English Grammar Workbook for "dummies" - Geraldine Woods

Chapter 10: The Case of It (And Other Pronouns) 135

Answers to Pronoun Case Problems

aI. The pronoun I is an actor, one of the subjects of the verb have (I have). Me is for objects. Myself is only for emphasis (I myself) or for actions that bounce back on the subject (I told myself not to stand under a tree during a thunderstorm!).

b he. Who discovered? He discovered. He is a subject pronoun.

cthey. Someone has to do the solving referred to in the sentence. Therefore you need a subject pronoun, they.

dthey, them. This sentence illustrates the difference between subject and object pronouns. In the first parentheses, they is what you want because they should contact Matt. The pronoun they does the action. In the second half of the sentence, he needs them, and them receives the action from the verb needs.

ehe. Did I catch you here? If the sentence contains a comparison and some words are implied, supply the missing words before choosing a pronoun. In sentence 5, Peyton is better . . . than he is. After you throw in the verb is, you immediately see that you need a subject pronoun — he.

fme, she. In the first part of the sentence, the pronoun receives the action (Peyton won’t tell whom? Me.) In the second, you need someone to do the nodding, the subject pronoun she.

gshe. The tough part about this sentence is that the pronoun choice is camouflaged by other words (Peyton’s friends and Lucy). If you isolate the pronoun, however, you see that it is she who is obsessed with Martians. You need the subject pronoun. To add a technical grammatical explanation — stop reading now before you die of boredom! — the subject is Peyton’s friends, and Lucy and she forms an appositive to the subject. An appositive is always in the same case as the word it matches.

hshe, they. Two parentheses, two subjects. The verbs have and will make need subjects; she and they fill the bill.

iI, ourselves. In the first part of the sentence, you need a subject for will glue. You can rule out me because me is an object pronoun. The pronoun myself works only for emphasis, in which case the sentence would read Elizabeth and I myself. In the second parentheses, you’re looking for an object for the verb will glue. The pronoun we drops out right away because it’s for subjects only. The next choice, us, is tempting, but because the actor and the receiver are the same, ourselves is better.

jhim. Like sentence 7, this one has lots of camouflage. Cover everything between contacted and the pronoun choice. What’s left? Peyton just contacted he/him. Can you hear the correct answer? Peyton contacted he? I don’t think so! You need the object pronoun him. If you really want a grammatical explanation, and surely you have better things to do with your time, authorities is the object of the verb contacted, and Dan Moore and him forms an appositive. An appositive is always in the same case as its equivalent.

kus. Elizabeth is doing the action, and the pronoun’s on the receiving end. You can’t plug in we because we is for subjects, and receivers are objects. Ourselves doesn’t fit because the -self pronouns are only for emphasis (we ourselves will go . . .) or for situations in which the actor and receiver are the same (I told myself . . .).

lshe. A word is missing in this sentence: does. If you insert the missing word after the pronoun, you’ll hear it: NASA knows a lot more than she does . . . . The pronoun she is the subject of the implied verb does.

138 Part III: The Pickier Points of Correct Verb and Pronoun Use

1whom. Change the question to a statement and you’ll get this one right away: This dog is snarling at whom. The preposition at is completed by the object whom.

2 him. The preposition on needs an object, and him got the job.

3 them. Around is a preposition in this sentence, so it takes the object them.

4 him. The preposition to needs an object, so opt for him.

5him. You can’t write to he, because he is a subject pronoun, and the preposition to can’t bear to be without an object pronoun.

6she. This sentence makes a comparison, and comparisons often contain implied verbs. The missing word is does, as in Spike loves letters even more than she does. Once you include the missing word, the answer is clear. You need she as a subject of the verb does.

7whoever. The preposition from needs an object, but in this tricky sentence, the entire expression whoever really wants to catch his attention is the object, not just the first word. The pronoun whoever functions as the subject of the verb wants.

8he. This implied comparison omits the verb is. Add the missing verb and the answer leaps off the page: Jessica is as fond of meaty bones as he is. You need the subject pronoun he to match with the verb is.

9his. Lincoln doesn’t need help with a person; he needs help with a task (editing). Whose editing is it? His.

0their. Lincoln didn’t hate the people at the agency (except that guy with bad breath who called him “Abe”). He didn’t love their sending pronoun-lovers. The possessive pronoun shifts the focus to the action, where it should be.

!him. I snuck this one in to see if you were awake. Lori saw him. What was he doing? Reading, but the reading is a description tacked onto the main idea, which is that she saw him. A possessive isn’t called for in this sentence.

@ her. The objection isn’t to a person (she) but to an action (insisting).

#my. The point in this sentence is Lincoln’s reaction to the editing. The possessive pronoun my keeps the reader’s attention on editing, not on me.

$my. He didn’t hate me, he hated the way I said his name, which no one can ever pronounce anyway. My ensures that the reader thinks about pronouncing.

%their. They haven’t backfired; the say-it-my-way-or-take-the-highway attitude is the problem. The possessive keeps you focused on demanding.

^she. The expression inside the commas (speaking at a recent awards dinner) is just a description. Take it out for a moment and see what’s left: she got a big laugh. The pronoun she is the one you want.

&my. He does appreciate me, especially at bonus time. But in this sentence, I’m inquiring about the calling. This -ing noun should be preceded by the possessive my.

*me. The me is the focus here, not an action-oriented -ing noun. Also, the noun king wasn’t created from a verb.

140 Part III: The Pickier Points of Correct Verb and Pronoun Use

} correct. The subject pronoun I pairs with the verb recommend.

\ Whom. The preposition for requires the object pronoun whom.

| correct. The preposition by takes the object pronoun me.

; correct. The possessive pronoun our clarifies the parent/child bond here.

: me. By I? I don’t think so. You need the object pronoun me.

, I. The linking verb is should be followed by a subject pronoun (I), not an object pronoun (me).

< correct. The verb will have needs a subject, and who fits the bill.

. whoever. The verb buys takes the subject, whoever.

> correct. The verb may blow is paired with the subject pronouns he.

/ she. You need a subject pronoun for the verb may blow, so she does the job.

? her. The verb give needs the object her.

Chapter 11

Choosing the Best Pronoun

for a Tricky Sentence

In This Chapter

Matching possessive pronouns with everyone, several, and other pronouns

Referring to companies and organizations with pronouns

Pairing who, which, and that with verbs

Avoiding vague pronoun references

Have you figured out that pronouns are the most annoying part of speech in the entire universe? Pronouns are the words that stand in for nouns — words that name people,

places, things, and ideas. The language can’t do without pronouns, but when it comes to error-potential, they’re a minefield just waiting to blow up your speech or writing.

I cover the basics of pronoun use in Chapter 3 and more advanced topics in Chapter 10. In this chapter I hit the big time, supplying information about pronouns that your great-uncle, the one who has a collection of antique grammar books that he actually reads, doesn’t even know. If you master everything in this chapter, give yourself a gold pronoun . . . er, star.

Nodding in Agreement: Pronouns and Possessives Come Head to Head

Pronouns substitute for nouns, but in a sincere effort to ruin your life, they also match up with other pronouns. For example, take a look at this sentence: “When Charlie yelled at me, I smacked him and poured glue on his homework.” The pronoun his refers to the pronoun him, which stands in for the noun Charlie. This example sentence is fairly straightforward; unfortunately, not all pronoun-pronoun couples get together so easily.

“Everybody is here.” Doesn’t that comment sound plural? So why do you need the singular verb is? Because everybody is a singular pronoun. So are everyone, someone, anyone, no one, somebody, anybody, nobody, everything, something, anything, nothing, each, either, and neither. Chances are your ear for good English already knows that these pronouns belong in the singular box.

If you extend the logic and match another pronoun — such as a possessive — to any of the “every . . .,” “some . . .,” “any . . .,” and other similar pronouns, you may stub your toe. I often hear sentences such as “Everyone needs their lunch pass” — a grammatical felony because the singular everyone doesn’t agree with the plural their. And in the grammar world, agreement (matching up all plurals with other plurals and singulars with other singulars) is a Very Big Deal. To get out of the grammatical penitentiary, substitute his or her for their: “Everyone needs his or her lunch pass.”

142 Part III: The Pickier Points of Correct Verb and Pronoun Use

Not every pronoun is singular. Both, several, few, and many are plurals and may match with their or other plural words.

Scan the following example sentence and practice exercises and plop a pronoun that makes sense in each blank.

Q. Neither of my aunts has a wart on _______________ nose.

A. her. The singular pronoun neither must pair with another singular pronoun. True, the sentence refers to aunts, a plural. But the word neither tells you that you’re talking about the aunts individually, so you have to go with a singular pronoun. Because aunts are female, her is the word you want.

1.My cousins may be easily found in a crowd because both have warts on _______________

noses.

2.My cousin Amy opted for surgery; relieved that the procedure went well, everybody sent

_______________ best wishes.

3.Many of the get-well cards sported miniature warts on _______________ envelopes.

4.A few even had little handwritten messages tucked into _______________ illustrations.

5.Because Amy is pleased with the result of her surgery, someone else in her family is going to get _______________ nose done also.

6.“Doesn’t everyone need more warts on _______________ nose?” reasoned Amy.

7.Anybody who disagreed with Amy kept quiet, knowing that _______________ opinion wouldn’t be accepted anyway.

8.Each of the implanted warts has _______________ own unique shape.

9.Several of Amy’s new warts model _______________ appearance on a facial feature of a famous movie star.

10.Although someone said that _______________ didn’t like the new warts, the crowd reaction was generally positive.

11.Neither of the surgeons who worked on Amy’s nose has opted for a similar procedure on

_______________ own schnozz.

12.I assume that nothing I say will change your mind about the nose-wart question;

_______________ will “go in one ear and out the other,” as my mother used to say.

13.Aftercare is quite extensive; not one of the warts will continue to look good unless Amy gives _______________ a lot of attention.

14.Both Amy and her sister Emily look forward to having _______________ portraits painted, warts and all.

15.Many will ask _______________ own doctors for cosmetic surgery after this event.

16.A few will opt for _______________ own version of “wart enhancement.”

17.Not everyone will want the same type of wart on _______________ nose.

Chapter 11: Choosing the Best Pronoun for a Tricky Sentence 143

18.In fact, neither of Elizabeth’s daughters will ask for warts on _______________ nose, choosing a tasteful cheek placement instead.

19.A few cheek warts have already appeared in the tabloids because many stars want something dramatic for _______________ publicity photos.

20.Each of the warts chosen by Elizabeth’s daughters has little white spots on

_______________.

Working for the Man: Pronouns for

Companies and Organizations

American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), Sears Roebuck & Co., the United Nations, and a ton of other businesses or community groups are waiting for the chance to mess up your pronoun choices. How? They cleverly create names that sound plural, and unsurprisingly, many people pair them up with plural pronouns. However, a moment of logical thinking tells you that each is one business and must therefore be referred to by a singular pronoun. Here’s what I mean:

Wrong: Saks Fifth Avenue has put their designer lingerie on sale.

Why it is wrong: I was there last week and the lingerie was full price. Also, the pronoun their is plural, but Saks, despite the letter s at the end of the name, is singular because it’s one company.

Right: Saks sometimes puts its designer lingerie on sale.

Why it is right: Now the singular possessive pronoun (its) matches the singular store name (Saks).

In the following example and set of practice exercises, choose the correct pronoun for each sentence. Just to keep you alert, I mixed in a couple of sentences in which the pronoun doesn’t refer to a singular company or organization. The same principle applies: Singular matches with singular, and plural matches with plural.

Q. Carrie patronizes Meyer and Frank because (she/they) likes (its/their) shoe department, which has a good supply of her favorite size-13 stiletto heels.

A. she, its. The first pronoun refers to Carrie, so she, a singular, matches nicely. Carrie is not only singular, but also unique when it comes to shoe size. The second refers to the store, which is singular also and thus merits the singular its.

21.Carrie, who is not noted for logical thinking, believes that the United Countries Association should sell cookies to feed (its/their) “starving” staffers, even if the staffers have been stuffing (itself/himself or herself/themselves) for years.

22.The World Health Maintenance Association (WHMA) answered Carrie’s letter with a suggestion of (its/their) own.

23.“Please work locally to overcome starvation,” read the reply. “The WHMA will take care of (its/their) own staff.”

24.Carrie, depressed by her failure to launch a cookie drive, immediately visited Mrs. Moo’s Cookie World to sample (its/their) merchandise.