6. Agreement within a sentence

Agreements in sentences refer to the subjects agreeing with their verbs, and pronouns agreeing with their antecedents.

Subjects and their verbs

The subject and the main verb within a sentence must agree with each another in number, which is to say if a subject is singular, the verb must also be singular. Likewise, if a subject is plural, the verb must also be plural.

The subject and the main verb within a sentence must agree with each another in person as well. There are first person, second person, and third person.

Pronouns and their antecedents

A pronoun replaces an earlier noun which is called antecedent. The pronoun must agree with the antecedent it replaces in number (singular or plural), person (first, second, or third), and gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter).

Number

The pronoun must agree with the antecedent it replaces in number. This means a singular pronoun must replace a singular noun; and a plural pronoun must replace a plural noun.

Examples: 

  • A  dog  savaged a five-year-old child. Police have confirmed  it  was later destroyed.

  • My brother and I  had a real fight this morning. We  later apologized to each other.

Person

A singular pronoun must replace a singular noun and a plural pronoun takes the place of plural nouns.

Examples:

  • A  stranger  approached me for a cigarette.  He  looked like my cellmate in prison.
  • The father and son  are barbers in the same shop. They  are in fact owners of the shop.

Gender

:

A singular feminine pronoun must replace a singular feminine noun, and a singular masculine pronoun must replace a singular masculine noun.

Examples:

  • The princess  is getting engaged next month. Rumour has it that she  will be engaged to a commoner.
  • Abu  has three camels. He  inherited them from his  father.