ividuals as a unit
are neuter; as, _The JURY gives its VERDICT, The COMMITTEE makes
ITS report_.

An animal named may be regarded as masculine; feminine, or neuter,
according to the characteristics the writer fancies it to possess;
as, _The WOLF seeks HIS prey, The MOUSE nibbled HER way into the
box, The BIRD seeks ITS nest.

Certain nouns may be applied to persons of either sex. They are
then said to be of COMMON GENDER. There are no pronouns of common
gender; hence those nouns are referred to as follows:

1. By masculine pronouns when known to denote males; as, _MY CLASS-MATE_
(known to be Harry) _is taking HIS examinations_.

2. By feminine pronouns when known to denote females; as, _EACH
OF THE PUPILS of the Girls High School brought HER book._

3. By masculine pronouns when there is nothing in the connection
of the thought to show the sex of the object; as, _Let every PERSON
bring his book_.

21. NUMBER OF PRONOUNS. A more common source of error than disagreement
in gender is disagreement in number. _They, their, theirs_, and
_them_ are plural, but are often improperly used when only singular
pronouns should be used. The cause of the error is failure to realize
the true antecedent.

_If ANYBODY makes that statement, THEY are misinformed_. This sentence
is wrong. _Anybody_ refers to only one person; both _any_ and _body_,
the parts of the word, denote the singular. The sentence should read,
_If ANYBODY makes that statement, HE is misinformed. Similarly,
_Let EVERYBODY keep THEIR peace_, should read, _Let EVERYBODY keep
HIS peace.

22. COMPOUND ANTECEDENTS. Two or more antecedents connected by
_or_ or _nor_ are frequently referred to by the plural when the
singular should be used. _Neither John nor James brought THEIR
books_, should read, _Neither John nor James brought HIS books_.
When a pronoun has two or more singular antecedents connected by
_or_ or _nor_, the pronoun must be in the singular number; but
if one of the antecedents is plural, the pronoun must, also, be
in the plural; as, _Neither the Mormon nor his wives denied THEIR
religion_.

When a pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by _and_, the
pronoun must be in the plural number; as, _John and James brought
THEIR books_.

Further treatment of number will be given under verbs.

EXERCISE 8

_Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with the proper
pronouns. See that there is agreement in person, gender, and number:_

1. Ha