Little words – Big problems Pronouns Click on speaker icon for sound

What are personal pronouns? Personal Pronouns represent people, places and things [nouns] –Subject Pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) –Object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) What is the difference between a subject pronoun and an object pronoun? –Subject pronouns usually come before the verb and object pronouns usually come after. Ex: He and I are him and her in the picture.

Why do people make subject and object pronoun mistakes? #1 compound subjects + objects Poor: Tom and her drove to phoenix. Poor: Mom asked Tim and I to go. [To fix – remove the other subject or object and match the pronoun with the verb.] Better: Tom and she drove to phoenix. Better: Mom asked Tim and me to go.

Another reason for subject and object pronoun mistakes subject pronouns with linking verbs Poor: Are you certain it was him who stole the car? [If a pronoun renames the subject and comes just after a linking verb– the pronoun will be in the subject form too – It is I, This is she, It was he.] Better: Are you certain it was he who stole the car?

Object Pronouns Sometimes when you have two objects and use pronouns, it is easy to make a mistake. Poor: Bill talked to Kathy and I this morning [To fix this error, remove the other object and say this sentence to yourself. You’ll hear the right answer] Better: Bill talked to Kathy and me this morning

The word ‘between’ Between – whenever you use between, you must use an object pronoun Poor: This conversation is between him and I. Better: This conversation is between him and me.

Problems with reflexives Intensive pronouns are for emphasis. Ex: The president signed this himself. [The himself is to emphasize that the president signed it and not someone else] Reflexive pronouns show an action was performed by someone on herself / himself or itself. Ex: The child hurt herself when she fell. [The herself shows that no one else hurt her – falling was her fault] Problems with intensive and reflexive pronouns occur in compound subjects + objects. Poor: Betty and myself baked the pie. Or The pie was baked by Betty and myself. [Remove the other subject or object to fix] Better: Betty and I baked the pie. Or The pie was baked by Betty and me. *Note: There are no such words as hisself, theirself, or theirselves. Only himself an themselves are correct.

Problems with pronoun reference Pronouns need to clearly refer to someone, some place or something. Pronouns need to agree in number with their antecedents. Poor: Mary picked up 2 plates and a bowl and put it in the cupboard. [Does the antecedent match pronoun?] Better: Mary picked up 2 plates and a bowl and put them in the cupboard. One reference problem is no antecedent Poor: I asked for $5, but they said no. [The problem is - Who are they?] Better: I asked for $5, but my parents said no. OR I asked my parents for $5, but they said no. Another pronoun reference problem is that there may be 2 possible antecedents. Poor: When Mary ran into Barbara, she dropped the books. [The problem is - Who dropped the books?] Better: When Mary ran into Barbara, Mary dropped the books.

Indefinite pronouns Some indefinite pronouns are plural (both, few, many, several) while -one, - body, - thing pronouns (such as everyone, somebody, nothing) as well as either, neither, and each are singular. Poor: Several of the students fainted when viewing his/her grades. Better: Several of the students fainted when viewing their grades. Poor: Everyone in the class brought their blue book. Better: Everyone in the class brought his/her blue book. [Remember only plural pronouns can be followed by they or their- singular pronouns must be followed by he, she or it.]

The trouble with this & which Make sure you can clearly show this what? When using ‘this’ in a sentence, follow it with a noun or replace this with a noun. Ex: People dislike the high price of insurance. We need to organize a group to solve this. (this what? this problem or insurance inflation) Which is used primarily as a choice in a question– which one? If you use which without the question mark, you need to change your sentence. (Sometimes you can switch which for that or just take which out) –Poor: The restaurant, which I like, is unfortunately closed. –Better: The restaurant I like is unfortunately closed. –Poor: The Vatican is very extensive, which makes it hard to see in only a few hours. –Better: The Vatican is very extensive. That makes it hard to see in only a few hours.

Don’t switch point of view with pronouns Poor: I don’t like to diet because you suffer too much and eventually gain the weight back. [Keep the same view – I to I – otherwise it sounds like my friend suffers when I diet.] Better: I don’t like to diet because I suffer too much and eventually gain the weight back.