Pronoun/Number Agreement
Did everyone remember to bring
their permission slip with them? |
The question above is grammatically incorrect.
Everyone is singular, strange
as that may seem, and refers to a collection of people.
It also refers to each individual in a collection of people—everyone.
To highlight this error, substitute the equivalent phrase each
of you into the permission slip sentence:
Did each of you remember to
bring their permission slip with them? |
The pronoun their is plural, but it refers
back to a singular subject, each of you—or, in
the previous sentence, everyone. The proper form
is:
Did everyone remember to bring his
or her permission slip with him
or her? |
Yes, this is cumbersome, but correct.
The following words behave just like everyone: anyone, no
one, nobody, every, and each.
On another topic, check out this sentence:
Acme Widgets reported today
that their earnings had fallen sharply. |
Widgets may be plural, but presumably
there is only one company called Acme Widgets. If
it’s a single company, it requires a singular pronoun:
Acme Widgets reported today
that its earnings had fallen sharply. |
Anytime you see a plural pronoun in a Writing item, check
the noun or pronoun it refers to and replaces (its antecedent)
to see whether this very common error is being
tested.
Watch out for “pronoun shift” too:
- Incorrect
If you start with a particular pronoun, one shouldn’t
shift to another later on in the sentence.
- Correct
So, if one would like to do as well
as one can on the SAT, keep this commonly tested
error in mind.
- Correct
That way, you will be happy with
the score you receive.
