CHAPTER SIX
Pronoun Antecedents
We use pronouns to avoid awkwardness, to simplify style, and to express certain ideas clearly.
Pronouns take the place of nouns in sentences. In the following sentence, if we had to repeat the noun “house” every time we wrote about the idea “house,” we would have awkward and unwieldy prose.
Awkward: The house stood on a shady street, and the house looked large and comfortable as if the house was perfectly suited for a large family and for two sets of grandparents who might visit the house for long periods.
[The pronoun “it” simplifies this sentence tout de suite.]
Better: The house stood on a shady street, and it looked large and comfortable as if it was perfectly suited for a large family and for two sets of grandparents who might visit it for long periods.
We could not express some ideas without pronouns. Many sentences require first-person pronouns (I, we, our, and ours) or second-person pronouns (you, your, and yours), and no other words can serve in their place.
By themselves, pronouns are indefinite words; therefore, most pronouns require an antecedent to give them content and meaning. The antecedent is the word that the pronoun substitutes for. The antecedent usually appears earlier in the same sentence or in the same passage.
The snow fell all day long, and by nightfall, it was three feet deep.
[The noun “snow” is an antecedent; the pronoun “it” looks back to “snow” so that in this sentence “snow” and “it” mean the same thing.]
Some pronouns are indefinite and take their meaning not from an antecedent but from the sentence where they are located.
Anybody who wants to see the Placido Domingo concert should get a ticket two months in advance.
[“Anybody” standing by itself would have almost no meaning at all; it receives meaning from the sentence and especially from the clause “who wants to see the Placido Domingo concert.” Nouns such as John, house, garden, car, and dog have a fairly clear meaning by themselves. An indefinite pronoun must have a sentence to give it meaning.]
Some pronouns are reflexive. They end in -self, and they add emphasis to the noun or pronoun they follow.
John himself admitted his error.
The legal battle about who owned the field went on for years while the field itself grew up like a jungle.
No matter how you may judge my actions, you yourself would have done the same thing in my situation.
I hurt myself.
[All these reflexive pronouns stress their antecedents.]
a Make certain that pronouns refer clearly to their antecedents. Keep pronouns as close to their antecedents as possible.
Pronouns that do not refer clearly to their antecedents or that are widely separated from them may confuse the reader. Oftentimes the only way to remedy a confusing reference of pronouns to their antecedents is to rewrite the sentence.
Weak: Albert was with Beauregard when he got the news that his cigars had arrived.
[Did Beauregard get the news, or did Albert? Did the cigars belong to Beauregard, or did they belong to Albert?]
Improved: Albert’s cigars arrived, and while he was with Beauregard, Albert got the news that they had come.
[Now the sentence is clear. The cigars belong to Albert, and he got the news of their arrival while he was with Beauregard. Readers would almost certainly understand another version: While he was with Beauregard, Albert got the news that his cigars had arrived. Although the pronoun “his” could refer grammatically to either Beauregard or Albert, nearly all readers would assume that the two pronouns, he and his, had the same antecedent.]
Weak: The engine stopped, and McHale thought of the mechanic in the last small town on the highway amid the torrid, dusty summer of West Texas with its long and blinding stretches of treeless land burned brown by the sun, waterless and desolate, who had told him it was in excellent condition despite the strange noise it was making.
[The relative clause beginning with “who” is a long way from its antecedent, mechanic, and the two instances of the pronoun “it” are even farther from their antecedent, engine. Readers may be confused by the pronoun references.]
Improved: The engine stopped, and McHale thought of the mechanic who had told him it was in excellent condition despite the strange noise it was making. That mechanic was now far behind him in the last small town on the highway amid the torrid, dusty summer of West Texas with its long and blinding stretches of treeless land burned brown by the sun, a land waterless and desolate.
[A thorough revision yields two sentences instead of one and places the pronouns much closer to the antecedents to which they refer.]
Avoid the use of “they” and “it” as indefinite pronouns in constructions such as “they say” or “it says.” Such constructions may be both awkward and unclear.
Vague: They say that the heat wave will break tomorrow.
Better: The weather forecast is that the heat wave will break tomorrow.
Vague: They say he dyes his hair.
Better: His former wife says he dyes his hair.
[The improvement in both examples is to make the source of the information clear.]
Vague: It says in the paper that we can expect a higher rate of inflation next year.
Better: A front-page article in today’s paper says we can expect a higher rate of inflation next year.
b Make pronouns agree in number with their antecedents.
Singular antecedents require singular pronouns.
The house was dark and gloomy, and it sat in a grove of tall cedars that made it seem darker still.
Plural antecedents require plural pronouns.
The cars swept by on the highway, all of them doing more than 55 miles per hour.
[In the first sentence, house, a singular noun, requires a singular pronoun, it; in the second, the plural “cars” requires a plural pronoun, them.]
Roosevelt and Churchill found radio a perfect medium for their speaking talents.
[The antecedents are compound—that is, joined by a coordinating conjunction. A compound antecedent is plural and takes a plural pronoun—in this example, their.]
Use a singular pronoun when all the parts of a compound antecedent are singular and the parts are joined by “or” or “nor.”
Either Ted or John will take his car.
Neither Judy nor Linda will lend you her horn.
[But if Ted and John own one car in partnership, you should write, “Either Ted or John will take their car.” And if Judy and Linda own only one horn between them, you should write, “Neither Judy nor Linda will lend you their horn.”]
Sometimes you must revise a sentence entirely because a single pronoun will not do.
Neither Patricia nor John would let me borrow his lawn mower.
[Since we assume that Patricia is a woman and that John is a man, the pronoun “his” will not do unless Patricia has some control over John’s lawn mower. The simplest way out of the problem would be to eliminate the pronoun: Neither Patricia nor John would let me borrow a lawn mower. Or you could write this sentence: John would not lend me his lawn mower, and Patricia would not lend me hers.]
When referring to collective nouns such as team, family, audience, majority, minority, committee, group, government, flock, herd, and many others, Americans usually use the singular pronoun.
The team won its victory gratefully.
In elections, the majority has its way.
The committee disbanded when it finished its business.
However, if the members of the group indicated by a collective noun are being considered as individuals, a plural pronoun is appropriate.
The hard-rock band broke up and began fighting among themselves when their leader was converted to Mozart.
[Although “band” is singular, the intent of the sentence is to stress the individuals in the group. Here “themselves” and “their”—both plural pronouns—are used to refer to the noun “band.”]
In British English, collective nouns usually take plural pronouns and plural verbs. In books first published in Great Britain or the Commonwealth, you often find sentences like these:
The cricket team quit playing when they discovered that their spectators had fallen into a profound sleep.
The government refuse to comment when they are asked about the prospects for peace in Poland.
Traditional writing textbooks direct you to use masculine singular pronouns to refer to nouns and pronouns of unknown gender.
Any teacher must sometimes despair at the indifference of his students.
Everybody can have what he wants to eat.
However, many people object that using the masculine pronoun when the gender of the noun is unknown or nonspecific creates sexist language.
Exercise 1. Rewrite the following sentences to correct errors in pronoun reference. If you find no error in a sentence, put a check by it. You may rewrite a sentence to keep some pronouns, or you may eliminate the pronouns altogether.
1. The ship sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge as it put out to sea.
2. The painter complained to her model that she was too pale.
3. Blodgett met Whitney as he was returning from the swim meet.
4. It says in the menu that the special is fried eggplant.
5. The traveler bought a melon from the peasant as he stood in the shade on the road below Lamia, the city on the hill.
6. Anyone who loses their token will have to buy a new one if they want to ride the subway.
7. Neither Lewis nor Alfred brought their toothbrush.
8. If one wears polyester shirts, he will be much hotter in summer and much colder in winter than with cotton shirts, but he can enjoy them for years.
9. The gold team used the indoor tennis courts when they practiced in winter.
10. Neither Ellen nor Mike rode her bicycle to school that day, although they usually rode in together every morning.
11. They say that a penny saved is a penny earned, but they never considered how much you can spend when you try to save money at a half-price sale.
12. The control group was tested to see if they remembered the economics lecture as well as they remembered the soap opera.
Exercise 2. Rewrite the following sentences to eliminate unclear pronoun reference. If you use a pronoun in your revision, be sure that it refers to only one antecedent and that it falls close enough to its antecedent to ensure clarity.
VAGUE: Saul found and old gun in the rotting shed that was just as his grandfather had left it.
BETTER: In the rotting shed Saul found an old gun that was just as his grandfather had left it.
1. Mrs. Krieger telephoned her daughter often when she was away.
2. The picture on the cover of the novel is disturbing; one expects it to be more gruesome than it is.
3. Two brothers had built the town’s oldest barn, which over the years had served as a cow barn, a blacksmith shop, and a studio for artisans. However, no one could remember their names.
4. Lee played a piece on the piano that dated from the seventeenth century.
5. Since Colson was operating the rented backhoe that ran over Mrs. Gibb’s fence, he is responsible for the damage it suffered.
6. If your pet cheetah will not eat raw meat, cook it.
7. My father and his sister have not spoken for thirty years because she left the family when my grandfather was ill and never called or wrote. But now he is thinking of resuming communication.
8. There is a difference between the heroes of today and the heroes of yesterday: they have flaws in their characters.
9. Jan held the sandwich in one hand and the telephone in the other, eating it while she talked.
10. Tom told his brother that he was in trouble with their grandparents.
Exercise 3. On your paper, write the pronoun in parentheses that agrees with the antecedent in each sentence. Then write the antecedent.
SAMPLE The nation suffered during (its, their) worst economic depression in the 1930s.
ANSWER its—nation
1. In 1929 the stock market dropped to (their, its) lowest point in years.
2. The rich person and the poor person alike had (his, their) future determined by the stock-market crash.
3. Many people lost (his or her, their) jobs in the 1930s.
4. None of the local governments across the nation could collect much of (its, their) taxes.
5. In the 1920s, hardly any of the leading companies realized that an oversupply of (their, its) products existed.
6. Because of competition, some of the producers lowered (his or her, their) prices below the actual cost of production.
7. In 1932 everybody turned (his or her, their) attention to the newly elected President, Franklin Roosevelt.
8. Much of his vision of the ideal government still has (its, their) appeal today.
9. The Congress used (its, their) power to create economic reform.
10. Roosevelt and other statesmen used (his, their) influence to create the New Deal.
Exercise 4. On your paper, write the pronoun or the pronoun phrase in parentheses that correctly completes each sentence. Then identify the gender, number, and person of the pronoun or pronouns.
SAMPLE Women can be proud of (her, their) role in the history of jazz.
ANSWER their—feminine; plural; third person
1. The ancestors of black Americans brought African musical tradition with (him, them) to the United States.
2. American folk music had (his, its) influence on jazz too.
3. Black American musicians listened to many different kinds of music and slowly blended (it, them).
4. When one listens to jazz, (one, he) is listening to a truly American musical form.
5. In the early 1900s, a typical jazz musician spent (his, his or her) life in the South.
6. Later on, many musicians brought (one’s, their) instruments to northern cities.
7. New Orleans and Kansas City certainly had (its, their) influences on jazz.
8. In 1922 Louis Armstrong moved to Chicago, taking his experiences in New Orleans with (it, him).
9. Other musicians took New Orleans jazz rhythms with (him, them) to New York City.
10. One can sometimes hear the influence of many different kinds of music, from regional to classical, when (he, he or she) listens to modern jazz.
Exercise 5. On your paper, write the pronoun in parentheses that correctly completes each sentence.
SAMPLE John asked (us, ourselves) what we knew about the history of television.
ANSWER us
1. Many inventors found (ourselves, themselves) imagining how television might work.
2. Vladimir Zworkin (themselves, himself) made a TV in the 1920s.
3. (Himself, He) created a device called an “iconoscope.”
4. RCA and NBC began an experimental TV station for (itself, themselves) in 1930.
5. The station (itself, themselves) was in New York City.
6. (It, Itself) continued in operation until 1933.
7. In 1939, during the World’s Fair (it, itself), commercial broadcasts began in New York City.
8. (Themselves, They) ceased during World War II, however.
9. My friends and I consider (themselves, ourselves) lucky to live in the age of television.
10. Fran and (he, himself) like situation comedies and variety shows best.
c Avoid making broad references with the pronouns this, that, they, it, which, and such. Make a pronoun refer to a specific antecedent rather than to an implied one.
Some writers occasionally use one of these pronouns to refer not to a specific antecedent but to the general idea expressed by the whole clause or sentence. Such reference, often called broad reference, is acceptable only when the pronoun refers clearly to the entire preceding clause.
I can be kind and civil to people, which is more than you can.
George Bernard Shaw
The members of Political Writers for a Democratic Society did not constitute a pack. They were too confident, competitive, proud, and self-sufficient for that.
Timothy Crouse
[The pronoun “that” has as its antecedent the idea expressed in the first sentence, that the members of the organization called Political Writers for a Democratic Society did not constitute a pack.]
Babe Ruth, playing for the Boston Braves, hit three balls out of Forbes Field in Pittsburgh on May 25, 1935. They were his last home runs.
[“They,” the subject of the second sentence, has as its antecedent the entire action of the first sentence rather than any one noun within that sentence.]
Confusing: I knew nothing about economics, which my instructor had not learned. [“Which” could refer to “economics” or to the whole preceding clause.]
Clear: I knew nothing about economics, a fact my instructor had not learned.
or
Clear: I knew nothing about economics because my instructor knew nothing about it.
Confusing: The faculty members reached agreement on a change in the requirements, but it took time. [Does “it” refer to reaching agreement or to the change?]
Clear: The faculty members reached agreement on a change in the requirements, but the change took time to implement.
or
Clear: The faculty members agreed on a change in the requirements, but arriving at agreement took time.
Confusing: The British knew little of the American countryside and had no experience with the colonists’ guerrilla tactics. This gave the colonists an advantage. [Does “This” refer to the whole preceding sentence, to the ignorance alone, or to the inexperience alone?]
Clear: The British knew little of the American countryside and had no experience with the colonists’ guerrilla tactics. Their ignorance and inexperience gave the colonists an advantage.
But broad reference with pronouns is often awkward or misleading.
Weak: Andy Warhol once made a movie of a man sleeping for a whole night, which was a tiresome experience. [Was the movie tiresome to watch? Or was making the movie the tiresome experience?]
Improved: Andy Warhol once made a tiresome movie of a man sleeping for a whole night.
or
Improved: Andy Warhol once went through the tiresome experience of making a movie of a man sleeping for a whole night.
Weak: That car gets good gas mileage and yet is so flimsy that it breaks up in the slightest accident. This ought to be a consideration to anyone thinking of buying it, but this is not likely when people live in a world like this where inflation is rampant. [Writers sometimes use the demonstrative pronoun “this” far too frequently and far too broadly.]
Improved: That car gets good gas mileage and yet is so flimsy that it breaks up in the slightest accident. Anyone thinking of buying it ought to consider its safety record, but safety may not come to mind in today’s world where inflation is rampant. [Replacing the pronoun “this” with specific nouns and revising these sentences help to clarify the meaning.
d Don’t use a pronoun to refer to a noun implied by a modifier.
Adjectives, nouns used as modifiers, and the possessives of nouns or pronouns make unsatisfactory antecedents. Although they may imply a noun that could serve as an antecedent, they do not supply the specific antecedent needed for clarity.
Weak: In the President’s speech he outlined plans for tax reform.
Revised: In his speech the President outlined plans for tax reform.
Weak: Liz drove a red car; it was her favorite color.
Revised: Liz drove a red car because red was her favorite color.
or
Revised: Liz drove a car that was red, her favorite color.
e Don’t use a pronoun to refer to a noun implied by some other noun or phrase.
Weak: Jim talked at length about salesmanship, although he had never been one.
Revised: Jim talked at length about salesmanship, although he had never been a salesman.
Weak: Jake was bitten by a rattlesnake, but it was not serious.
Revised: Jake was bitten by a rattlesnake, but the bite was not serious.
f Learn the difference between the expletive “it” and the pronoun “it”.
The pronoun “it” always has an antecedent; the expletive “it” serves as a grammatical subject when the real subject is placed after the verb or is understood.
Pronoun “it”: When a barn burned in rural America, it often took with it a year’s hard work for a farm family. [“It,” used twice in this sentence, has the noun “barn” as an antecedent.]
Expletive “it”: When a barn burned, it was difficult for a farm family to recover from the loss. [The “it” does not have an antecedent but serves as the grammatical subject for the independent clause that it begins. The sentence could read, “When a bran burned, to recover from the loss was difficult for a farm family.” But such a sentence, although correct from a grammatical point of view, does not conform to customary English usage, and it sounds awkward compared with the sentence with the expletive “it.”]
Expletive “it”: It will be a pretty day tomorrow. [The sentence could read, “Tomorrow will be a pretty day,” but American usage often favors the expletive “it.”]
Expletive “it”: It is hot now. [The subject is understood to be the temperature (the temperature is hot now) or the day (the day is hot now). But the expletive “it,” without an antecedent, is favored in common usage.]
Try to avoid using the expletive “it” and the pronoun “it” one after the other.
Weak: What will happen to the kite? If it is windy, it will fly.
Improved: What will happen to the kite? It will fly if the wind blows.
g When you address your readers, use the pronoun “you” only when you are writing in an informal tone; use the pronoun “one” when you write more formally.
The book’s no good to you now. Neither is scientific reason. You don’t need any scientific experiments to find out what’s wrong.
Robert Pirsig
[In his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Pirsig announces that he will talk with the reader throughout as though in a discussion. So the tone is informal, and he frequently uses the pronoun “you.”]
One might have supposed that Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was disappointing because it was so short.
[Here the tone is more formal, and the pronoun “one” does the service that the pronoun “you” might perform in a less formal piece.]
h Let the tone and intention of your essay determine whether you will use the pronouns I, my, me, and mine.
Many writing teachers tell students to avoid using pronouns in the first person singular. The intention of these teachers is to prevent student writers from calling attention to themselves and getting in the way of the subject they should be writing about. Readers do not like to feel that the author is intruding unnecessarily into a piece of writing.
Intrusive
For the first few minutes I saw Carew whack screamers down the rightfield line, and I saw him frown at this unwanted consistency. I think Carew is a handsome man, but I don’t mean that in the conventional sense. I think that the most arresting features on his face are a tiny turned-up nose and a mouth that in my opinion is a mile wide, and I believe it can exaggerate the mildest emotion. When he smiles, I believe the light can be seen as far away as Newport Beach. When he’s downcast, I’d say there’s an eclipse of the sun.
This kind of writing would quickly become tedious to all of us if it went on very long. Here is the way a writer for Sports Illustrated wrote about Rod Carew, first baseman for the California Angels baseball team:
Nonintrusive
For the first few minutes Carew whacked screamers down the rightfield line, frowning at this unwanted consistency. Carew is a handsome man, but not in the conventional sense. The most arresting features on his face are a tiny turned-up nose and mile-wide mouth that can exaggerate the mildest emotion. When he smiles, the light can be seen as far away as Newport Beach. When he’s downcast, there’s an eclipse of the sun.
Ron Fimrite
[Mr. Fimrite is writing informally, but he is not writing about himself and his opinions; he is directing our attention to Rod Carew. We know that the opinions expressed here are Fimrite’s because he wrote the article. He does not have to use the expression “I think.” We know that he thinks without the personal pronoun.]
The first person singular pronouns are appropriate when you are writing about some experience of yours that is the center of your prose.
From all available evidence no black man had ever set foot in this tiny Swiss village before I came. I was told before arriving that I would probably be a “sight” for the village; I took this to mean that people of my complexion were rarely seen in Switzerland, and also that city people are always something of a “sight” outside of the city. It did not occur to me—possibly because I am an American—that there could be people anywhere who had never seen a Negro.
James Baldwin
The first person singular pronouns are also acceptable when you are weighing two contradictory opinions and want to let readers know which side you are on.
Many scientists believe that the universe will end in a general collapse in which all matter falls back to a central mass, which will eventually explode again in a “big bang” like that which has created the universe we know. Others believe that the stars will continue forever to fly apart from each other in space and that the universe will end in the solitary deaths of all those stars scattered at an infinite distance from one another. I am inclined to accept the second view.
[The writer knows that much debate surrounds this issue; she expresses her own opinion at the last, and the effect of the use of the first person here is to admit of some doubt.]
The first person singular pronouns can be used in other kinds of writing, but you should always at least experiment with not using the first person. Avoiding the first person can help you avoid wordiness, but when you believe you must use it, you may do so with a good conscience. No rule of English holds that you should always avoid saying I, me, my, and mine.
i Avoid the unnecessary placing of a pronoun after a noun.
Some Americans tend to use a pronoun immediately after the noun to give the noun special emphasis. In this regional style of speech, these pronouns play the part of reflexive pronouns. In writing they should be avoided.
Redundant: Harry Truman he played the piano.
Improved: Harry Truman played the piano. [The noun “Harry Truman” is sufficient; the pronoun “he” is unnecessary.]
or
Improved: Harry Truman himself played the piano. [Here a true reflexive pronoun, himself, adds emphasis to the noun “Harry Truman.”]
Redundant: The newspaper they admitted that advertising sometimes influences their editorial policy.
Improved: The newspaper admitted that advertising sometimes influences their editorial policy. [The pronoun “they” is not needed in the sentence.]
or
Improved: The newspaper themselves admitted that advertising sometimes influences their editorial policy. [The true reflexive pronoun, themselves, adds emphasis to the noun “newspapers.”]
j Be sure the relative pronouns “who,” “which,” and “that” are appropriate for their antecedents.
The relative pronouns “who,” “which,” and “that” commonly refer to persons, animals, or things. “Who” refers most often to persons but may also refer to animals that have names.
Travis is the boy who leads the other boys into trouble.
Their dog Wanda, who is growing lame, has difficulty running.
“Which” refers to animals and things.
The Orinoco River, which is 1600 miles long, flows through Venezuela into the Atlantic Ocean.
“That” refers to animals and things and occasionally to persons when they are collective or anonymous.
The jade tree that my grandmother gave me suddenly died.
Infants that walk need constant tending.
The possessive “whose” generally refers to people but may refer to animals and things to avoid awkward and wordy “of which” construction.
The book whose binding broke had been my father’s. [Compare: The book of which the binding broke had been my father’s.]
Exercise 6. Rewrite the following sentences to eliminate pronoun errors. If a sentence is correct, put a check beside it.
1. He liked to read in the bathtub in the summer and to regulate the water temperature with his toes and to keep the door shut and locked, which was inconvenient for others in the family, since the house had only one bathroom.
2. The movie Apocalypse Now was based partly on a novel by Joseph Conrad. It is likely that it suffered because Marlon Brando was so fat in it that it was hard to take him seriously. It looked as if he himself had not taken the movie seriously, and despite the money spent on promoting it, it is clear that it failed to meet expectations about it.
3. The movies Godfather and Godfather II made millions of dollars, which proves that crime does pay if it is possible to make it exciting on film.
4. The house it was small and cramped for a family of four, and my mother and father, they loved each other, and they made the house seem as big as all creation.
5. The readers of this page will forgive this writer perhaps if he indulges himself in a personal recollection of hearing Hank Williams sing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
6. I have read that World War I began in 1914. It seems to me that I remember that the Germans invaded Belgium to get to France, and I think that then the British came in to defend Belgium, which, as I recall, was neutral.
7. This time she promised to write the essay, and this was said to be acceptable by the teacher, who said that after all her work had to be turned in on time and that this was completely reasonable in a class where late papers created a lot of work for the teacher.
8. You can see from the statistical evidence that smoking cigarettes is dangerous to your health.
9. Oil has become so expensive that it is natural that Americans should reduce their use of it, but it remains to be seen whether they can eliminate it as a major item in their budgets.
10. As for wood, it is a good fuel, but it is inconvenient for most people, and its smoke may be dangerous to health.
11. He had a bad temper, and that was one reason why he had so few friends.
12. It is to be expected that it will be cold in winter, and yet in this winter it was said of the temperature that it was much warmer than it had been before in all the history of the weather bureau.
Exercise 7. Many of the pronouns in the following sentences do not refer to specific, appropriate antecedents. Revise the sentences as necessary to make them clear.
VAGUE: In Grand Teton National Park they have moose, elk, and trumpeter swans.
CLEAR: Moose, elk, and trumpeter swans live in Grand Teton National Park.
1. Sandra Day O’Connor has been a Supreme Court Justice since 1981, when she was appointed to it by Ronald Reagan.
2. Ever since I read a book on the Buddhists’ beliefs, I’ve been thinking of becoming one.
3. In impressionist paintings they used color to imitate reflected light.
4. Six or seven bearskin rugs decorated the rooms of the house, and Sam claimed to have killed them.
5. In Japan they are very loyal to the companies they work for.
6. Thompson is a painter that works primarily in oils.
7. In my weight-training class, the instructors advise you to leave two or three days between workouts.
8. The play was supposed to open the first week in March, but because of casting problems this did not happen.
9. We receive warnings to beware of nuclear fallout, pesticides, smog, and even our food, but I try not to think about it.
10. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels he wrote about the Jazz Age.
11. Macbeth is a complicated and ambiguous hero, and that makes it a good play.
12. In urban redevelopment projects they try to make neighborhoods safe and attractive.
13. In the nineteenth century you didn’t have many options in motorized transportation.
14. It rained for a week, but it is possible that we can save the crop.
15. We argue constantly and he never looks straight at me, which bothers me.
Exercise 8. Revise the following paragraph so that each pronoun refers clearly to a single specific and appropriate antecedent.
In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre she is a shy woman that takes a job as governess. Her employer is a rude, brooding man named Rochester. He lives in a mysterious mansion on the English moors, which contributes an eerie quality to Jane’s experience. Eerier still are the fires, strange noises, and other unexplained happenings in the house; but Rochester refuses to discuss this. Eventually, they fall in love. On the day they are to be married, however, she learns that he has a wife hidden in the house. She is hopelessly insane and violent and must be guarded at all times, which explains his strange behavior. Heartbroken, Jane leaves the moors, and many years pass before they are reunited.
k Use the proper cases for pronouns.
Pronouns often show case by their forms. Case refers to the grammatical relation of a pronoun to other words in the sentence. English has only three cases—the subjective (sometimes called the nominative), the possessive (sometimes called the genitive), and the objective (sometimes called the accusative).
Indefinite pronouns, the pronoun “it,” and the pronoun “you” change their forms only for the possessive case. We speak of anybody’s guess, its color, and your writing. The pronouns I, we, he, she, they, and who change forms in each of the three cases.
Subjective Case
Pronouns in the subjective case act as subjects or as subject complements.
He and I read books all summer long.
She was the candidate who I thought deserved the victory.
[The pronouns “He and I” and “who” serve as the subjects of the clauses where they appear.]
It could have been anyone.
Mark’s best friends were she and I.
[The pronouns “anyone” and “she and I” are subject complements.]
Rule Use the subjective (nominative) case when a pronoun acts as a subject, as a predicate nominative, or as an appositive to a subject or to a predicate nominative.
SUBJECT
I would like to know who founded the Photo-Secession group in the early 1900s.
PREDICATE NOMINATIVE
It was he, Alfred Stieglitz, the man who also started the magazine Camera Work.
APPOSITIVE TO A SUBJECT
The couple, Georgia O’Keeffe and he, promoted modern art in their galleries. [Think: Georgia O’Keeffe and he promoted ...]
APPOSITIVE TO A PREDICATE NOMINATIVE
They were the ones, Stieglitz and she, who promoted modern art. [Think: They are Stieglitz and she.]
Objective Case
Pronouns in the objective case are indirect objects, direct objects, objects of prepositions, or the subjects or objects of infinitives.
The company gave her a contract to design the building. [indirect object]
Marlow told them his story. [indirect object]
The mouse ate the cheese. [direct object]
Just between you and me, I thought the play was terrible. [object of a preposition]
Who among them could possibly object? [object of a preposition]
They believed him to be better qualified. [subject of an infinitive]
They wanted her to be their friend. [subject of an infinitive]
He expected them to wait for the late movie. [subject of an infinitive]
She asked him to call her that evening. [“her” is the object of the infinitive “to call”]
Rule Use the objective case when a pronoun acts as a direct object, as an indirect object, as an object of a preposition, as a subject or object of an infinitive clause, or as an appositive to an object of a preposition.
DIRECT OBJECT
Mara submitted the information on Georgia O’Keeffe.
INDIRECT OBJECT
She lent her a book of O’Keeffe’s paintings.
OBJECT OF A PREPOSITION
Nancy gave it back to her after her class.
SUBJECT OF AN INFINITIVE CLAUSE
Mr. Chen told them to see him after school.
OBJECT OF AN INFINITIVE CLAUSE
Mr. Chen wanted me to tell them about the new O’Keeffe exhibit.
APPOSITIVE TO AN INDIRECT OBJECT
He told them, Mara and her, all about O’Keeffe’s life.
APPOSITIVE TO AN OBJECT OF A PREPOSITION
Mr. Chen wanted to discuss the paintings with both of them, Mara and her.
Possessive Case
Pronouns in the possessive case show ownership or a special relation.
Their cat climbed up on his roof and ate our bird.
Her critics were louder than her admirers.
My uncle was my only relative whose tastes were like mine.
The decision was theirs to make after we had made ours.
Rule Use the possessive pronouns mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs to refer to or to replace nouns.
You can use these possessive pronouns in the same way that you would use nouns. These pronouns can function as subjects, predicate nominatives, direct objects, indirect objects, objects of prepositions, or appositives.
SUBJECT
Hers was the first television in the neighborhood.
PREDICATE NOMINATIVE
The house everyone wanted to visit was hers.
DIRECT OBJECT
After hearing that Uncle Gustav already had a TV, my grandmother went out and bought hers.
INDIRECT OBJECT
The neighbors gave hers a rave review.
OBJECT OF A PREPOSITION
Later in the fifties, the Goldbergs got the first of theirs.
APPOSITIVE
Now the neighborhood could choose from two televisions, hers and theirs.
Rule Use the possessive pronouns my, your, his, her, its, our, and their to modify nouns.
My grandmother still has her first television set.
Rule Use a possessive pronoun to modify a gerund.
Your studying is more important than any television show!
Exercise 9. On your paper, write the pronouns in parentheses that correctly complete each sentence. Beside each pronoun write whether it is in the subjective or the objective case.
SAMPLE The class and (me, I) visited Hoover Dam.
ANSWER I—subjective
1. My friends, Jack and (her, she) learned that Hoover Dam is one of the highest dams in the world.
2. The guide showed (we, us) students a picture of President Hoover.
3. The dam is named after (he, him).
4. The guide said, “This is (him, he).”
5. Jan asked either (him, he) or the assistant why the dam was built.
6. The guide told us, the class and (me, I), that the dam was completed in 1936.
7. Andy told Jan and (me, I) that Hoover Dam is 726 feet high and 1244 feet long.
8. My partners, Rosa and (he, him), said that the dam supplies electricity to cities in the Pacific Southwest.
9. The guide told (we, us) future engineers, Roberto and (I, me), that the dam stores billions of gallons of water.
10. These are my classmates, Roberto and (her, she), who accompanied (I, me) on the trip to Hoover Dam.
Exercise 10. On your paper, write the pronoun in parentheses that correctly completes each sentence. Indicate the person, the number, and the case of each pronoun.
SAMPLE (Mine, My) report was about President John Kennedy.
ANSWER My—first person; singular; possessive case
1. (He, His) was an important, but short, presidency.
2. (Yours, Your) report told of Kennedy’s heroism in World War II.
3. It was so well done, the class gave (your, yours) a standing ovation.
4. After reading (our, ours) report about Kennedy’s stand on civil rights, Joan wrote (her, hers).
5. (Theirs, Their) reports told of Kennedy’s early political career as a member of Congress and senator.
6. (You, Your) telling of how President Kennedy began the Peace Corps was inspiring.
7. (Him, His) dealing with the Soviets showed resolve and strength.
8. (Your, You’re) report told of the President’s tragic assassination in Dallas in 1963.
9. (He, His) was the story of the youngest man ever elected President and the youngest ever to die in office.
10. (Mine, My) report discussed (his’, his) personal charm and courage.
Exercise 11. On your paper, rewrite each sentence, correcting errors in pronoun usage. If a sentence contains no errors, write Correct on your paper.
SAMPLE Randy and them enjoyed the United States bicentennial celebration.
ANSWER Randy and they enjoyed the United States bicentennial celebration.
1. Between you and I, I enjoy fireworks on special occasions.
2. Everyone present at the celebration, the performers and us, felt pride and excitement that day.
3. They and we knew that the United States was born in 1776.
4. In 1976, our neighbors and we celebrated the nation’s two-hundredth birthday.
5. The parade of tall ships impressed the tourists and I.
6. They and I listened to politicians speak and watched fireworks.
7. The celebrations were for them and us.
8. The Constitution of the United States is very important to you and I.
9. Special educational television shows about the Constitution impressed my friends and me.
10. They and I learned a great deal about the freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion that the Constitution guarantees.
Who and Whom
You can use the forms of the word “who” either as interrogative pronouns or as relative pronouns. As is true of other pronouns, the way that you use the pronoun determines which case or form of the word you should choose. “Who” and “whoever” are in the subjective case; “whom” and “whomever” are in the objective case; “whose” is in the possessive case.
Who and Whom as Interrogative Pronouns “Who” and “whom” are interrogative pronouns when they introduce questions. To determine whether to use “who” (the subjective case) or “whom” (the objective case), simply turn the question into a statement.
Rule Use “who” when an interrogative pronoun acts as a subject or as a predicate nominative. Use “whom” when an interrogative pronoun acts either as an object or as an object of a preposition.
SUBJECTIVE Who were the movie stars of the 1920s? [“Who” is the subject of the verb “were.”]
OBJECTIVE By whom was the biography of Clara Bow written? [“Whom” is the object of the preposition “by.”]
If the interrogative pronoun “who” or “whom” is followed by an interrupting phrase, such as “do you think,” you can mentally rearrange the sentence, leaving out the interrupting phrase, to determine the use of the pronoun in the sentence and which form of the pronoun to use.
Who do you think was the most romantic star of the twenties? [Think: Who was the most romantic star? “Who” is the subject.]
In informal writing and in conversation, “who” is oftentimes used to ask a question, regardless of whether the subjective or the objective case is needed. In formal usage, however, you should follow the rules for using the subjective case, who, and the objective case, whom.
INFORMAL Who do you plan to take to the Twenties Film Festival?
FORMAL Whom will Professor O’Hara take to the festival?
Who and Whom as Relative Pronouns When forms of the word “who” introduce subordinate clauses, they are relative pronouns. Decide the correct form of the word by its use in the subordinate clause, not by its use in the main clause.
Rule Use “who” or “whoever” when a relative pronoun is the subject of the subordinate clause; use “whom” or “whomever” when a relative pronoun is an object within the subordinate clause.
Clara Bow, who was called the “It Girl” in the twenties, does not look glamorous to us today. [“Who” is the subject of the clause “who was called the “It Girl” in the twenties.”]
Rudolf Valentino, whom many people adored, is another twenties star who looks out of date today. [“Whom” is the indirect object of the verb “adored.”]
Exercise 12. On your paper, write the pronoun that is correct in formal usage. Then indicate how the pronoun is used in the sentence.
SAMPLE (Who, Whom) knows about the history of the American film industry?
ANSWER Who—subject
1. In 1872 Edward Muybridge, (who, whom) was an English photographer, photographed running horses.
2. Muybridge, (who, whom) used twenty-four cameras, took twenty-four still pictures to make the horses appear to run.
3. In 1889 George Eastman, for (who, whom) the Eastman Kodak Company is named, developed celluloid film.
4. Later that year Thomas Edison, (who, whom) was a famous inventor, developed the kinetoscope.
5. Edison, (who, whom) most students remember as the inventor of the electric light bulb, created devices to photograph and show a series of moving pictures.
6. In 1903 Edwin Porter, (who, whom) worked for the Edison company, directed the first movie with a real story.
7. For (who, whom) did Porter make The Great Train Robbery?
8. (Who, Whom) do you think became one of the first movie stars?
9. (Whoever, Whomever) opened the first motion picture theater in Los Angeles in 1902 had great foresight.
10. In 1907 The Great Train Robbery was shown to (whoever, whomever) was willing to pay five cents to see it.
11. (Who, Whom) do you think opened the first nickelodeon?
12. Audiences were loyal to (whoever, whomever) they enjoyed in the movies.
13. Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldyn, and others, for (who, whom) large film studios were later named, began the movie industry in Los Angeles.
14. D.W. Griffith, (who, whom) you may have studied, was a director (who, whom) learned to use close-ups, flashbacks, and fade-outs.
15. Success seemed to come to (whoever, whomever) worked hard at creating movies and (whoever, whomever) audiences enjoyed.
Compendium
1 A pronoun that is the subject of a dependent clause is always in the subjective case, even when the dependent clause serves as the object for another clause.
He promised the prize to whoever made the best grades.
[Despite its position after the preposition “to,” the pronoun “whoever” is in the subjective case because it is the subject of the verb “made” in its own clause. The entire clause “whoever made the best grades” serves as the object of the preposition “to.”]
She was the writer who I thought deserved to win the Pulitzer Prize.
[Not “whom I thought”: The pronoun “who” is the subject of the verb “deserved.” The words “I thought” form a separate, parenthetical clause.]
2 Pronouns that serve as objects of prepositions, direct objects, and indirect objects must be in the objective case.
It was a secret between you and me.
[“Me” is correct because it is the object of the preposition “between.” The subjective form “I” cannot be the object of a preposition. Thus, “between you and I” is incorrect.]
The old man pushed David and her aside and then hobbled down the stairs.
[The pronoun “her” is in the objective case because it is the object of the verb “pushed.”]
She gave the driver and me quite a lecture on road safety and courtesy.
[As an indirect object of the verb “gave,” “me” is in the objective case.]
3 In appositive constructions where a noun follows a pronoun, use the case for the pronoun that you would use if the noun were not present.
He gave the test to us students.
[You could say, “He gave the test to us.” The pronoun “us” is the object of the preposition “to” and must be in the objective case. Adding the noun “students” does not change the case of the pronoun.]
We students said that the test was too hard.
[You could say, “We said that the test was too hard.” Adding the noun “students” does not change the pronoun “we.”]
4 Use the correct case of the pronoun after “than” and “as,” which often serve as conjunctions introducing implied clauses.
We do not need to write out some clauses because we understand the idea that follows a pronoun at the end of a sentence. The case of the pronoun depends on the way the pronoun is used in the implied clause, the clause we would make if we carried out the obvious thought suggested by the pronoun. Sometimes implied clauses are called elliptical clauses. Elliptical comes from ellipsis, which means “something left out.”
I always thought that I was smarter than he.
[If we filled in the implied clause at the end of this sentence, we would have an awkward but perfectly grammatical construction. “I always thought that I was smarter than he was smart.” The pronoun “he” must be in the subjective case because it is the subject of this implied clause.]
Odetta likes George more than I.
Odetta likes George more than me.
[In the first sentence, Odetta likes George more than I like George. In the second sentence, Odetta likes George more than she likes me. Notice how the difference in case changes the meaning of these two sentences.]
5 Use the objective case for pronouns that are the subjects or the objects of infinitives.
They thought her to be an excellent choice for department head.
[The pronoun “her” is the subject of the infinitive “to be” and must be in the objective case. The subject of the infinitive acts through the infinitive verb. You could change the sentence to read, “They thought that she would be an excellent choice for department head.”]
Lincoln decided to consult Johnson and him.
[The pronoun “him” receives the action of the infinitive verb “consult” and is therefore the object of the infinitive and must be in the objective case.]
6 Use the possessive case before gerunds. Use the subjective or objective case with present participles used as adjectives.
His returning the punt ninety-six yards for a touchdown spoiled the bets made by the gamblers.
[“His,” the possessive pronoun, puts the main emphasis on the act of returning the punt. Compare: “His ninety-six-yard punt return spoiled the bets made by the gamblers.”]
He, returning the punt ninety-six yards for a touchdown, spoiled the bets made by the gamblers.
[In this example, the phrase “returning the punt ...” includes the present participle “returning.” This form of the verb “return” is acting as an adjective. The emphasis of the sentence is on the person rather than on the act. This emphasis becomes clearer if we rewrite the sentence: “Returning the punt ninety-six yards for a touchdown, he spoiled the bets made by the gamblers.”]
They remembered him laughing as he said goodbye.
[The objective case “him” is used with the present participle “laughing,” which is used as an adjective to modify “him.”]
7 In compound and appositive constructions, use pronouns that agree in case with the nouns or pronouns with which they are paired.
Compound: He and Sebastian del Cano sailed around the world.
[Not “Him and Sebastian del Cano ...” The pronoun and the proper noun together form the subject of the sentence. So the pronoun must be in the subjective case.]
Appositive: The captain chose two crew members, her and me, to attempt the rescue.
[Not “she and I.” The appositive pronouns must correspond to the noun “members,” which in this sentence is the object of the verb “chose.” The pronouns must be in the objective case, too.]
Appositive: The last crew members on board, she and I, were given the first watch.
[The pronouns “she and I” are appositives to the noun “members,” which serves as the subject of the verb “were given.” The pronouns must be in the subjective case.]
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