21st Century Grammar Handbook Read Online Free PDF

forced in modern American English.
(British English
usually treats suchcollectives as plural, making a correct American plural construction sometimes seem like an affectation of British “refinement.”)
    INDEFINITE PRONOUN SUBJECT . Some
indefinite
pronouns
(“another,” “anybody,” “anyone,” “each,”
“either,” “everyone,” “everything,”
“much” “neither,” “nobody,”
“no one,”
“nothing,” “one,”
“other,” “somebody,” “someone,” and “something”) agree with singular
verbs,
while others are treated as
plurals
(“both,” “few,”
“many,”
“others,”
“several”),
and some can be used in both ways (“all,” “any,” “enough,”
“more,”
“most,”
“none,”
and
“some”):
“All of the paint spills, and all of the children mop it up.” Note that the singular indefinites may be followed by
prepositional phrases
with plural
objects
but still take singular verb forms: “Each of the cats is white.”
    RELATIVE PRONOUN AS SUBJECT . In dependent
clauses, relative pronouns
can refer to either
singular
or
plural
things or people
(antecedents).
The
verb
in the clause agrees with the antecedent: “The car with the four doors that is near me has trouble starting.” “Picasso is one of the artists who have an inflated reputation.” “Picasso is the one among all those artists who has the most exaggerated reputation.”
    PREDICATE NOUN VERSUS SUBJECT . Sentences with
linking verbs
should have the
verb
agree with the
subject
and not with the following
predicate noun
(word or words after thelinking verb), even if the subject is not the same
number
as the predicate noun: “Artists’ reputations are a subject of controversy.”
A GREEMENT OF P RONOUN AND A NTECEDENT
    Pronouns
replace or refer to other words, which usually come before them in
sentences (antecedents).
In more complex sentences it takes care to distinguish which words the pronoun relates to and to match them in
number
and
person.
For example, in the previous sentence “them” refers to “words” and, therefore, is third-person plural. If the sentence had said “which word the pronoun relates to,” then the proper pronoun would be singular third-person: “it.”
    Problems in making the proper links between pronoun and antecedent commonly arise in distinguishing plurals from singulars, collectives, and
indefinites.
There is also the issue of
gender
to examine.
    The use of
“he”
as a generic pronoun that represents both men and women has come to be viewed as restrictive of women and prejudicial. For instance, a sentence that reads “A doctor should keep his instruments clean” ignores and excludes women who are doctors. This sentence can easily be changed by using a more accurate construction: “A doctor should keep his or her instruments clean.” Remember to consider your
audience
and always choose appropriate pronouns. This subject is discussed more fully in the entry on
sexist language,
where ways to avoid prejudicial or offensive constructions are also examined.
    When antecedents consist of more than one word linkedby
“and,”
we have a tendency to assume that the words referred to are
plural
and to follow them with plural pronouns. Sometimes this assumption betrays us: “Dogs and cats have their special traits.” “Each dog and cat has its special traits.” In the first instance “and” does link a plural antecedent; but in the second sentence, “and” is less important than “each,” which is an indefinite pronoun that is singular. The subject in the second sentence means “each dog and each cat taken by itself as a single thing.” That is why “each” agrees with a singular
verb
and takes precedence over the seemingly plural antecedent linked by “and.”
    Similar problems occur with indefinites or collectives as antecedents since these words can vary in number. All of the following sentences are correct: “All of the people had their favorites.” “All