SAT Pronoun Usage & Agreement Guide

Pronoun questions appear 3–5 times per SAT and test agreement (pronoun matches its antecedent in number and gender), case (subjective vs. objective), and clarity of reference (ambiguous pronouns).

The SAT tests "who" vs. "whom," subjective pronouns (I, he, she, they) for subjects vs. objective pronouns (me, him, her, them) for objects, reflexive pronouns (myself, herself) for re-reference to the sentence's subject, and pronoun-antecedent agreement with singular collective nouns and indefinite pronouns.

For "who/whom," use the substitution test: replace with "he" or "him." If "he" fits grammatically, use "who"; if "him" fits, use "whom." He/who are both subjects; him/whom are both objects.

For antecedent agreement, trace the pronoun back to the noun it refers to and check number. "The committee submitted its report" — committee is singular, so "its" is correct, not "their."

For ambiguous pronoun questions, the correct answer often replaces the pronoun with the actual noun. If "it" could refer to two different nouns in the sentence, the SAT will ask you to clarify.

Using "their" with a singular antecedent — the most common pronoun error. "Each student must complete their assignment" uses "their" with singular "each." In formal SAT writing, use "his or her" or restructure the sentence.

Using "myself" as a polite substitute for "me." "Please contact myself" is incorrect; "myself" can only refer back to the sentence's own subject.

Missing the who/whom distinction by not applying the substitution test. This test is reliable and fast — always use it rather than relying on intuition.

Practice the who/whom substitution test until it's automatic — this one technique covers a significant portion of pronoun case questions on the SAT.

For antecedent agreement, explicitly trace every pronoun back to its noun and check the noun's number before answering. ScoreBooster's Standard English Conventions topic includes pronoun questions with antecedent-tracing exercises.