Writer's Choice Grade 11

Unit 17: Using Pronouns Correctly

Overview

A pronoun takes the place of, or refers to, a noun, a group of words acting as a noun, or another pronoun in a sentence. The word or group of words to which a pronoun refers is called its antecedent. A pronoun must agree in number, gender, and person with its antecedent. A pronoun should not refer to more than one antecedent. Personal pronouns refer to persons or things and have three cases: nominative, objective, and possessive. The case of a personal pronoun depends on the pronoun's function in a sentence.

The nominative case pronouns include who, I, you, she, he, it, we, you, and they. They can function as a simple subject, as part of a compound subject, or as a predicate nominative. In the following sentence, the nominative pronoun functions as a simple subject. We spent hours on this project. In formal writing, the nominative case pronouns should follow after any form of the linking verb be: The hardest worker is she. Use the nominative case for a pronoun that is in apposition (near or next to) to a subject or a predicate nominative. For example: The recorders, she and Pablo, typed our final report.

Objective case pronouns include whom, me, you, her, him, it, us, you, and them. Each can function as the direct or indirect object of either a verb or a preposition: Sadie thanks her for working late. In this example, the objective case pronoun, her, is a direct object. Use the objective case for a pronoun that is in apposition to a direct or indirect object or an object of a preposition. For example: The graphic designers, Charles and her, prepared the multimedia presentation.

Possessive case pronouns include my, mine, your, yours, her, hers, his, its, our, ours, your, yours, their, and theirs. Possessive case pronouns are used to indicate ownership. They are also used before gerunds, and they never include apostrophes: Gordon's report is more in-depth than yours. The pronoun yours indicates ownership of the report.

When a pronoun is followed by an appositive, choose the case of the pronoun that would be correct if the appositive were omitted: We researchers love to spend time in libraries. In elliptical adverb clauses using than and as, choose the case of the pronoun that you would use if the missing words were fully expressed: Suzanne has more experience using a library than I.

Use reflexive pronouns (for example, myself, himself, herself, and themselves) when a pronoun refers to a person who is the subject of the sentence. For example: I congratulated myself on a job well done. Do not use reflexive pronouns as subjects. The following is correct. Sriram and I celebrated the successful completion of the project.