Antecedents

Theory: An antecedent is the noun or pronoun that a pronoun refers to in a sentence. A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number (singular or plural)  and gender (masculine, feminine, neutral).

Examples:

• The students finished their homework. ( The antecedent is ”students” and the pronoun “their” refers to ”students.”)
• Sarah lost her book. (The antecedent is ”Sarah” and the pronoun “her” refers to ”Sarah.”)

Exercise: Identify the antecedent in the following sentences:

1. When Tom arrived, he was excited.
   (The antecedent is ”___________________” and the
   pronoun  “___________________” refers to ”___________________.”)
2. The dogs barked until they were tired.
   (The antecedent is ”___________________” and the
   pronoun  “___________________” refers to ”___________________.”)
3. Mary and Jessica packed their bags for the trip.
   (The antecedent is ”________________________” and the
   pronoun  “___________________” refers to ”___________________.”)
4. A writer must revise his or her work carefully.
   (The antecedent is ”________________________” and the
   pronoun  “___________________” refers to ”___________________.”)
5. The car wouldn’t start because it was out of gas.
   (The antecedent is ”_______” and the pronoun  “_______” refers to ”______.”)

Post your reply. Copy and paste each problem into your reply. Respond to the best of your ability by adding the antecedent and the pronoun which is referring to the antecedent on the blank lines. (You may erase the line, but please preserve the quotation marks (” “).
E.g., When Tom lost his wallet, he was not concerned.
(The antecedent is ”Tom” and the
pronoun  “he” refers to ”Tom.”)

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assessment