English B60 Pronouns

Pronouns Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns to avoid repetition and clarify meaning. The words they take the place of are called antecedents. Personal pronouns are sometimes tricky because they take different forms in subject and object position.

Pronouns as Subjects The subject of a sentence is who or what is doing the verb. (He/Him) is my cousin He is my cousin He is older than (I/me) He is older than I am

Pronouns as Objects Objects of sentences are the recipients of the verbs. The coach asked Craig and (me/I) to carry the trophy. The coach asked Craig and me to carry the trophy. See the chart on pg. 155 in LYSK

Practice Circle the correct pronoun in each sentence. My friend Kate and (I/me) took our third field trip to a museum last week. Kate may not get into art as much as (I/me), but she sure picked a great place to visit. I usually enjoy these museum visits more than (she/her). Last time, however, (she and I/her and me) both enjoyed it. My friend Kate and I took our third field trip to a museum last wee. Kate may not get into art as much as I, but she sure picked a great place to visit. I usually enjoy these museum visits more than she. Last time, however, she and I (or we) both enjoyed it.

Pronoun Agreement Pronouns and antecedents should agree in gender and number. A student must do (his/her/their) homework each night. A student must do his or her homework each night. Students must do their homework each night. All of the cats washed (its/their) tails. All of the cats washed their tails.

Shifts in person Your pronoun use should be consistent. In general, avoid the second person (you) whenever possible. If you start off in the first person, keep that pronoun through the end of the sentence. Few people know how to manage our time. We don’t need to be efficiency experts to realize that I could get a lot more done by budgeting his or her time wisely. Nor do they need to work very hard to become more organized. Few of us know how to manage our time. We don’t need to be efficiency experts to realize that we could get a lot more done by budgeting our time more wisely. Nor do we need to work very hard to become more organized.

Practice Correct the following pronoun errors I was reading about superstitions for my psychology class, and one superstition says that whenever you change your residence, one should get a new broom. One should never be rude to their parents. If a doctor isn’t sure about a diagnosis, they need to do more research. I was reading about superstitions for my psychology class, and one superstition says that whenever people change their residence, they should get a new broom. One should never be rude to his or her parents. If doctors aren’t sure about a diagnosis, they need to do more research.