STEP 1: DEFINITION

Pronoun reference and agreement refer to the replacement of nouns with pronouns. For example: Carla is taking her vacation in May. She is going to Hawaii. The pronouns her and she refer to Carla. Using pronouns helps writers avoid redundancy. 

  • their antecedents (the nouns they are replacing) must be clear: I moved all the furniture. It was heavy. (It clearly refers to the furniture.)
  • they must agree in gender: Patricia is taking her cat to the vet.
  • they must agree in number: Where are Mr. Park and his wife? They are in Spain. 
Here is a brief list of subject, object, and possessive  pronouns:
 
SUBJECT OBJECT   POSSESSIVE
    I     me    mine
   you     you    your
   he     him    his
   she     her    hers
   it     its    its
   we     our    ours
   they     their    theirs

Indefinite pronouns include each, every, everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, no one, nobody, anyone, anybody. They are singular, so  they require singular pronouns. For example: Everyone has his or her opinions (not Everyone has their opinions).

Errors in pronoun reference occur when the reference is ambiguous, the antecedent is unclear, or the pronoun is incorrect in number or gender.

Incorrect: Lisa was standing by the window drinking a cup of tea when it broke.

Correct: Lisa was standing by the window drinking tea when the cup broke. 

Incorrect: The girls were selling cookies in front of it. 

Correct: The girls were selling cookies in front of the store. 

Incorrect: Everyone has their own cultural traditions.

Correct: Everyone has his or her own cultural traditions.

Incorrect: A secret activity is like a double-edged sword; they can help us or hurt us.

Correct: A secret activity is like a double-edged sword; it can help us or hurt us.

STEP 2: QUIA PRACTICE EXERCISES

Practice 1 - Recognizing pronoun reference agreement errors in sentences 
Practice 2 - Recognizing pronoun reference agreement errors in paragraphs 

STEP 3: LEARNING MORE

For more information on pronoun reference agreement, follow these links:

http://www.chompchomp.com/hotpotatoes/proref1.pdf 
http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/style/genderbias.html 
http://gabiscott.com/bigdog/reference.htm 
http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/pronouns.html