ERROR 4: PRONOUN AGREEMENT ERRORS
Definition
Pronoun agreement means that a pronoun must match the noun it refers to (called its antecedent) in number (singular or plural), gender (he/she/it/they), and person (first, second, or third). When a pronoun does not correctly match its antecedent, the sentence becomes confusing or grammatically incorrect.
The most common pronoun agreement error in modern writing involves using ‘they’ or ‘their’ to refer to a singular indefinite pronoun like ‘everyone,’ ‘someone,’ ‘a student,’ or ‘a person.’ Traditionally, grammar rules required a singular pronoun in these cases, often defaulting to ‘he’ or ‘he or she.’ However, the singular ‘they’ is now widely accepted in American English and is used to refer to a single person of unspecified or nonbinary gender. The key is consistency and clarity.
Another frequent error involves unclear pronoun reference, where it is ambiguous which noun the pronoun refers to. This is discussed further under Error 5, but it is important to note that pronoun agreement and pronoun reference are related but separate issues.
Rules
RULE: A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number. A plural pronoun (they, them, their) cannot refer to a singular antecedent unless singular ‘they’ is intentionally being used for a specific, known person.
RULE: Indefinite pronouns (everyone, someone, anyone, nobody, each, either, neither) are grammatically singular and traditionally take singular pronouns. In contemporary American English, using ‘they/their’ to refer to these is widely accepted.
RULE: Collective nouns used as antecedents take singular pronouns in American English: ‘The team won its championship,’ not ‘their championship.’
RULE: When the antecedent is a company, organization, or institution, use ‘it,’ not ‘they.’
Examples
✗ Each student must bring their own laptop to the exam.
✓ Each student must bring his or her own laptop to the exam. [OR: Students must bring their own laptops. — The singular ‘they’ is also increasingly accepted.]
✗ The company announced that they will expand next year.
✓ The company announced that it will expand next year. [Companies and organizations take ‘it.’]
✗ If anyone calls, tell them I’ll return their call after five o’clock.
✓ This is correct — ‘singular they’ is widely accepted in contemporary American English.
✗ The jury has reached their verdict.
✓ The jury has reached its verdict. [Collective noun: singular pronoun.]
✗ Everyone submitted their essay on time, but some were poorly edited.
✓ Everyone submitted his or her essay on time, but some were poorly edited. [Or restructure: ‘All students submitted their essays on time, but some were poorly edited.’]
✗ Neither candidate revealed their tax returns before the election.
✓ Neither candidate revealed his or her tax returns before the election. [‘Neither’ is singular.]
✗ The school sent a letter to each family informing them about the change.
✓ The school sent a letter to each family informing it about the change. [Or: The school sent letters to all families informing them about the change.]
✗ A doctor must always put their patient first.
✓ A doctor must always put his or her patient first. [Or: Doctors must always put their patients first.]
✗ Someone left their umbrella in the conference room.
✓ This is correct — singular ‘they’ is fully accepted when the person is unknown.
✗ The team celebrated their victory with a parade.
✓ The team celebrated its victory with a parade. [American English: collective noun takes singular pronoun.]
Extended Dialogue
In this dialogue, two graduate students, Elena and David, are discussing a journal article they are editing together.
Elena: David, I’ve been going through the pronoun usage in our draft and I’m not sure about a few things.
David: Sure, what’s confusing you?
Elena: We wrote: ‘Each participant must submit their survey form.’ My professor said ‘their’ is wrong here.
David: Because ‘each participant’ is singular?
Elena: Exactly. Traditionally, it should be ‘his or her survey form.’ But some style guides now accept the singular ‘they.’ Which one should we use?
David: I think the safest option for an academic journal is to rewrite the sentence: ‘All participants must submit their survey forms.’ Then ‘their’ is clearly plural and no one can object.
Elena: Smart. What about this one: ‘The research team presented their findings at the conference.’
[Note: ‘Their’ is incorrect because ‘the research team’ is a collective noun and takes singular pronouns in American English.]
David: That should be ‘its findings.’ ‘The research team’ is a collective noun — singular in American English.
Elena: So we’d say ‘The team presented its findings’? That sounds strange to me.
David: I know, it does feel awkward. Honestly, many writers just say ‘the researchers presented their findings’ to avoid the whole issue. That way it’s clearly plural and sounds natural.
Elena: Good solution. What about institutions? I wrote: ‘The university announced that they will be hosting a symposium.’
[Note: Institutions and organizations take ‘it’ as their pronoun, not ‘they.’]
David: That should be ‘it will be hosting.’ Institutions — universities, companies, governments — are ‘it,’ not ‘they.’
Elena: Even though a university is made up of many people?
David: Yes. In terms of grammar, the institution itself is a single entity. You’re not referring to the individual people within it. The moment you start referring to those people, you’d say ‘the faculty’ or ‘the administrators’ — with ‘they.’
Elena: Okay, one more: ‘Nobody submitted their assignment before the deadline.’
David: Technically, ‘nobody’ is singular and should take ‘his or her.’ But in contemporary American English, ‘nobody submitted their assignment’ is widely used and accepted — especially in informal and even many formal contexts. For our journal article, I’d rewrite it as ‘No students submitted their assignments before the deadline’ just to be safe.
Elena: You keep rewriting to avoid the problem entirely.
David: Sometimes that’s the cleanest solution. If the pronoun rule creates awkwardness, restructure the sentence so the antecedent is naturally plural.
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