A pronoun must agree with the noun it replaces: “The girls lost their bags”, not “her bags”. Make sure it is clear which noun a pronoun refers to.
Some subjects are tricky. “One of my friends lives in Canada” takes a singular verb because the subject is one. “The quality of the photos is excellent” agrees with quality.
Singular they is widely accepted when you do not know or do not need to say someone's gender: “Each pupil must bring their lunch.”
Worked example
Choose: “One of the players ___ injured.” (is / are)
- Find the subject: one, not players.
- One is singular.
Answer:One of the players is injured.
Key words
- pronoun
- a word that replaces a noun
- antecedent
- the noun a pronoun refers to
- agreement
- words matching in number and person
Practise this
New questions every time.
Common Core-referenced: L.6.1