10 Pronouns and Antecedents

After studying this chapter, you can impress (or annoy) family and friends by casually mentioning the word antecedent in an everyday conversation.

To learn about antecedents, we’ll start with this sentence:

The Razorbacks defeated LSU.

In the next sentence, I want to refer to the Razorbacks again, but I will use pronouns instead of repeating Razorbacks.

The Razorbacks defeated LSU. They have won their last five games by at least 20 points.

In this example, the plural noun Razorbacks is the antecedent for the plural possessive pronoun they and the possessive form their.

Without pronouns, the sentence might look like this:

The Razorbacks defeated LSU. The Razorbacks have won the Razorbacks’ last five games by at least 20 points.

An antecedent is the word that a pronoun replaces. We can call their a possessive form of the pronoun they because their shows ownership. In the example above, the games belong to the Razorbacks (their games).

It may help you to see a listing of pronouns by groups:

For purposes of this chapter, recognize the words in the chart above as pronouns. Note that the first-person and third-person lists include a mix of singular and plural pronouns, while the second-person you is correct as plural or singular. In the next chapter, we’ll discuss the use of the pronoun they as both singular and plural.

To define some possessive forms, grammar books may use specialized terms such as possessive determiner or pronominal adjective. These terms apply when the possessive form comes before a noun, as in the following examples:

• my decision
• our house
• your book
• her job
• his headphones
• its tail
• their games

In defining grammatical constructions such as you see in the list above, the Media Writer’s Handbook simply says that “some possessive case pronouns can also function as adjectives.”

The terminology may become clearer as you practice correct usage.

The next question changes the sentence in the previous flip card to include a possessive form.

In the example above, notice that the possessive form its does not have an apostrophe. Don’t confuse its with it’s, which is a contraction for it is or it has.

You probably wouldn’t write that the boy lost hi’s glasses. The possessive form his shows ownership. The same is true for the possessive form its with no apostrophe.

If you are still confused, follow this advice in your writing: Never use it’s. Use its as a possessive form and avoid the contraction it’s by spelling out it is and it has in all instances. Here are three examples:

It has become clear to the mayor that the ballot initiative will not pass. (not It’s)

It is a beautiful evening. (not It’s)

The golf club has increased its fee. (The possessive form its refers back to the golf club and shows ownership of the fee.)

If it helps, you can also consult a detailed explanation and an accompanying quiz from dictionary.com.

Now we’ll try another question.

Next, let’s start with this problematic sentence:

Everyone who works at the company should express their opinions.

Everyone is an indefinite pronoun because it doesn’t have a specific antecedent. Everyone seems to be plural because it refers to more than one person, but it is actually singular. It ends with one, which is singular.

How could you improve the sentence above?

Here are two options that work:

Everyone who works at the company should express an opinion.
You can keep Everyone at the start of that sentence if you change their opinions (plural) to an opinion (singular).

All company employees should express their opinions.
People who work at a company are employees, so employees is a more specific plural noun that you can use to accompany the plural possessive form their.

In many instances, you can prevent problems with indefinite pronouns by avoiding them, as demonstrated in the second option above.

Here is a list of indefinite pronouns that frequently create challenges for media writers: