sleep because the college

vans bounce along on bad shock absorbers.

2)Both the living room furniture and the kitchen counter

have its surface scarred from cigarettes that my chain-

smoking Aunt Mary carelessly put down.

PRONOUN AGREEMENT: Warm-Up

VOC/SAT

2:

PRONOUN

AGREEMENT

NU

MBER &

GEN

DER

FACT: The most common issues tested on the grammatical errors identification section are: (1) pronoun, (2) verb tense, and (3) singular-plural.

PRONOUN AGREEMENTPronoun: a substitute for a noun. It refers

to a person, place, thing, feeling, or quality but does not refer to it by its name. (he, she, it, we, you, they, their, his, her, etc.)

Antecedent: the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers, understood by the context.

EX. The teacher was writing on the board. She was writing too fast for me.

WHOTHAT

(Restrictive-necessary)

WHICH(Non-

restrictive-expendable)

Generally used for people. 

~ ~ ~

Ex. John, who loves baseball, got a scholarship to Princeton.

Used for info you CANNOT change without changing the meaning

~ ~ ~

Ex. Gems that sparkle often elicit forgiveness

Ex. Cars that have hybrid technology get great gas mileage.

Used for extra, non-essential information (usually has commas)

~ ~ ~

Ex. Diamonds, which are expensive, often elicit forgiveness.

Ex. There was an earthquake in China, which is bad news.

PRONOUN AGREEMENT

RULE 1: All NOUNS and PRONOUNS in a sentence must have logical number (singular or plural) and gender (male, female, thing) agreement.

ONE ---- “One” HE/SHE ---- Singular

THEY/THEIR ---- Plural Things ---- it

EX: If one is to succeed in his/her

college, they must allow time to study.

 

*SINGULAR ANTECEDENTS:

anybody, every, no one, someone, anyone, everybody, each, every something, none, either/neither, somebody

PRONOUN AGREEMENT

RULE 2: When two antecedents are joined by OR or NOR, use the closest noun/pronoun to decide if it’s a singular or plural pronoun.

EX: Either Alex or Andy will bring their

model of a volcano to class.

 

PRONOUN AGREEMENT

RULE 3: Use a plural personal pronoun when two antecedents are joined by AND.

EX: Melissa and I are

studying for her exams.

 

PRONOUN AGREEMENT

RULE 4: Any non-essential information (set off by commas or a part of a prepositional phrase) is NOT typically used in an antecedent for the main portion of the sentence

Ex. The leader of the protesters , who was Republican,

shared their thoughts with the crowd.

(Prep phrase) (extra info)

PRONOUN AGREEMENT: Together

1. If anybody wants to succeed in corporate life, they have to know the rules of the game.

2.Kendra and Denise will share her project with the class today.

3.When the time arrives, Kevin or Frank will bring his book.

4.After welcoming the finalists, the director asked each of them to bring their own instrument.

5.The ideal castle was a self-sufficient village that met all of their resident’s needs.

•  

PRONOUN AGREEMENT REVEIW

1. Locate the pronoun

2. Ask “who/what” it is referring back to 1. NOT prep phrase or extra info2. Check list of “tricky singular words”

3. Edit so the pronoun is in agreement with the antecedent

1. AND = plural2. EITHER…OR = closest 3. THINGS = it or they

PRONOUN AGREEMENT1. If everyone picked up a single piece of litter

every day, you would discover that the planet would become a much cleaner place.

2. The Committee of Victorious Vegetarians picketed the cafeteria so that they could protest the cruel and unusual treatment of plant matter by the cooks.

3. While they were watching the Battle of the Bands, Mark and Pedro made bets on which musician of Nuclear Toasters would trash their guitar first.

4. The cats, along with Jasper the dog, believe that the bed is his, and humans are permitted to sleep on it only because they warm the mattress.

5.Jenny almost stabbed her husband Bill with the $150 sewing scissors because he had used it to cut roofing shingles.

6. Before a person adopts a big, hairy dog, they need to consider the amount of time spent vacuuming the floors.

7. Captain Kirk, as well as the other bridge crew, denied that they had dented the right thruster of the Enterprise while buzzing a Romulan outpost.

8. Every student, professor, librarian, groundskeeper, secretary, and coach cheered their approval when the cafeteria staff agreed to treat vegetables more kindly.

PRONOUN AGREEMENT

PRONOUN AGREEMENT

9. M friend Eric, like too many students in our Basic Spanish class, believes that they don't need to learn a foreign language.

10. Either Ryan or his brothers will give his socks to a complete stranger complaining about blisters.

11.My friends would argue less if everyone kept opinions about basketball, music, and women to themselves.

12. When classes begin this year, Edgewater High School will only allow their students to have piercings in their ears.