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Pronoun agreement with
compound antecedents
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Pronouns have to agree in person, number and gender with the words they refer to (called their antecedents). (For basic guidelines on pronoun agreement, see Pronouns have to agree.) But when a pronoun has two or more antecedents, some special rules apply.
Antecedents joined by and
Two or more antecedents joined by and almost always express a plural idea. Therefore, the pronoun referring to them is normally plural:
The father and daughter had a good time when they drove across country.
[they refers to father and daughter]
However, if the antecedents are preceded by each or every, they take on a singular meaning. In that case, the pronoun referring to them must be singular:
Every wall and pillar had its surface covered in graffiti.
[its is singular to agree with every wall and pillar]
Antecedents joined by or or nor
When antecedents are joined by or or nor, the pronoun agrees with the antecedent that is closest to it:
Either Rosa or John will lend you his key. [his agrees with John]
Either John or Rosa will lend you her key. [her agrees with Rosa]
If one antecedent is singular and the other is plural, it will sound odd to put the plural antecedent first:
Neither the employees nor the manager submitted his report.
[his is singular to agree with manager]
This sentence leaves us wondering whether the employees had been asked to submit the manager's report in his absence. The sentence will usually be clearer and sound more natural if the plural antecedent is placed in second position:
Neither the manager nor the employees submitted their reports.
[their agrees with employees]
