Pronoun agreement

A pronoun is a word that follows a noun in a sentence. We use pronouns all the time, but we often get them wrong in our writing and while talking. A general rule of thumb is to use a singular pronoun (he, she, it) after a singular noun or phrase, and a plural pronoun (they, them, theirs) after a plural noun or phrase. But this isn’t as easy as it seems.

Example: Prince Charles tested positive for COVID-19. He is worried about the queen. (Prince Charles is the noun. He is the pronoun.)

Example: Prince William and his wife and children are in Scotland. They are in good health.

The problem for many writers comes when they use a plural pronoun for a noun that is a single unit (also known as a collective noun):

Correct example: The Royal Family is in Buckingham Palace for the weekend. It is sheltering-in-place there.

Incorrect example: The Royal Family is in Buckingham Palace. They are going to shelter-in-place there.

The Royal Family is one unit, like a team or a company or a PR firm, and therefore is followed by a singular pronoun. When and if this sounds awkward, it’s OK to rewrite a sentence to avoid the noun-pronoun agreement conundrum:

Example: The Royal Family was exposed to the novel corona virus. It needs to be tested ASAP!

You could rewrite this as: The Royal Family was exposed to the novel corona virus. All members need to be tested ASAP!