Pronouns
Agr: agreement in number. Ref: referring to one clearly specified thing. h/s: sexist pronouns. Sh or Pro sh: shifts of pronoun reference. PC: pronoun case.
Agr: a pronoun must agree in number with the word(s) to which it refers.
WRONG: I talked to the counselor about my problem, and they gave me good advice.
Most errors of pronoun agreement involve indefinite pronouns. Words like any, anyone, each, either, every, everyone, neither, no one, none, one and someone are singular:
WRONG: Each girl wore their uniform. RIGHT: Each girl wore her uniform. Two handy patterns solve many problems with indefinite pronouns:
WRONG: As long as one keeps up with the homework, they can pass.
RIGHT (PLURAL): As long as students keep up with the homework, they can pass.
RIGHT (WHO): Any student who keeps up with the homework can pass.
Ref: each pronoun must refer to one clearly specified thing.
AMBIGUOUS: After Bill spoke with Jim, they agreed to lend me his car.
Unclear pronoun reference can produce embarrassing results:
He worked at the only store in the town, which isn't there anymore.
Doctors took x-rays to look for an injury to my brain, but they couldn't find one.
1. Avoid the vague this. Either substitute a clear noun phrase, or rephrase the sentence. Do not merely add a noun after this:
VAGUE: I kept practicing despite my sore wrist. This has helped me in my studies.
STILL VAGUE: This trait has helped me in my studies.
CLEAR: The same perseverance has helped me in my studies.
Even if the general idea is apparent, precise rephrasing can helpfully sum up the thought:
VAGUE: Odysseus taunts the Cyclops, who angrily hurls a boulder that nearly capsizes the ship. This shows the danger of pride.
STILL VAGUE: This taunting shows the danger of pride.
CLEAR: The nearly fatal consequence of his boasts shows the danger of pride.
The same rules apply to these and (when they are used demonstratively) to those and that.
UNCLEAR: Those are good ideas. That is a good idea.
Grammar Tip: Words like this are called demonstrative pronouns because they demonstrate or point out rather than defining. They are useful in speech, for it is simpler to say "Mail this" than "Mail the letter addressed to the Internal Revenue Service." However, in formal writing demonstrative pronouns are often vague.
2. Avoid the vague which. Supply a clear noun phrase, or rephrase the sentence:
VAGUE: He drove recklessly, which frightened me.
BETTER (CLEAR NOUN PHRASE): His reckless driving frightened me.
BETTER (REPHRASED): He drove so recklessly that I was frightened.
3. Avoid the vague it. Supply a clear noun phrase, or rephrase the sentence:
VAGUE: I failed the test, but it did not break my heart.
BETTER (CLEAR NOUN PHRASE): Failing the test did not break my heart.
BETTER (REPHRASED): When I failed the test, my heart did not break.
h/s: sexist pronouns. Avoid (a) saying he, him or his when you mean a person of either sex, and (b) awkward solutions like he or she. Two solutions work in most situations:
PROBLEM: If a person fails, we should not mock him.
SOLUTION 1 (PLURAL): If people fail, we should not mock them.
SOLUTION 2 (WHO): We should not mock a person who fails.
Solutions like he or she and her or him are distracting, s/he is unpronounceable, and one sounds stilted and produces clumsy repetition due to its lack of a plural form: "One trims one's nails."
Sh or Pro sh: avoid shifts of pronoun reference.
WRONG: After students write their first drafts, you will share them in small groups.
RIGHT: After writing first drafts, students will share them in small groups.
It is easy to make erroneous shifts when you are quoting:
WRONG: Lady Macbeth tells her husband to "Leave all the rest to me" (1.5.74).
RIGHT: Lady Macbeth tells her husband to "Leave all the rest" (1.5.74) to her.
RIGHT: Lady Macbeth gives her husband reassurance: "Leave all the rest to me" (1.5.74).
RIGHT: Lady Macbeth tells her husband, "Leave all the rest to me" (1.5.74).
PC: use the correct pronoun case. Case is the form a pronoun takes according to its function as the subject of a verb (I, she, they), the object of a verb or preposition (me, her, them), or a possessive (my, her, their). Most errors of case fall into one of the following five categories.
1. Comparisons with as or than. If you do not know whether to write "as much as I" or "as much as me," just ask yourself which you mean:
She does not like John as much as I [do]. (subjective case)
She does not like John as much as [she likes] me. (objective case)
Problems with the word than can be solved in the same way:
I can run faster than he [can]. She likes John less than [she likes] me.
Often it is better to add a verb to avoid ambiguity:
I like John more than I like her. She thinks chimpanzees are smarter than I do.
2. Use the subjective case after to be verbs. Linking verbs like is, are, was and were must be followed by pronouns such as he, she and they, not me, her and them:
WRONG: I am her. RIGHT: I am she. RIGHT: I like her. (action verb) Although errors like "This is me" sound natural on the telephone and in casual conversation, most writing situations require proper usage.
Grammar Tip: Unlike action verbs, which take objects ("I drink milk"), linking verbs like to be take complements: words or phrases which complete a statement by identifying the subject with an adjective ("I am happy") or a noun ("I am a citizen").
3. Use the correct case in compound constructions.
WRONG: Him and I went on a double date with she and you.
RIGHT: He and I went on a double date with her and you.
Trying to sound refined, some people erroneously say "between you and he" or "tell Mary and I." If you have any doubt what to write (he or him, I or me), the answer will usually be obvious if you ask yourself which pronoun would be correct if you repeated the verb or preposition:
WRONG: She likes him and [she likes] I. RIGHT: She likes him and me. WRONG: Him [goes] and I go. RIGHT: He and I go. WRONG: They go with her and [with] I. RIGHT: They go with her and me. 4. Wh: who and whom. Usually who is used before a verb, and whom is used before a noun or pronoun and after a preposition. Four errors are common:
a. Wrong case. Look at your sentence and identify which situation applies:
SUBJECT OF VERB: She is the one who loves me. Who loves me?
OBJECT OF VERB: She is the one whom I love. Whom do I love?
OBJECT OF PREPOSITION: He is the one with whom I agree. With whom do I agree?
COMPLEMENT OF LINKING VERB: I know who it is. Who can it be?
Grammar Tips: Who and whoever are in the subjective case; whom and whomever are in the objective case. Whom can be omitted as long as the meaning remains clear: "She is the one I love." Often, however, it cannot be omitted: "He visited my doctor, whom I had recommended."
b. Hanging prepositions. The use of whom sometimes requires relocating prepositions to keep them from hanging at the end of sentences and clauses:
WRONG (HANGING PREPOSITION): Pip learns whom he should be grateful to.
WRONG (EXTRA PREPOSITION): Pip learns to whom he should be grateful to.
RIGHT: Pip learns to whom he should be grateful.
c. Pronouns in two clauses at once. If a pronoun is a subject in one clause and an object in another, its case is determined by the words after the pronoun (that is, by the subordinate clause):
WRONG: He can't escape from whom he is.
RIGHT: He can't escape from who he is.
d. Interrupted constructions. If an interrupting clause like I think (that), he said (that) or people believe (that) immediately follows a pronoun, it does not affect the case:
INTERRUPTED: He is the man who the police think committed the crime.
UNINTERRUPTED: He is the man whom the police suspect.
5. Use possessive case with gerunds. Errors occur when an -ing verb follows a pronoun.
WRONG: He likes me cooking. RIGHT: He likes my cooking. It is sometimes hard to tell whether "me driving" or "my driving" is correct.
RIGHT (PARTICIPLE): Voters disapprove of the Senator accepting gifts.
RIGHT (GERUND): Voters disapprove of the Senator's accepting gifts.
Do they disapprove of the Senator, or only of his actions? Often it is best to rephrase for clarity:
CLEAR: Voters believe the Senator should not accept gifts.
Grammar Tip: Gerunds are verb forms which, like present participles, end in -ing. Gerunds are nouns; thus, they take pronouns in the possessive case.
Singing relaxes him. She enjoys dancing. Her singing relaxes him. She enjoys his dancing. Participles and participial phrases act as adjectives and do not take the possessive case:
I'm glad to see him looking healthy again.
Intensive and reflexive pronouns. Use -self pronouns correctly. Two errors are common:
1. Never use a reflexive pronoun as the subject of a verb:
WRONG: She and myself are partners. RIGHT: She and I are partners. 2. Never use a reflexive pronoun as the object of a different subject:
WRONG: She phoned himself and me. RIGHT: She phoned him and me. Grammar Tip: Reflexive and intensive pronouns are words like myself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves and themselves. As reflexive pronouns, they avoid repetition when a subject and object in a sentence are the same:
REFLEXIVE: Exhausted, he took himself out of the game. I was only lying to myself.
As intensive pronouns, they add emphasis to another pronoun or noun:
INTENSIVE: I made the decision myself, with no influence from anyone else.