THE WORLD OF PRONOUNS
1) Pronouns can appear in a variety of different forms, depending on how they function in a sentence.
2) For example, the pronoun that refers to the speaker in a sentence may be written as I, me, my, or mine. These different “words” or spellings are the result of what is called pronoun CASE.
3) The three pronoun cases for English are SUBJECTIVE, OBJECTIVE, and POSSESSIVE.
4) SUBJECTIVE CASE
Singular: I -- you -- he, she, it – who
Plural: we – you ------they ------ who
5) OBJECTIVE CASE
Plural: us – you ------them ------ whom
6) POSSESSIVE CASE
Singular: my, mine – your, yours – his, her, hers, its – whose
Plural: our, ours – your, yours – their theirs – whose
7) Subjective pronouns are I, we, you, he she, it, they, and who. They are used in two situations:
a) As SUBJECTS of sentences: I will return to school on Monday.
b) After a linking verb: That was I you saw in the park yesterday OR It was they who caused the huge traffic holdup.
8) Objective pronouns are me, us, you, him, her, it, them, and whom. They are used in three situations:
a) As objects of prepositions: The romance between Jack and me continued through the entire summer.
b) As direct objects of action verbs: Last semester Joan avoided him every time they were in the same room.
c) As indirect objects: [the indirect object indicates “to whom” or “for whom” an action is directed, but the prepositions “to” and “for” are omitted:
EX. He gave the ring to her -- “to her” is a prepositional phrase.
He gave her the ring – “her” is the indirect object.
IN THE BLANKS BELOW, IDENTIFY THE UNDERLINED PRONOUNS AS SUBJECTIVE OR OBJECTIVE:
_____ 1. After class, I will drive straight home.
_____ 2. The homework will be graded by him.
_____ 3. It was she who first noticed the error.
_____ _____ 4. For three years, they searched for her.
_____ _____ _____ 5. We gave her three of them.
9) Possessive pronouns are my, mine, our, ours, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, their, theirs, and whose. They are used in two situations:
a) ** as adjectives to indicate possession: The students turned in all their papers on time.
b) Indication of possession WITHOUT being used as adjectives: The Smith’s bedroom furniture is great quality, but mine is better.
EXERCISE:
He didn’t have his homework because he had given his to the first classmate who had asked him.
Identify the CASE and USE of each pronoun above:
He ____________ ________________________________________
his _____________ ________________________________________
he ______________ ________________________________________
his _____________ _________________________________________
who _____________ ________________________________________
him _____________ ________________________________________
COMMON SOURCES OF ERRORS IN PRONOUN CASE
10) Compound constructions: Compound subjects and objects often cause problems when they include pronouns. If your sentence includes a compound construction, be sure to use the correct pronoun case.
EX: [compound subject] Manuel and he will both be late to class.
[compound after linking verb] That was my neighbor and I you saw in the photo.
[compound object of a preposition] They gave the prizes to both John and me.
[compound direct object] Cedric’s boss fired Joe and him yesterday.
[compound indirect object] The store clerk had given him and me our change in one dollar bills.
IDENTIFY the correct pronoun in the parenthesis below:
a) _____ My friend and (I, me) are headed to the mall.
b) _____ Between you and (I, me), I’m choosing the high calorie dessert to treat myself.
c) _____ Mr. Adams wrote recommendations for (he, him) and (she, her).
d) _____ Will you please give Joe and (they, them) the answers?
e) _____ Your sister and (they, them) left an hour ago.
11) WHO and WHOM: When to use who or whom is a mystery to many writers, but you should have no problem with these pronouns if you remember two simple rules:
a) Use the SUBJECTIVE pronoun who or whoever if it is used as the subject of a verb.
b) Use the OBJECTIVE pronoun whom or whomever if it is not used as the subject of a verb.
EX. After leaving the room, Simon followed the girl who had taken his book.
The sign was made for the customer whom we hadn’t seen in more than five years.
NOTE: Helpful hint – When determining the case of the “who” or “whom,” do NOT look at any word BEFORE the “who” or “whom.” Rather, look for the first verb after; then see if the who-word is the SUBJECT of that verb. If it is, then the word is “who.” If it is not the subject of that verb, it is “whom.”
USE the correct pronoun form in the parenthesis:
a) _____ The set of classic books will be given to the student (who, whom) has read the most books for the contest.
b) _____ Are Maggie and (she, her) going to be friends after all the commotion?
c) _____ The actors were signing autographs for (whoever, whomever) asked for them.
d) _____ Send Jon and (he, him) to the office when they arrive.
PRONOUN – ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT
12) Because pronouns stand for or take the place of nouns, it is important that you make it clear in your writing which pronouns stand for which nouns.
13) The noun that the pronoun takes the place of is called the ANTECEDENT.
14) PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT refers to the idea that a pronoun must match or “agree with” the noun that it stands for in PERSON and NUMBER.
15) PERSON in pronouns refers to the relationship of the speaker (or writer) to the pronoun. There are three persons: 1rst, 2nd, and 3rd person.
a) First person refers to the person speaking or writing:
Singular: I – me – my, mine
Plural: we – us – our, ours
b) Second person pronouns refer to the person spoken or written to:
Singular: you – your – yours
Plural: you – your – yours
c) Third person refers to the person or thing spoken or written about:
Singular: he, she, it – him, her, it – his, her, hers, its
Plural: --- they -------them---------their, theirs
Note: Nouns are almost always in the third person
16) Common error: Writers mistakenly shift from third to second person when referring to a noun.
EX: When a student discovers the class will be conducted in a unique manner, you feel confused.
How can this be corrected? Rewrite the sentence
____________________________________________________________________________
17) Errors in number are the most common pronoun-antecedent errors. To make pronouns agree with their antecedents in NUMBER, use singular pronouns to refer to singular nouns and plural pronouns to refer to plural nouns.
a) When you use a pronoun to refer to words joined by and, use a plural pronoun unless the words are modified by each or every.
EX: George W. Bush and Albert Gore, Jr. were the presidential candidates who disappointed their supporters by not winning a clear victory.
b) Because the following indefinite pronouns are singular, use singular pronouns to refer to them:
Anybody,
anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither,
nobody,
EX: Everything was in its place.
Neither of the girls wanted to give up her place in line.
One of the fathers was yelling loudly at his son throughout the game.
c) Use singular pronouns to refer to collective nouns:
EX: The restaurant decided to give its employees a bonus for every holiday.
The club of Beatles’ fans gathered its members for a special showing of “Hard Day’s Night.”
d) **[a little difficult to understand] When two antecedents are joined by the following words, use a pronoun that agrees with the closer antecedent.
Either/or Neither/nor Nor Or Not only/but also
EX: Not only Maria, but also the Garcias wanted to offer their homes for the reception.
Neither the large dogs nor the small one could be allowed outside without its muzzle.
18. UNCLEAR PRONOUN REFERENCE: Sometimes, even though a pronoun appears to agree with an antecedent, it is not clear exactly which noun in the sentence is the antecedent. And sometimes a writer will use a pronoun that does not clearly refer to any antecedent at all.
KINDS OF PRONOUNS:
Personal pronouns: I, he, she, him, her, etc. – referring to people
Indefinite pronouns: nobody, everyone, someone, each, etc.
Relative pronouns: which, that, who, whom
Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those
E X E R C I S E S Underline the correct pronouns in the parenthesis.
(1) Susan writes about gardening topics, but most of her friends don’t consider (it, them) interesting.
(2) Almost everyone at one time or another has problems with (his or her, their) car.
(3) After the class had raised enough money, (it, they) went on a field trip.
(4) The family found many hidden expenses that had to be considered in (its, their) budget for the trip.
(5) When someone by the library’s reference section began to talk loudly, several students told (him, them) to be quiet.
(6) As we rounded the corner, we found (ourself, ourselves) face-to-face with a vicious dog.
(7) When a person is in a situation like that, (she, they, you) had better act fast.
(8) After being hosed with water, the dog ran back to (its, it’s) own home.
(9) Although she knew that almost everyone has stress on (his or her, their) job, the air traffic controller felt that (her, their) stress was more dangerous than most.
(10) Each handler at the auction led (her, their) horse around the ring.
A. Correct all errors in pronoun usage in the following sentences.
(1) When a shopper has looked for an item at several stores in three different malls, you can become quite frustrated.
(2) The golf team and their coach, Mr. Roman, had misplaced their clubs.
(3) Everybody sitting on the steps of the Phys. Ed. Building was wearing a gold earring in their left ear.
(4) As soon as the door opened, the tour group filed quickly onto their bus.
(5) Whenever a person finds a new item for sale at Circuit City, you hope you can afford them.
(6) Emma and myself became very close friends.
(7) Whenever someone who didn’t know us came into the room where Emma and I were talking, they thought we were sisters.
(8) The Romans believed that both a good spirit and a bad one guarded the threshold and that it would try to trip the bride as a way to bring bad luck to the groom and herself.
(9) I would love to go skating in Golden Gate Park with you, but I don’t have one.
(10) David accidentally hit the door with his knee and broke it.