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Those CRAZY Pronouns!
Avoiding Common Usage Errors
As juniors, I think it’s safe to assume you all know what a pronoun is. However, there are many rules for
using pronouns of which students are unaware. You may be using them incorrectly and not even know
it. In order to help you identify problems with pronouns (which will help you on the ACT as well as in
your own writing), we are going to review some common pronoun problems.
First, a review of the terminology:
1) A PRONOUN is a word that substitutes for a noun.
2) Every pronoun has an ANTECEDENT. The antecedent is the noun that the pronoun replaced.
a. Example: Bob went to the store for his mother.
i. Pronoun: ___________
ii. Antecedent: ___________
THE 2 GOLDEN RULES OF PRONOUN USAGE
1) A pronoun must always AGREE with its antecedent in number, gender, and case
2) A pronoun reference must always be clear, meaning your reader should know which antecedent
your pronoun refers to.
GOLDEN RULE 1: A PRONOUN MUST ALWAYS AGREE WITH ITS ANTECEDENT IN NUMBER
If your antecedent is plural, you must use a plural pronoun. If your antecedent is singular, you must use
a singular pronoun.
1st Person Pronouns
Singular
Plural
2nd Person Pronouns
3rd person Pronouns
GRAMMAR IS NEVER THAT SIMPLE—THE TRICKY ONES
Indefinite Pronouns
Collective Nouns
Compound
Antecedents
connected by ‘and’
Compound
Antecedents connect
by ‘or’, ‘nor,’
‘either…or’ or
‘neither…nor’
Examples
Anybody,
anyone,
anything, each,
either,
everybody,
everyone,
everything,
neither, nobody,
no one, nothing,
somebody,
someone,
something
Jury, committee,
audience, crowd,
class, troop,
family, team, and
couple
Jill and John
The dog and the
cat
The students and
teacher
Jill or John
Neither the dog
nor the cats
Either the
students or the
teacher
Singular? Plural?
Used in a sentence…
In class, everyone performs at
________________ own fitness level.
When someone has been drinking,
___________ are likely to speed.
Anybody who was absent yesterday
needs to get __________________
homework.
*
*
The committee granted ________
permission to build.
The committee put _________
signatures on the document.
Jill and John moved to Luray, where
__________ built a cabin.
*
*
Neither the mouse nor the rats could
find ________ way through the maze.
Either Bruce or Tom should receive
first prize for ______ poem.
GOLDEN RULE 1: A PRONOUN MUST ALWAYS AGREE WITH ITS ANTECENDENT IN GENDER
Antecedents
Mrs. Kremer, Lily, Katie, The
Titanic, my dog Jenny
Mr. Neff, Jack, Levi, Cliff, my cat
Burt
The dog, the cat, the students
Feminine, Masculine, or
Gender-Neutral
Pronoun Examples
GOLDEN RULE 1: A PRONOUN MUST ALWAYS AGREE WITH ITS ANTECEDENT IN CASE
Subjective Case
Objective Case
Possessive Case
Definition
Example
A pronoun
functioning as the
subject of the
sentence
I went to the store.
A pronoun
functioning as the
object of the
sentence; the
object receives the
action of the verb
(so it usually comes
after the verb)
A pronoun that
shows ownership;
takes the place of a
noun with an ‘s
(like John’s book,
Julie’s watch, etc.)
Singular
Pronouns
Plural Pronouns
We are studying
for the test.
You can’t catch
me; I’m the
gingerbread man!
John can’t tell me
what to do!
Please give more
homework to us,
Mrs. Kremer.
Bryce, pass the
book to her.
My clock is slow.
I really like her
dress.
Practice sentences: Decide if the following sentences are correct. If not, replace the incorrect pronoun
with a correct pronoun that agrees with the case of the antecedent.
1. _______ Joel ran away from home because his stepfather and him had quarreled.
2. ________ Janice was indignant when she realized that the sales clerk was insulting her mother and
she.
3. _______ The most traumatic experience for her father and I occurred long after her operation.
4. _______ The Indian cab driver game my husband and I some good tips on traveling.
5. _______ My husband and I just celebrated our third wedding anniversary.
6. _______ In Mary Gordon’s The Shadow Man, she writes about her father’s mysterious and startling
past.
GOLDEN RULE 2: A PRONOUN REFERENCE MUST ALWAYS BE CLEAR
1. Avoid ambiguous or remote pronoun references.
a) When Gloria set the pitcher on the glass-topped table, it broke.
b) Tom told James that he had won the lottery.
2. Do not use a pronoun to refer to an implied antecedent.
a) After braiding Ann’s hair, Sue decorated them with ribbons.
IT, THE HATED PRONOUN   
‘It’ is a necessary pronoun in many instances. However, problems with the word “it” occur when the
writer uses the word in an indefinite way. In the following examples, try to find the antecedent to ‘it.’
a) In the article it says that more women than men die of heart disease.
b) It is clear that Wiesel’s use of rhetorical appeals is effective.
c) It should not be surprising to many of you that Mrs. Kremer hates the word ‘it.’
d) Though Lewis cried for several minutes after scraping his knee, eventually it subsided.
*Oh crap, I do this all the time! How do I fix this?
-As a general rule, never start a sentence with the word ‘it.’ Nine times out of ten, your usage
will be unclear if you begin a sentence with ‘it.’
LAST BUT NOT LEAST…THE SINGLE MOST COMMON PRONOUN ERROR IN ALL OF
HIGH SCHOOL WRITING
To refer to people, use ‘who,’ ‘whom,’ or ‘whose,’ not ‘which’ or ‘that’
a) When he heard about my seven children, four of which live at home, Ron smiled.
b) Fans wondered how an out-of-shape old man that walked with a limp could play football.
c) The students that wanted good grades all did their homework.
THOSE CRAZY PRONOUNS: INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
Directions: edit the following sentences to eliminate problems with pronoun-antecedent agreement.
Most of the sentences can be revised in more than one way, so experiment before choosing a solution.
If a sentence is correct, write ‘correct’ after it.
1.
Every presidential candidate must appeal to a wide variety of ethnic and social groups if
they want to win the election.
2.
David lent his motorcycle to someone who allowed their friend to use it.
3.
The aerobics teacher motioned for everyone to move their arms in wide, slow circles.
4.
The parade committee was unanimous in its decision to allow all groups and organizations
to join the festivities.
5.
The applicant should be bilingual if they want to qualify for this position.
6.
If a driver refuses to take a blood or breath test, he or she will have their license suspended
for six months.
7.
Why should anyone learn a second language? One reason is to sharpen their minds.
8.
If anyone notices any suspicious activity, they should report it to the police.
Directions: edit the following sentences to correct errors in pronoun reference. In some cases you will
need to decide on an antecedent that the pronoun might logically refer to.
1. They say that an engineering student should have hands-on experience with dismantling and
reassembling machines.
2. In Ethiopia, you don’t need much property to be considered well-off.
3. Marianne told Jenny that she was worried about her mother’s illness.
4. Our German conversation group is made up of six people, three of which I had never met
before.
5. Parent involvement is high at Greenville High School. They participate in many committees that
affect all aspects of school life.
6. In the report it points out that lifting the ban on Compound 1080 would prove detrimental to
the bald eagle.