a word that refers to people and things that are not named or are not specific. Many indefinite pronouns (e.g., one, nobody, nothing, each, etc.) take a singular verb; others, such as both or few, take plural verbs.
pronoun agreement
correspondence in number between the pronoun and the noun it replaces. Ex.: Students enrolled in the art class must prove that they can paint.
pronoun reference
the relationship between the pronoun and the noun in the sentence to which it refers. A sentence may be confusing if a pronoun appears to refer to more than one noun or does not appear to refer to any specific noun. Ex.: Miriam was annoyed when they failed her car for a faulty turn signal. ( In this case, "they" should be replaced by a specific noun, such as "the inspectors.")
antecedent
the noun to which a pronoun refers (Ex.: The dying tree [antecedent] lost its [pronoun] leaves.
collective noun
a noun that refers to a group of persons or things considered to be a unit (e.g., audience)
first-person pronoun
a pronoun that refers to the person who is speaking (e.g., I, me, our)
second-person pronoun
a pronoun that refers to someone spoken to (e.g., you)
third-person pronoun
a pronoun that refers to another person or thing (e.g., he, she, it)
