Writing Tips
http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Institutional Links
-
Translation Bureau
Language Portal of Canada
-
TERMIUM Plus®
-
Index P
- Pacific Daylight Time
- Pacific Standard Time
- paed-
- paedo-
- palaeo-
- paleo-
- pan-
- Panjabi
- para-
- parallel between
- parallelism in headings
- parallelism with correlative conjunctions
- parallelism with items in a series
- parallel to
- parallel with
- Paralympic Winter Games
- paralyse
- paralyze
- parentheses
- Parsi
- participle
- participle phrase
- particular to
- Pashto
- Pashtun
- passive voice
- past history
- past tradition
- patho-
- patri-
- patro-
- PDT
- PE
- peculiar to
- ped-
- pedal
- peddle
- pedi-
- pedo- (1)
- pedo- (2)
- P.E.I.
- penta-
- per
- per-
- per cent
- percent
- per-cent
- percentage
- perfectly legitimate
- peri-
- period
- period of time
- permanent resident
- perpendicular to
- perpendicular with
- Persian (1)
- Persian (2)
- persist in
- Perso-
- person
- personal
- personal pronouns
- personification
- personnel
- perspective (from the)
- petr-
- petri-
- phase
- PhD
- Ph.D.
- phenom
- phenomena
- phenomenon
- phleb-
- phosphorous
- phosphorus
- photo-
- photocopy
- physio-
- phyto-
- picto-
- Pilipino
- plan
- planning
- planning in advance
- plug
- plurals of compounds
- plurals of family names
- pluri-
- p.m.
- pneumo-
- poet
- poetess
- point at
- point out
- point to
- poisonous
- poly-
- Poppy Day
- possessive with gerunds
- post
- post-
- post on
- post to
- pound sign
- practicable
- practical
- practically
- practice
- practise
- pre
- pre-
- precedents
- preceding
- precise
- precision
- predicate
- predict
- predict in advance
- preface
- preferable
- preference for
- preference in
- prefer one to the other
- preoccupied about
- preoccupied by
- preoccupied with
- preplan
- preplanning
- prepositional phrase
- prepositions
- prerequisite
- presently
- present to
- present with
- preside at
- preside over
- presume
- pretence
- pretense
- preventable
- prevent from
- preventible
- prevent to
- previous
- previously listed
- previously listed above
- Prince Edward Island
- Prince Edward Islander
- principal
- principle
- prior
- prise
- prize
- pro-
- procedure
- proceed against
- proceed to
- proceed with
- process
- prohibit from
- pronoun agreement: collective nouns
- pronoun agreement: compound antecedents with and
- pronoun agreement: compound antecedents with or
- pronoun agreement: gender
- pronoun agreement: indefinite pronouns
- pronoun agreement: number
- pronoun agreement: person
- property owner
- prophecy
- prophesy
- proportional(y)
- proportionate(ly)
- provide a description
- provide against
- provide for
- provide with
- proximity
- pseudo-
- PST
- psycho-
- public service: capitalization rules (Linguistic recommendation from the Translation Bureau)
- punctuation: spacing
- Punjabi
- pursuance (in)
- put in place
- put into place
- pyro-
Proactive Disclosure
Important notice
Writing Tips has been archived and won’t be updated before it is permanently deleted.
For the most up-to-date content, please consult Writing Tips Plus, which combines content from Writing Tips and The Canadian Style. And don’t forget to update your bookmarks!
Search and Functionalities Area
pronoun agreement: person
Personal pronouns have to agree with the words they are referring to (called their antecedents). A pronoun must match its antecedent in three ways: person, number and gender. In this article, we will look at agreement in person.
In grammar, there are three persons:
- first person - the person or group speaking (I or we)
- second person - the person or group spoken to (you)
- third person - the person or thing spoken about (he, she, it, they; nouns; indefinite pronouns)
First person
The first person singular pronoun is I; its other forms are me, my and mine. The first person plural pronoun is we; its other forms are us, our and ours. If the antecedent is I or we, then any pronouns referring to that antecedent must also be in the first person:
- I have my work cut out for me. [I, my and me are all first person singular]
- We leave tomorrow on our vacation. [we and our are both first person plural]
Second person
The second person pronoun is you (other forms: your and yours). If the antecedent is you, then any pronouns referring to that antecedent must also be in the second person.
- Have you girls finished your meal? [you and your are both second person]
- Harry, you dropped your glasses. [you and your are both second person]
Third person
The third person pronouns are he (him, his); she (her, hers); it (its); and they (them, their, theirs). If the antecedent is he, she, it, they, or any noun or indefinite pronoun, then any pronouns referring to that antecedent must also be in the third person:
- He ate his lunch in silence. [he and his are both third person]
- Lara stared at her compass. [Lara and her are both third person]
- The firm advertises its products well. [firm and its are both third person]
- The robins built their nest in the oak. [robins and their are both third person]
- One of the boys forgot his boots. [one and his are both third person]
Shift in person
Remember that nouns and indefinite pronouns are third person antecedents. Be careful not to create an error in pronoun agreement by shifting person:
- Incorrect: Canadians should be proud of our country. [3rd + 1st]
Correct: Canadians should be proud of their country. [3rd + 3rd]
Correct: We Canadians should be proud of our country. [1st + 1st]
- Incorrect: Everyone should send in your application today. [3rd + 2nd]
Correct: Everyone should send in the application today. [3rd]
Correct: You should all send in your applications today. [2nd + 2nd]
© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2024
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – Writing Tips
A product of the Translation Bureau
