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Pronoun Agreement
ELIMINATING ERRORS IN PRONOUN AGREEMENT
Pronouns such as he, she, it, they, his, her, them,
and their take the place of nouns. When you use a pronoun,
it must match in number the noun< it stands for:
Parents should care for their children. plural
A mother should care for her children. singular
Remember that the pronouns everyone, each, anyone, neither,
someone, somebody, and no one are singular:
Everyone should bring his or her book to
the exam.
Each of the girls is responsible for her uniform.
AVOIDING SEXISM
Writers often make errors in pronoun reference for a good reason
– they are trying to avoid sexist statements:
A good citizen should pay his taxes.
If a student has a problem, he should see his
dean.
Because the phrases he and she, his and her, him and her
are cumbersome, most people use plurals to include both men
and women:
A good citizen should pay their taxes.
If a student has a problem, they should see
their dean.
Plural pronouns are widely accepted in this context in spoken
English. Speech tends to be less formal than written documents.
To avoid sexism, educators, politicians, writers, and lawyers
will make pronoun errors. Like slang words which gain popular
acceptance, this grammar error is widely understood.
But written English should follow traditional guidelines. You
can avoid the awkward use of he and she by using plurals
or alternative constructions:
Good citizens should pay their taxes.
Any student with problems should see the dean.
AVOIDING ERRORS IN TENSE
Unlike nouns, pronouns come in three versions:
| Subject Pronouns |
|
Object Pronouns |
|
Possessive Pronouns |
| he |
|
him |
|
his |
| she |
|
her |
|
her |
| they |
|
them |
|
their |
| I |
|
me |
|
my |
| we |
|
us |
|
our |
He will give the money to her.
They will beat us.
He gave the money to me.
Many students have problems determining which pronoun to use
when grouped with other nouns.
Mary and she/her went to the store.
Sarah gave the money to Shirley and I/me.
They sold the tickets to George and he/him.
It is easier select the proper pronoun if you eliminate the
other people from the sentence:
. . . She went to the store.
Sarah gave the money to . . . me.
They sold the tickets to . . .him.
WHO AND WHOM
Deciding when to use who and whom can be difficult
– especially because they are used in questions:
Who/Whom is working tonight?
You gave the money to who/whom?
Use WHO as a replacement for I, YOU, HE, SHE, WE, THEY:
| Who is working tonight? |
|
(I am working tonight.) |
| |
|
(He is working tonight.) |
| |
|
(She is working tonight.) |
| |
|
(They are working tonight.) |
Use WHOM as a replacement for ME, YOU, HIM, HER, US, THEM:
| You gave the money to whom? |
|
(You gave the money to me.) |
| |
|
(You gave the money to him.) |
| |
|
(You gave the money to her.) |
| |
|
(You gave the money to them.) |
NOTE: One of the most misused pronoun is they. Whenever
the word they appears it should clearly represent a noun:
Drive-by shootings are ruining the neighborhood.
Drug dealers operate openly. They just don’t care.
Who does they refer to -- the drug dealers, the police,
residents?
The word they must always clear link with a noun such
as people, citizens, members of the city council.
Return to top
From The
Sundance Reader, Third Edition, Web Site by Mark
Connelly.
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