S friend_. In this sentence
_book_ is the antecedent of the pronoun _it_, and _John_ is the
antecedent of _his_.

18. PRONOUNS SHOULD AGREE WITH THEIR ANTECEDENTS IN PERSON, GENDER,
AND NUMBER.

19. PERSONAL PRONOUNS are those that by their form indicate the
speaker, the person spoken to, or the person or thing spoken about.

Pronouns of the FIRST PERSON indicate the speaker; they are: _I,
me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours_.

Pronouns of the SECOND PERSON indicate the person or thing spoken
to; they are: _you, your, yours_. There are also the grave or solemn
forms in the second person, which are now little used; these are:
_thou, thee, thy, thine_, and _ye_.

Pronouns of the THIRD PERSON indicate the person or thing spoken
of; they are: _he, his, him, she, her, hers, they, their, theirs,
them, it, its_.

Few errors are made in the use of the proper person of the pronoun.

20. GENDER OF PRONOUNS. The following pronouns indicate sex or
gender; Masculine: _he, his, him_. Feminine: _she, her, hers_. Neuter:
_it, its_.

IN ORDER TO SECURE AGREEMENT IN GENDER IT IS NECESSARY TO KNOW THE
GENDER OF THE NOUN, EXPRESSED OR UNDERSTOOD, TO WHICH THE PRONOUN
REFERS. Gender of nouns is important only so far as it concerns
the use of pronouns. Study carefully the following rules in regard
to gender. These rules apply to the singular number only, since
all plurals of whatever gender are referred to by _they, their,
theirs_, etc.

THE FOLLOWING RULES GOVERN THE GENDER OF PRONOUNS:

MASCULINE; referred to by _HE, HIS_, and _HIM_:

1. Nouns denoting males are always masculine.

2. Nouns denoting things remarkable for strength, power, sublimity,
or size, when those things are regarded as if they were persons,
are masculine; _as, WINTER, with HIS chilly army, destroyed them
all_.

3. Singular nouns denoting persons of both sexes are masculine;
as, _EVERY ONE brought HIS umbrella_.

FEMININE; referred to by _SHE, HER_, or _HERS_:

1. Nouns denoting females are always feminine.

2. Nouns denoting objects remarkable for beauty, gentleness, and
peace, when spoken of as if they were persons, are feminine; as,
_SLEEP healed him with HER fostering care_.

NEUTER; referred to by _IT_ and _ITS_:

1. Nouns denoting objects without sex are neuter.

2. Nouns denoting objects whose sex is disregarded are neuter; as,
_IT is a pretty child, The WOLF is the most savage of ITS race_.

3. Collective nouns referring to a group of ind