Grammar Smart 3rd Edition - Princeton Review 2014

E. Pronouns
Part 1. The Names of Things

Pronouns are a subgroup of nouns; they act as stand-ins for nouns. There are eight categories of pronouns, but a few simple rules govern their use. First, let’s go over some terms.

Case refers to the function of the pronoun in the sentence. The three cases are nominative, objective, and possessive. Think of these as subject pronouns, object pronouns, and ownership pronouns.

Number makes a pronoun either singular or plural.

Gender specifies whether the person a pronoun refers to is a man or a woman.

An antecedent is the noun (usually appearing earlier in the sentence or paragraph than the pronoun) that the pronoun stands in for in the sentence.

Personal Pronouns

Subject pronouns (nominative case): I, you, he, she, it, we, and they. All of these will be the subject of a verb.

It is alive! (It is the subject of is)

Wanda knew exactly what she should do. (she is the subject of should do)

Object pronouns (objective case): me, you, him, her it, us, them. These are always the object of the verb, preposition, or infinitive—never the subject. In other words, object pronouns are having something done to them, rather than doing the action themselves.

Wanda showered him with insults. (the him isn’t doing anything—he’s receiving the insults, not showering them)

He wanted her to go to a movie with him. (He is the subject of wanted; her is the object of wanted; him is the object of the preposition with)

Ownership pronouns (possessive case): mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs. They are used to show ownership, answering the question “Whose?”

The dog was hers. (Whose dog? Her dog)

Rules for Personal Pronouns

1. Subject pronouns follow the verb to be.

It is I! (I follows is)

It was they who ate all the cookies. (they follows was)

Casually talking to each other we would more naturally say It’s me, or It was them—so this rule applies mostly to formal writing. Again, base your choice on the situation.

2. If you’re having trouble deciding whether to use a subject or object pronoun, ignore parts of the sentence that get in the way.

Tell the secret to Bob and (I, me).

Read as: Tell the secret to (I, me).

Now your ear should help you out: Tell the secret to me. Therefore: Tell the secret to Bob and me. The main difficulty arises when another person gets between the preposition and the pronoun—so get the other person out of the way, and you will choose correctly.

3. Case is tricky when it comes to infinitives. If the infinitive to be has no subject, use a subject pronoun that agrees with the subject of the sentence.

Donna seems to be she who is making the anonymous calls.

For other infinitives, or if the infinitive to be has a subject, use an object pronoun.

Her boss considered the best candidate to be her.

Does this seem to be a difficult, awkward rule? Do the example sentences above seem forced—exactly the kind of thing that makes learning about grammar a big bore? Here’s where some common sense and creativity come in: when you are working with a sentence that is caught in a web of rules—and if following those rules leaves you with a sentence that sounds particularly awkward—just do what writers spend most of their time doing: Rewrite! Like this:

It seems to be Donna who is making the anonymous calls.

Her boss considered her to be the best candidate.

Or: Her boss considered her the best candidate.

The Golden Rule: Avoid Trouble

Knotty rules can almost always be avoided by writing more simply and more clearly. Remember, the point of understanding the rules of grammar is to be able to express your thoughts more precisely, not to write sentences that call attention to your knowledge of grammar. Editing is like housecleaning—if you’re doing it well, no one should notice the work that’s gone into it. It’s only when the work hasn’t been done that you look sloppy.

4. When making a comparison (using as or than) choose the case of pronoun that would finish the clause.

Max wanted to stay out later than she. (than she did)

Occasionally, misapplying this rule can garble your meaning.

Max loved ice cream more than her.

(he loved ice cream more than he loved her)

Max loved ice cream more than she.

(he loved ice cream more than she loved ice cream)

So which is it? Again, you can avoid the ambiguity problem by writing.

Max loved ice cream more than Wanda did.

Or: Max loved ice cream more than he loved Wanda.

Now there isn’t any doubt about the meaning. (For Wanda’s sake, let’s hope for the first version.) We’ll talk more about this in Part 3, Section E.

Mirror Pronouns

Mirror pronouns, also called reflexive pronouns, reflect the action of the verb back at the subject. The mirror pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves, itself.

Rules for Using Mirror Pronouns

1. Use the appropriate mirror pronoun to match the subject.

She hit herself with the hammer.

They took themselves to lunch.

2. You may also use mirror pronouns for emphasis, but don’t get carried away.

I myself was left bleeding on the sidewalk.

The director herself took a cut in salary.

Bob and I ate some tacos.

Not: Bob and myself ate some tacos.

The waiter brought the tacos to Bob and me.

Not: The waiter brought the tacos to Bob and myself.

Quick Quiz #8

Personal Pronouns

Pick the correct pronoun.

1. Just between you and (I, me) Marcy’s hair is a fright.

2. She went with Babs and (I, me) to a new hairdresser.

3. Babs and (I, me) looked totally fabulous with our new hairdos.

4. The hairdresser liked my hair more than (I, me).

Relative Pronouns

These pronouns link a subordinate, or relative, clause to the main clause of the sentence. They also act as stand-ins for nouns, just as all pronouns do. The definite relative pronouns are which, that, and who (or whom, if you’re using the objective form of who.) The indefinite relative pronouns are what, which, who, whatever, whom, and whomever. The difference between definite and indefinite relative pronouns is that indefinite pronouns aren’t clearly standing in for a noun already in the sentence—they have no antecedent. This is not a distinction you need to lose sleep over.

Wanda went to Mabel, who had given her good advice in the post.

The main clause of the sentence is Wanda went to see Mabel. Who had given her good advice in the past is a relative clause—it can’t stand by itself as a sentence—modifying Mabel. The relative pronoun who links this clause to the main part of the sentence. We’ll talk more about relative clauses in Part 2, Section E.

Rules for Relative Pronouns

1. Use who if the pronoun is the subject of a verb. Use whom if the pronoun is the object of a verb, preposition, or infinitive.

Mabel wondered who was ringing her doorbell.

(who is the subject of was ringing)

Mabel was not sure whom she could trust with her secret.

(Mabel is the subject of trust; whom is the object of trust.)

Wanda asked Mabel who had given her the documents.

Mabel told her it was a man with whom she had worked last year.

Deciding between who and whom is not so difficult—simply decide whether an object pronoun such as him or me would be appropriate, and if it is, use whom. Another way to decide is to see if the pronoun is doing an action. Is it the subject of a verb? Use who. If the sentence begins with the pronoun, you are safe using who.

“Who did you tell?” asked Wanda.

Or: “Whom did you tell?” asked Wanda.

Either of these is acceptable, although clearly the second version is more formal.

2. Who and whom are used to refer only to people.

3. That can refer to people, animals, and things.

4. Which cannot refer to people.

5. That and which are often misused. If your relative clause is a defining clause (also called a restrictive clause) that is the better choice. A defining clause limits the group being defined; we are meant to think only of part of the group, instead of the whole. The following sentences are a couple of examples:

Dogs that have three legs can learn to hop quickly.

Dogs, which can be trained to do nearly anything, love to work and to play.

In the first sentence we are talking about a limited group of dogs—three-legged dogs, not all the dogs in the world. That makes that have three legs a defining clause, and to introduce a defining clause, use that. In the second sentence which can be trained to do almost anything is talking about all dogs, not a specific group. The clause does not serve to define which dogs we mean. So use which.

Commas are critical here. A clause set off by commas is not crucial to the sentence— and if the clause isn’t necessary, it isn’t a defining clause, and so takes which. To sum up: if the clause is set off by commas, use which. If the clause has no commas, use that.

Quick Quiz #9

Relative Pronouns

Pick the correct pronoun.

1. The letter (that, which) came today was nicer than the one (that, which) came yesterday.

2. I was not sure (who, whom) had written the letter.

3. Could it be someone (who, whom) I asked on a date?

4. Usually my mail, (that, which) is delivered at noon, is nothing but bills.

5. A letter (that, which) is full of compliments is a joy to receive.

Question Pronouns

Question pronouns (also called interrogative pronouns) are used, unsurprisingly, to ask questions. The question pronouns are which, who, whom, and what.

Which dog has three legs?

Who ate my cake?

What were you thinking?

Pointing Pronouns

Pointing pronouns (also called demonstrative pronouns) are used to indicate which thing you are talking about. The pointing pronouns are that, these, this, those.

Rules for Pointing Pronouns

1. A pointing pronoun, like any pronoun, has to stand in for a noun, or else it is an adjective.

Get a load of this! (pointing pronoun, no antecedent)

This teacher is incredibly boring. (adjective, modifying teacher)

I want to eat all of these. (these standing in for Fritos, burritos, or whatever the speaker in pointing to)

I want to eat all of these burritos. (these modifying burritos)

2. As with all pronouns, you should make sure your audience understands what you pronoun stands for. A pointing pronoun doesn’t require an antecedent in the sentence, but the antecedent should still be clear. For instance, in the example above Get a load of this! The audience presumably knows what this the speaker or writer is talking about. See Last Words on Pronoun Agreement, Part 3, Section A.

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are vague; they don’t stand in for specific nouns.

Indefinite pronouns

all      any     anybody   anything

both     each    either    enough

everybody     everything   few     less

many     more    much    neither

none     nothing    one    plenty

several     some    someone

The rules for indefinite pronouns mostly concern gender and number, so it might be helpful to review these terms in Part 3.

Rules for Indefinite Pronouns

1. Each, every, anybody, anything, somebody, and something are always singular, so use a singular verb and a singular personal pronoun to match.

Each of the boys wants a pizza for himself. (each takes the singular verb wants and the singular personal pronoun himself)

Is anybody going to eat the last pepperoni? (anybody takes the singular verb is)

Possible Confusion: How do you know if a verb is singular or plural? As you can see in the example above, each wants, a singular verb often ends in -s. But there are many exceptions. The easy way to find a singular verb form is to match the verb with he or she, which is singular. Your ear will match it correctly. Use they if you are looking for the plural form of the verb. She wants, they want. See Part 3 Section A.

2. Both, several, few, many, and plenty always refer to more than one thing; therefore, they are always plural. Match them with plural verbs and plural personal pronouns (they, them, their).

Both of the pizzas were delivered cold. (both takes the plural verb were)

Many of the boys eat their cookies before eating their salads. (Many takes the plural verb eat and the plural personal pronoun their)

3. All, most, and some can be singular or plural. If you are talking about things that can be counted individually, like coins or socket wrenches, treat the pronoun as plural.

Most of the greedy felons are going to jail. (the felons are individuals, so most takes the plural verb are)

Some of the differences between them are apparent. (the differences are specific, individual, countable things, so some takes the plural verb are)

If you are talking about things that aren’t individually countable—quantities you can pour, like water or sand or beer, or things that you can’t divide into discrete parts, like love or anger—treat the pronoun as singular.

Most of the attention is on the trader guilty of securities fraud.

Some of the beer is spilling on the rug.

4. None is usually treated as plural, unless you are using it in the sense of not one single thing, or no one person.

None of the politicians is solely responsible for the miserable state of the economy. (none meaning no one person)

None were happy. (none meant as a plural group of individuals)

Quick Quiz #10

Billy Wifflamoo: Aliens Ate My Buick

Note the indefinite pronouns in the following passage.

Billy, like most of his friends, was a music lover. He was particularly drawn to funk, and many of his favorite songs were by George Clinton, James Brown, or Thomas Dolby. None of his albums was by Elton John or the Osmonds. Each of his albums was a treasure that he listened to over and over.

One afternoon, while listening to Parliament Funkadelic, Billy glanced out the window and saw three aliens sitting on the hood of his Buick, all of them snacking on Mallomars. Billy turned up the volume and watched carefully to see if anything would happen. At first the aliens did nothing. Then, when “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)” come on, the aliens looked at one another and began throwing Mallomars at everything in sight. All of them started to chew on anything they could tear off Billy’s Buick.

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