* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Pronouns - University College
Old Irish grammar wikipedia , lookup
Udmurt grammar wikipedia , lookup
Kannada grammar wikipedia , lookup
Compound (linguistics) wikipedia , lookup
Sanskrit grammar wikipedia , lookup
Old English grammar wikipedia , lookup
Lithuanian grammar wikipedia , lookup
Modern Hebrew grammar wikipedia , lookup
Ojibwe grammar wikipedia , lookup
Old Norse morphology wikipedia , lookup
Latin syntax wikipedia , lookup
Ancient Greek grammar wikipedia , lookup
Yiddish grammar wikipedia , lookup
Swedish grammar wikipedia , lookup
Zulu grammar wikipedia , lookup
Modern Greek grammar wikipedia , lookup
Sloppy identity wikipedia , lookup
Pipil grammar wikipedia , lookup
Sotho parts of speech wikipedia , lookup
Malay grammar wikipedia , lookup
Arabic grammar wikipedia , lookup
Russian declension wikipedia , lookup
Latvian declension wikipedia , lookup
Esperanto grammar wikipedia , lookup
Literary Welsh morphology wikipedia , lookup
Serbo-Croatian grammar wikipedia , lookup
Turkish grammar wikipedia , lookup
French grammar wikipedia , lookup
Icelandic grammar wikipedia , lookup
Scottish Gaelic grammar wikipedia , lookup
Bound variable pronoun wikipedia , lookup
Third-person pronoun wikipedia , lookup
Romanian nouns wikipedia , lookup
Pronouns A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun (person, place, thing, or idea) or another pronoun. The doctor finished her examination. The boys worked their magic on the broken car. The pronoun must agree in number (singular or plural) with the word it is replacing. A student at the university must not park his or her car in the faculty lot. Since “student” is singular (and non-specific), you must use the singular “his” or “her” pronoun. Because we want to avoid assumptions about the gender of the student, “his or her” is used. TIP: Many people find the construction "his or her" wordy. If possible, use a plural noun as your antecedent so that you can use “their” as your pronoun. (Students at the university must not park their cars in the faculty lot.) If you do use a singular noun and the context makes the gender clear, then it is permissible to use just "his" or "her" rather than "his or her." There are certain instances where it is unclear if the pronoun should be singular or plural. The following are examples where the pronoun should be singular: Indefinite Pronouns: any, anybody, anyone, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, none, no one, someone, something) If anybody wants to be selected, he or she must submit an application. Collective Nouns (nouns that name a class or group): jury, team, committee The committee worked hard so that it could accomplish its goals. The pronoun must clearly refer to a particular noun or pronoun. The class worked hard on the project, and it was a success. What is it? The class or the project? When they put the present in the car, it broke. What is it? The present or the car? The team worked together to win. This was hard to do. What is this? Working together or winning? TIP: “This” and “It” generally cause the most problems in this area, so look at your use of these words carefully to avoid being unclear. The case of a pronoun is determined by the grammatical function the pronoun is performing. Case shows the relation of the pronoun to other parts of the sentence. There are three cases: subjective (functions as the subject of the sentence), objective (functions to receive the action of the sentence), and possessive (functions to show ownership). Subjective I You He She It We They Who Whoever Objective Me You Him Her It Us Them Whom Whomever Possessive My Your His Her Its Our Their Whose Whose ever Case is hard to understand and easy to confuse. Looking at what you want the pronoun to do in the sentence and where it is placed will help with this type of problem. Examples: You were the object of my affection. (You appears at the start of the sentence and is clearly what the sentence is about; it must be in the subjective case.) I wanted her to answer the phone. (I appears before the verb, so it must be subjective, and her appears after the verb, so it must be objective.) Their jobs are to ensure our safety. (It does not matter where possessive pronouns appear in the sentence; when ownership is indicated, the possessive case must be used.) The most common places where mistakes in pronoun case are made are with compound word groups (a group of nouns connected with “and”). Ginger and I found the missing item. The most dangerous part of the mission for the captain and me ended quickly. TIP: The best way to find the correct form is to take away the other part of the compound word group and see if the sentence still makes sense. If not, the pronoun needs to be changed. University Center for Learning Assistance, Illinois State University 2007 For special accommodations, please call 438-7100.