Pronouns and Antecedents: Grammar Practice Page | Printable Skills ... - Free Printable

Let’s go through each sentence one by one. We need to find the pronoun that matches the underlined word (the antecedent). Remember:
- If the antecedent is singular → use a singular pronoun (he, she, it, his, her, its)
- If the antecedent is plural → use a plural pronoun (they, their, them)

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1. Everyone in the group brought ___ lunch.
“Everyone” is singular (even though it sounds like many people, grammatically it’s treated as one person at a time).
→ So we use “his or her” — but since the options are only “their”, “her”, “its”, and “his”, and “everyone” can be male or female, sometimes “their” is accepted informally. But strictly speaking, for school grammar, if you must pick from given choices and “everyone” is singular, “his” or “her” would be correct. However, looking at the box of pronouns provided: *their, your, her, its, his* — and since “everyone” doesn’t specify gender, some teachers accept “their” now. But let’s check the example in the box: “Margie brought her lunch” — so they’re using gender-specific when possible. Since “everyone” is indefinite, and no gender is given, maybe “his” was traditionally used? Actually, modern usage often accepts “their”. But let’s see what fits best with the other answers.

Wait — look at sentence 2: “Several brought ___ extra water bottles.” “Several” is clearly plural → “their”.

Back to #1: In many textbooks, “everyone” takes a singular pronoun. Since the options include “his” and “her”, and no context tells us gender, perhaps the expected answer is “his” (traditional) or “her”? But actually, in this worksheet, they might expect “their” because it’s commonly used now. Let me check the example again: “The hikers brought their lunch.” — “hikers” is plural → “their”.

But “everyone” is singular. Hmm.

Actually, let’s look at all sentences together and match logically.

Maybe I should just go step by step with standard rules.

Standard rule: “Everyone” = singular → needs singular pronoun. Options: his, her, its. “Its” is for things/animals. So between “his” and “her”. Since no gender specified, traditionally “his” was used, but nowadays “their” is widely accepted even in schools. Given that the worksheet includes “their” as an option and uses it for plural nouns, and since “everyone” refers to multiple people individually, I think for this level, they may expect “their”. Wait — let’s see sentence 9: “Everyone saw trees that they should carry a map.” — oh! Sentence 9 has “they” referring to “everyone”. So the worksheet itself uses “they/their” for “everyone”. That means for consistency, we should use “their” for “everyone”.

So:

1. Everyone → their

2. Several → plural → their

3. Both → plural → their

4. A hiker → singular → his or her? Again, no gender. But in sentence 5: “Anyone can get sunburns and then ___ might fall ill.” — “anyone” is singular. What will they use? Probably “he” or “she”, but options are limited. Looking ahead, sentence 7: “Still others bring ___ most repellent.” — “others” is plural → “their”

Sentence 8: “Insects such as ants... repel everyone again.” — “everyone” again → probably “their”

Sentence 10: “Many of the girls brought her cameras.” — “many of the girls” is plural, but “her” is singular — that’s wrong! Should be “their”. Wait, is that a trick? Or did I misread?

Wait, sentence 10 says: “Many of the girls brought her cameras.” — that’s incorrect grammar. It should be “their cameras”. But the blank is there to fill. So we have to choose the correct pronoun.

Let me list all blanks:

1. Everyone → ?
2. Several → ?
3. Both → ?
4. A hiker → ?
5. Anyone → ?
6. Many hikers → ?
7. Still others → ?
8. ...repel everyone again → ?
9. Everyone → ?
10. Many of the girls → ?

Now, let’s assign based on number:

Singular antecedents:
- Everyone (sentences 1, 8, 9)
- A hiker (4)
- Anyone (5)

Plural antecedents:
- Several (2)
- Both (3)
- Many hikers (6)
- Still others (7)
- Many of the girls (10)

For singular: we need singular pronouns. From the box: his, her, its. “Its” is for non-human. So for people, “his” or “her”. But since no gender is specified, and the worksheet uses “their” for “everyone” in sentence 9 (as per the structure), I think they want “their” for all indefinite singulars like everyone, anyone, etc., which is common in modern English.

But let’s check the example in the box: “Margie brought her lunch” — specific female name → “her”. “The hikers brought their lunch” — plural → “their”.

So for unspecified singular persons, what to do? In many current curricula, “they/their” is accepted.

Moreover, in sentence 9, it says “Everyone saw trees that they should carry a map.” — here “they” is used for “everyone”, so the worksheet endorses that usage.

Therefore, for consistency:

1. their
2. their (several = plural)
3. their (both = plural)
4. his or her? But “a hiker” — could be either. Since no gender, and worksheet uses “their” for similar cases, perhaps “their”? But “a hiker” is singular. Traditionally, “his” was used. But let’s see if there’s a pattern.

Wait, sentence 4: “If a hiker is careful, ___ can avoid troubles on the trail.” — subject is “a hiker”, so pronoun should agree. In formal writing, “he” or “she”, but since not specified, and to avoid sexism, “they” is used. And since the worksheet allows it (as seen in #9), I’ll go with “their”.

Similarly, #5: “Anyone can get sunburns and then ___ might fall ill.” → “their”

#8: “Insects such as ants or fireflies... repel everyone again.” → “their” (referring to everyone)

#10: “Many of the girls brought ___ cameras.” → “many of the girls” is plural → “their”

Now, what about “its”? When would we use “its”? For animals or things. Is there any sentence where the antecedent is a thing or animal?

Look at sentence 6: “Many hikers carry extra socks in ___ backpack.” — “backpack” is a thing, but the pronoun refers to “hikers”, not “backpack”. The blank is for the hikers’ backpack, so possessive pronoun for hikers → “their”

Similarly, all seem to refer to people.

Except possibly none require “its”.

But the box includes “its”, so maybe one does.

Sentence 7: “Still others bring ___ most repellent.” — “others” refers to people → “their”

Perhaps no “its” is needed.

But let’s double-check.

Another thought: in sentence 3, “Both of the guides carried additional food in ___ pack.” — “pack” is singular, but the pronoun refers to “guides”, who are plural, so “their pack” (meaning each has their own pack, or collectively).

Yes.

So all blanks should be filled with “their” except possibly where gender is specified, but none are.

Wait, sentence 10: “Many of the girls” — girls are female, so should it be “her”? No, “many of the girls” is plural, so “their”. Even though they are girls, the group is plural, so “their cameras”.

For example, “The girls brought their books.” Not “her books” unless it’s one girl.

So “their” for #10.

Now, is there any case for “his” or “her”?

Suppose in sentence 4, if we assume the hiker is male, but no indication.

Given that the worksheet uses “their” for “everyone” in #9, I think it’s safe to use “their” for all indefinite singulars.

Moreover, in contemporary education, this is standard.

So final decisions:

1. their
2. their
3. their
4. their
5. their
6. their
7. their
8. their
9. their
10. their

But that seems too uniform. Let me verify with grammar rules.

Upon second thought, traditional grammar requires singular pronouns for singular antecedents.

For example:

- Everyone → his or her (but since we have to choose one, and no gender, perhaps the worksheet expects “his” as default? But that’s outdated.)

Looking back at the user’s image description, the pronoun box has: their, your, her, its, his

And in the example, “Margie” → “her”, “hikers” → “their”

For “everyone”, in many older texts, “his” was used, but now “their” is preferred.

Since the worksheet includes sentence 9 with “everyone” and likely expects “they” (as per common usage), I’ll stick with “their” for all.

But let’s see sentence 5: “Anyone can get sunburns and then ___ might fall ill.” — if we put “he”, it’s masculine; “she” feminine; “they” neutral.

I think for this assignment, “their” is acceptable.

Perhaps the teacher wants us to use “his” for male-default, but that’s not inclusive.

Another idea: in sentence 4, “a hiker” — if we consider “hiker” as a role, and no gender, but in the context, perhaps it’s general.

I recall that in some worksheets, for “everyone”, “anyone”, etc., they use “his or her”, but since we can only choose one word, and “their” is an option, and it’s listed first, probably “their” is intended.

Moreover, in the answer key for such worksheets, “their” is often used for singular they.

So I’ll go with that.

Final Answer:

1. their
2. their
3. their
4. their
5. their
6. their
7. their
8. their
9. their
10. their

But wait, sentence 10: “Many of the girls brought her cameras.” — if we put “her”, it would be wrong because “many” is plural. Must be “their”.

Yes.

Is there any sentence where “its” could fit? For example, if the antecedent was an animal or object, but all antecedents are people: everyone, several, both, a hiker, anyone, many hikers, still others, everyone, everyone, many of the girls — all human.

So “its” is not needed.

“Your” is for second person, not applicable here.

So all are “their”.

But let’s confirm with sentence 6: “Many hikers carry extra socks in ___ backpack.” — “backpack” is singular, but the pronoun is possessive for the hikers, so “their backpack” means each has their own, or collectively. Grammatically correct.

Similarly, all good.

So the answers are all "their".

But I feel like maybe for singular antecedents, they expect "his" or "her", but since no gender is specified, and the worksheet uses "their" for "everyone" in #9, it's consistent.

Perhaps in #4, "a hiker" , if we think of it as singular, and traditionally "his", but I think for this context, "their" is fine.

To be precise, let's see if there's a sentence that must be singular.

Sentence 5: "Anyone can get sunburns and then ___ might fall ill." — "anyone" is singular, so verb "might" is singular, but pronoun can be "they" in singular they construction.

I think it's acceptable.

So I'll proceed.

Final Answer:
1. their
2. their
3. their
4. their
5. their
6. their
7. their
8. their
9. their
10. their