Recommended resources
The freely available resources this lesson will direct you to.
Hello! Last time, you found the true subject of a sentence before choosing a verb. Today, you’ll use a related check: when you write it, they, or she, what exactly does that word refer to? A sentence can be grammatically complete and still make a reader stop because its pronouns are unclear.
That pause matters in an article or client email. This lesson will help you give each pronoun a clear antecedent—the person or thing it refers to—and keep the pronoun consistent with that meaning. You’ll also learn when repeating a noun is better than using a pronoun.
Follow the reference
A pronoun can stand in for a noun or noun phrase. In “The draft is ready, but it needs a headline,” it refers to the draft. The draft is the pronoun’s antecedent. If you replace it with the draft, the meaning remains clear: “The draft is ready, but the draft needs a headline.” The pronoun saves repetition.
A useful test is to substitute the intended noun for the pronoun. The following short video demonstrates that test when several nouns appear in one sentence.
Pronoun Agreement — avoid the most common traps to master this grammar rule
Watch “Pronoun Agreement — avoid the most common traps to master this grammar rule” from Settele Tutoring for a quick introduction to antecedents. Although it uses a test question, the method applies to everyday writing.
Watch the definition of a pronoun and antecedent. Then watch the substitution test: the speaker checks which noun makes sense when several nouns could seem to match a pronoun.
Meaning comes before proximity. In “The guide includes three checklists. They are short,” they refers to the checklists, not to guide, even though guide is the subject of the first sentence. Don’t automatically choose the nearest noun or the previous sentence’s subject. Ask which person or thing you actually mean.
Make one intended meaning easy to find
Consider this sentence from a discussion about a draft:
The writer emailed the editor after she checked the numbers.
Who checked the numbers—the writer or the editor? Both are possible antecedents for she. The writer knows the answer, but the reader does not. Changing she to a name or noun resolves it:
After checking the numbers, the writer emailed the editor.
The writer emailed the editor after the editor checked the numbers.
These revisions express different meanings. A pronoun is ambiguous when more than one reasonable antecedent fits; it is not enough for the writer to have one meaning in mind.
Purdue OWL’s “Pronouns—Clarity” shows this problem and two other useful checks: whether a sentence unexpectedly switches from one person to another, and whether a pronoun matches a single item or multiple items.
Pronouns—Clarity - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University
Read Purdue OWL’s “Pronouns—Clarity” to see how small pronoun changes can alter—or obscure—who does what.
Under “Clarity,” read the opening example. Compare the unclear and clear versions, and identify the two possible antecedents in the first. Immediately after that example, continue with the remaining guidance through the end of the page. Focus on the switches in person and quantity.
The simplest repair for an unclear pronoun is often to repeat the noun. Repetition is not automatically poor style. “The editor reviewed the draft. The editor requested a new opening” is slightly repetitive, but it is clearer than using she if several people have just been mentioned. Once the reference is secure, you can decide whether to combine or reshape the sentences.
Match the pronoun to what you mean
Pronouns must agree with their intended antecedents in number: a single thing usually takes it or its; multiple things take they, them, or their.
The article has lost its opening paragraph.
The articles have lost their opening paragraphs.
Notice how agreement and reference work together in a longer sentence:
The folder contains five articles. It is ready to share.
The folder contains five articles. They need a final proofread.
In the first version, it points to the folder. In the second, they points to the articles. Both can be correct. The check is not “Which noun is closest?” but “Which noun does this sentence mean?”
Two people or things joined by and normally take a plural pronoun: “The writer and editor shared their notes.” A collective noun such as team usually takes a singular pronoun in American English when you mean the group as one unit: “The team submitted its proposal.” If you mean the individuals, name them: “The team members submitted their sections.” This keeps the reference and the subject–verb agreement consistent.
Person must stay consistent, too. I refers to the speaker or writer, you addresses the reader, and he, she, and they can refer to people being discussed. An unplanned shift can change who seems responsible:
Confusing: A writer should check their sources before you submit an article.
Consistent: A writer should check their sources before they submit an article.
The first sentence begins with a writer in general, then suddenly addresses the reader. That shift could be deliberate in another context, but here it makes the advice less precise. If you want to speak directly to the reader throughout, write: “Check your sources before you submit an article.”
Refer to people accurately
For a person whose pronouns you know, use the appropriate ones. When a person’s gender is unknown or irrelevant, singular they is a useful choice in current professional English:
A client may ask for a shorter introduction. They might want the main point sooner.
Each writer should save their draft before editing.
They can refer to one person in these sentences. It still takes its usual verb form: they are, they have, and they want—not they is or they wants. This does not change the subject–verb agreement you learned last time: Each writer is responsible for a draft remains correct.
Another option is to make the antecedent plural: “Writers should save their drafts.” Choose the version that best fits your meaning; don’t make every sentence plural simply to avoid singular they.
For a brief discussion of known pronouns, singular they, and plural rewriting, read the indicated subsection of “Pronoun Agreement and Reference.”
Pronoun Agreement and Reference - Academic Skills
Read the “Gender and Pronouns” subsection of this Academic Skills guide for practical choices when referring to people.
In “Gender and Pronouns,” begin with the guidance on people. Read through the examples of using they for a person whose gender is unknown and making an antecedent plural. Stop after the paragraph that says you can pluralize the antecedent where you use they; the later “Singular Indefinite Pronouns” subsection takes a more restrictive approach than the usage taught here.
Supply a referent when one is missing
Sometimes the problem is not two possible antecedents but no clearly stated antecedent at all:
Unclear: Before publishing the recipe book, the writer tested them all.
Clear: Before publishing the recipe book, the writer tested all the recipes.
Them means recipes, but the sentence has named only a recipe book. A reader can guess what the writer means; professional writing should not need that guess. Naming recipes also lets you use a pronoun later: “The writer tested all the recipes before publishing them.”
A related problem occurs with broad words such as this, that, or it:
Vague: The introduction repeats the headline, and the first section repeats the introduction. This makes the article less useful.
Clearer: The introduction repeats the headline, and the first section repeats the introduction. This repetition makes the article less useful.
This can point back to an entire idea, but adding a noun—this repetition, this delay, this change—tells the reader which part of that idea matters. You do not need to add a noun after every this. Do so when a reader could reasonably ask, “This what?”
Use a pronoun check during revision
When proofreading a paragraph, pause at pronouns rather than judging each sentence alone. Read a sentence and the one before it together:
- Name the referent. For each it, they, this, he, or she, say the intended person or thing.
- Check for competitors or gaps. Could another noun fit? Has the intended person or thing actually been named?
- Check agreement and consistency. Does the pronoun suit one person or thing, or several? Has the sentence unexpectedly shifted between you and they?
- Revise for the reader. Repeat a noun, add a noun after this, or reshape the sentence if that makes the meaning immediate.
For example, imagine these lines in an article draft:
The guide compares two planning methods. It may help new writers, but they require different amounts of time.
It clearly means the guide. They is less secure: it could mean the methods or the writers. If the writer means the methods, naming them once settles the question:
The guide compares two planning methods. It may help new writers, but the methods require different amounts of time.
Pronouns are useful because they make prose less repetitive. They work best, though, when the reader never has to solve a puzzle to understand them.
Takeaways
A pronoun needs a referent the reader can identify, and its form should fit that referent. Check meaning, not just the nearest noun; watch for competing or missing antecedents; keep number and person consistent; and use singular they appropriately for a person. When a pronoun creates uncertainty, repeating or adding a noun is often the cleanest edit.
Next, you’ll move from reference to spelling and word forms, including how to use a spellchecker without accepting every suggestion automatically.