Pronoun-antecedent agreement means ensuring that the pronoun you use matches its antecedent in number, person, and gender. The antecedent may also be something the person you’re speaking to said. It’s usually mentioned in the text before the pronoun, but sometimes it comes just after it in a sentence.

The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun that it refers back to. Despite the name, noun phrases can just as well consist of pronouns as of nouns.įor example, the sentence “You and I saw someone else” contains two noun phrases, both headed by pronouns: “you and I” and “someone else.” Pronoun antecedents The indirect object is someone or something that receives the direct object.Įxamples: Pronouns as direct and indirect objectsGive me that!Ĭan you promise her this? NoteA noun phrase is a noun or pronoun in combination with any determiners applied to it.The direct object is something or someone that is directly acted upon by the verb.It is difficult to stay calm in stressful situations.Ī pronoun can also function as the object in a sentence-either a direct or indirect object: Examples: Pronouns as subjects I like to play chess. Like nouns, pronouns commonly serve as the subject of a sentence, followed by a verb (a word expressing an action). Because of this, they are used in sentences in similar ways to nouns. The main function of pronouns is to replace nouns.

Personal pronouns (first-, second-, and third-person).

What pronoun is we