General Education- English

 Rule 1: Personal pronouns (he, she, it, they, his, her, its, their)
agree in gender and number with the nouns they refer.
Mr. Cruz teaches his pupils the Filipino values.

 Rule 2: Two or more singular antecedents joined by 'or' or

'nor' require a singular pronoun.
Either Robbie or William will read his theme tomorrow.
Neither the teacher nor the student will present his case.
 Rule 3: For collective nouns, the pronouns may be singular or
plural according to whether the nouns are taken as a unit or as
individuals composing the whole. If the collective noun is
taken as a unit, the pronoun is singular. If the individuals are
thought separately, the pronoun must be plural.
The class gave its contribution to the Rizal Centennial Funds.

 Rule 4: Who, Whose, and Whom → would refer to person(s).

Which → would refer to animal(s), or thing(s).
What → would refer to things only.

She is one of the students who transferred to Ateneo de

Manila this semester.
 Rule 5: When each, every, either, neither, someone,
somebody, any one, anybody, everyone, everybody, no one
are used as antecedents, the pronouns referring to them are
singular. When the antecedent is either masculine or feminine,
the pronoun must be masculine.
Everybody was asked to give his opinion.
Somebody forgot his manners at home.

 Rule 6: When one antecedent is singular, the other is plural,

make your pronoun agree with the nearer antecedent.
Neither the boy nor his classmates thought of their plan.
Either Miss Reyes or the Santoses will bring their radios.
 Rule 7: When two or more antecedent are joined by 'and', the
pronoun must be plural.
Rogelio and Romeo bought their cameras.
1. Billy loaned (their, his) bike to Phillip.
2. The captain of the girls’ softball team accepted (her,
his or her) award.
3. In the evening the chickens return to (its, their) roost.
4. The cat sunned (itself, themselves) contentedly in
the grassy yard.
5. The microscopes in the science lab still have (its,
their) price tags attached.
6. The workers at the pizza parlor were wearing (its,
their) new uniforms.
7. On Father’s Day, the children performed a one-act
play for (his or her, their) dad.
8. Someone with muddy shoes didn’t wipe (his or her,
their) feet on the mat.
9. The puppy entertained (itself, themselves) with an
old tennis ball.
10. The hamster slept in (its, their) empty food dish.