1

AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
SUBJECT AND
VERB

The verb must

agree with its
subject in number

The number of the noun in

a phrase introduced by the
preposition of does not
affect the number of the
verb

A list of (many things) has

been drawn up

A plural verb follows the

construction one of those
who because the
antecedent of who is plural
(those)

George is one of those men

who always score high in
tests

Relative clauses introduced

by who, that or which take
verbs agreeing with the
antecedent of the pronoun

Ulysses is one of the most

interesting books that have
ever been written

When the subject and

predicate nominative differ
in number, the verb agrees
with the subject, not the
complement

The theme of the novel is

the experiences of a
Hollywood writer

5
AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
SUBJECT AND
VERB

Compound subjects joined by and

ordinarily take a plural verb

Here come John and his sister

Each of the following indefinite

pronouns takes a singular verb:
anyone, everyone, no one, each,
everybody,somebody, someone,
either, nothing, anything,
everything, neither

Everybody here knows the

importance of building vocabulay

Seven years is a long time for a

famine

7
The verb must
agree with its
subject in number

Nouns of quantity, although

plural in form, are often
understood as collective units and
therefore take singular verbs

If the parts of the unit are

considered more important than
the unit as a collective whole, the
verb must be plural: The majority
of the class are interested in their
work

CASE OF PRONOUNS
NOMINATIVE

OBJETIVE

POSSESIVE

Subject of a verb: He marches in the parade

Direct object of a verb: I admire him

Predicate Nominative: It is they

Indirect object of a verb: I gave him a book

To indicate possession, source, authorship,

and similar relationship:

Direct Address: You, go away!

Object of preposition: I gave it to him

I have read Johnson for his ironic wit

Appositive: He who knows pain -he and he

only- knows the fullness of life

Appositive: They nominated Joe for

president him, all the people

I know whose verse that is

Garlic has its own peculiar odor

I,

me,

my,

he,

him,

his,

She,

her,

her,

we,

us,

our,

they,

them,

their,

who

whom

whose

Use the nominative form

when the pronoun is
subject of a sentence or
clause, no matter what
the antecedent of the
pronoun is

His family disinherited

Cain because he was not
a good brother

FORMAL: It is I. That is
he. It is they

2
AGREEMENT
BETWEEN PRONOUN
AND ANTECEDENT

INFORMAL: It is me. That

is him. It is them

3
The pronoun must
agree with its
antecedent noun
or pronoun in
number, person,
and gender

After a linking verb, the

pronoun usually takes
the nominative case

Use the objetive case

when the pronoun is the
direct or indirect object
of a verb or preposition

Give that rod to Ed and

me

His instructors considered

him to be promising

Use the objective case

when the pronoun acts
either as subject of or as
object of an infinite

The investigators
suspected the embezzler
to be him

6
AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
PRONOUN AND
ANTECEDENT

The pronoun must

agree with its
antecedent noun
or pronoun in
number, person,
and gender

Pronouns take the same

case as the nouns or
pronouns to which they are
linked by coordinating or
correlative conjuctions

Between him and me

there is little to choose

Pronouns in apposition take

the same case as the noun
or pronoun of which they
are appositives

He murdered both of
them him and her

The conjuctions than and

as have no effect upon
the case of the pronoun
which follows them

You can be taller than

she (is)

The case of the

relative pronoun who
and whom is
determined by their
use in the sentence

NOMINATIVE: We tried to
determine who she was

OBJETIVE: Give the car to

whomever you wish

REFERENCE OF PRONOUNS

The pronoun must be placed as near as possible

to its logical antecedent
WRONG
Mary blushed when she looks at
her sister

RIGHT
Looking at her sister, Mary blushed

REFERENCE OF PRONOUNS

Avoid placing the pronoun in a position where it

may refer to more than one antecedent
WRONG
Stephen followed Tommy into a
corner, where he hid

RIGHT
Stephen followed Tommy into a
corner and saw him hide there

REFERENCE OF PRONOUNS

Avoid explaining the ambiguous pronoun by

placing its antecedent in parentheses
WRONG
Craven asked Nevin whether his
(Cravens) car would be safe in his
(Nevins) garage

REFERENCE OF PRONOUNS

Avoid using pronouns to stand for ideas rather

than for nouns
WRONG
Valerie brought home from school
several excellent ceramics and
watercolors. This made her family proud

RIGHT
The ceramics and watercolors Valerie
brought home from school made her
family extremely proud

REFERENCE OF PRONOUNS

Avoid using the pronouns it, you,and they to

stand for ideas rather than nouns
WRONG
The employer intended to wish good
cheer to each of his workers. He knew it
would make a splendid impression on
them

RIGHT
The employer intended to wish good
cheer to each of his workers. He knew
that such a message would make a
splendid impression upon them

REFERENCE OF PRONOUNS

Avoid repeating the same pronoun within a

single sentence when the pronoun has different
antecedents
WRONG
The club was the scene of a nightly
brawl; nevertheless it was patronized by
men who liked participating in it

RIGHT
The club was the scene of a nightly
brawl; nevertheless, men who liked it
participating in it patronized the club

REFERENCE OF PRONOUNS

Avoid impersonal expressions

WRONG
They say that the new crop of inductees
is well educated

RIGHT

Draft Officials say that the new crop of

inductees is well educated

REFERENCE OF PRONOUNS

Avoid referring to an antecedent so remote from

the pronoun that the central meaning of a
sentence is obscured
WRONG
The Aztecs for centuries held great power in Mexico.
The lakes were filled in and a great city developed.
They brought with them many cultural patterns
hitherto unknown to the natives

RIGHT

The Aztecs for centuries held great power in

Mexico. They filled in the lakes, introduce
cultural patterns hitherto unknown to the
natives, and developed a great city

REFERENCE OF PRONOUNS

Avoid referring to an antecedent in a subordinate

construction
WRONG
We bought copies of the magazine he
was selling to earn his way through
college. It was the New Yorker

RIGHT
We bought copies of the New Yorker, the
magazine he was selling to earn his way
through college

Noun clauses
He believed
If the verb in the main clause is in
the past or past perfect tense, the
verb in the noun clause is
generally (thought not invariably)
in the past or perfect tense

He had believed
that he
trisected
had trisected

He believes
He has believed

VERBS
SEQUENCE OF
TENSES

If the verb in the main clause is in

the present tense, the present
perfect tense, the future tense, or
the future perfect tense, the verb
in the subordinate clause may be
in any tense at all

He will believe
He will have believed

that he
trisects
trisected
will trisect
has trisected
had trisected
will have trisected

Logical sequence of tenses -adjusting

the tense of the verb in the subordinate
clause to the tense of the verb in the
main clause- ought to be maintained

He believed
He had believed
To express some universal truth
(real or supposed), a past tense in
the main clause may be followed
by a present tense in the
subordinate clause

that
Angles are trisectable
Angels guard us

Adverbial clauses
He was
If the verb in the main clause is
in the past or past perfect
honest althought
tense, the verb in the
subordinated clause is in the he
past or past perfect tense

He has been

was rich

VERBS

had been rich

SEQUENCE OF
TENSES

He is
He has been
He will be

Logical sequence of tenses -adjusting

the tense of the verb in the subordinate
clause to the tense of the verb in the
main clause- ought to be maintained

If the verb in the main clause is in the

present, present perfect, future or
future perfect tense, the verb in the
subordinate clause may be in any
tense at all

He will have been

honest althought
he

is rich
was rich
will be rich
has been rich
had been rich
will have been rich

Adjective clauses

VERBS
SEQUENCE OF
TENSES

Logical sequence of tenses -adjusting

the tense of the verb in the subordinate
clause to the tense of the verb in the
main clause- ought to be maintained

In adjective clauses, the

subordinate verb may
express any time that
the sense demands

Freud formulated the theory

which men ignored at first,
which they attack now, and
which they will accept
ultimately