Notes on Diagnostic 2: Problems with Pronouns

Part 1

1. _____ Between you and me, this novel is not very interesting.
Technical: Use the objective form after a preposition
Practical hint: memorize this usage.
2. _____ If you are tired coming into an exam, you have more trouble focusing.
OR
If one is tired coming into an exam, one has more trouble focusing.
Technical: all the pronouns in a sentence must be in the same person.
Practical hint: Always use the same type of pronoun throughout your sentence.
Sometimes you need to follow this rule for a string of sentences, depending on the
context.
3. _____ Everyone needs to be sure that his or her assignment is done on time.
Technical: everyone is a singular pronoun and must be matched with other singular
pronoun forms.
Practical hint: always use his or her with these singular pronouns:
Everyone, no one, everybody, nobody, someone, each, anybody, anything, everything,
nothing, something
OR
Replace the singular pronoun with a plural word:
Students need to be sure that their assignments are done on time.
4. _____ Most of the students, who had been studying hard, did well on the exam.
5. _____ The people who read signs carefully usually dont get lost.
Use who forms for human beings (optional for animals)
6. _____ It is up to you and her to pay for the repairs.
Correct as is.
Technical: use matching objective forms. Note: Changing the pronouns to we does not
indicate that you understand the problem, and it changes the original meaning of the
sentence.
Practical hint: take away the you and you can hear that her has to be the correct form.
7. _____ Would you like to work on the project with Emily and me?
 Technical: use the objective form because the pronoun is the object of the preposition.
Practical hint: again, take away Emily and you can hear that me has to be the correct
form.
8. _____ No one except her parents and I have any interest in following her tweets.
Technical: match the verb of a subject pair with the number of the subject closest to it.
Practical hint: match the verb of the pair to the subject closest to it. You should be able to
hear which form to use.
9. _____ He and I have had many disagreements.
Technical: use the subjective form when the pronouns are the subject of the sentence:
Practical hint: again, remove the first pronoun and you can hear that me is incorrect.
However, in this example, the first pronoun is also the wrong form, and you can hear the
second error by taking away the second pronoun.
10. _____ Jennifer is more into Disney than I [am].
Technical: The pronoun at the end is a subject, with the verb understood, so you must use
the subjective form.
Practical Hint: remember that you need to place the understood verb am at the end of
the sentence. Then you can hear that me is incorrect.
11. _____ The team wants to play as well as we [do].
This example is the same as number 10, except that this one is plural.
12. _____ Everyone should hand in his or her evaluation.
Again, as in #3, we have a singular pronoun here, which must be matched with singular
pronouns.
13. _____ Everyone I know has his or her own cellphone.
Again, we have the same issue.
14. _____ No one wants their suggestions rejected.
And again, we use his or her. Note that we no longer use his in this usage, because
the usage is sexist.
Practical hint for avoiding the potentially awkward his/her, him/her, or he/she constructions: make your
subject plural, and you dont have to worry about this potentially clumsy construction:
Ex. All participants should hand in their evaluations.
Most people I know have their own cellphones.
People dont like having their suggestions rejected.
Part 2

1. Chris told his brother that he was losing his hair.

Clarity is the issue here. Who is losing his hair?

You can fix the problem by using a direct quote, or by replacing the pronoun with its intended
referent:
Chris told his brother, Im losing my hair.
Chris told his brother, Youre losing your hair.
Chris told his brother that Chris was losing his hair.
Chris told his brother than his brother was losing his hair.

Hint: an even better way is to restructure the sentence:

Chris was losing his hair, and he told his brother about it.
Chris brother was losing his hair, and he told Chris about it.

2. The faculty are demanding higher salaries and fewer teaching hours, but the administration does
not support them.

Again, clarity is the issue. We dont know what the pronoun them is referring to. Remove the
unclear pronoun and replace it with what it refers to.

The faculty are demanding higher salaries and fewer teaching hours, but the administration does
not support [the demands/the faculty].
OR
Restructure the sentence so that you remove the awkward pronoun situation, and clearly indicate
what you mean:

The administration does not support the facultys demand for higher salaries and fewer teaching
hours.
OR
The administration does not support the faculty in their demands for higher salaries and fewer
teaching hours.
3. I sold my skis last year and I cant even remember how to do it anymore.

A pronoun must be placed so that the reader clearly understands what it is referring to. We do not
know what it refers to in this sentence.

Hint: replace the pronoun with its referent:

I sold my skis last year, and I cant even remember how to ski anymore.
I cant remember how to ski any more; I sold my skis last year.

4. I am a procrastinator; this is my downfall.

The pronoun this is a demonstrative pronoun (this, that, these, those). These pronouns must be
placed directly in front of whatever they are referring to. These pronouns cannot be used by
themselves as the subjects of sentences.

Hint: Restructure the sentence to avoid using this. One way to restructure is to replace the
pronoun with its intended antecedent:
I am a procrastinator; procrastination is my downfall.
I am a procrastinator; this quality is my downfall.
OR
You can restructure the sentence by changing the subject of the sentence:

Procrastination is my downfall.

5. A photograph is supposed to be proof that an event actually occurred, but this becomes a
problem when an image has been posed.

We have the same problem with this in this sentence as we do with #5, and we use the same
fixes:
 A photograph is supposed to be proof that an event actually occurred, but this assumption
becomes a problem when an image has been posed.

The assumption that photographs are proof that an event actually occurred becomes a
problem when the image has been posed.

6. Now that I have a good job, my friends borrow money from me, which puts a strain on our
friendships.

Which is a relative pronoun, and relative pronouns must always refer to a single word,
not an entire phrase or sentence. In the sentence above, the which refers to the fact that
the writers friends borrow money from him or her, and this idea cannot be expressed as a
single word.

Hint: again, you can avoid this problem by restructuring the sentence, either using a
different subject or using your second complete thought as the subject:
Now that I have a good job, my friends borrow money from me, and this habit puts a
strain on our friendships.
OR
making the second complete thought the subject of the first.

My friends habit of borrowing money from me, now that I have a good job, puts a strain
on our friendships.
OR
Now that I have a good job, my friends habit of borrowing money from me puts a strain
on our friendships.
Do not use the form my friends borrowing money from me puts a strain on our
friendships.

7. Garys nose was badly sunburned, but it has now completely disappeared.
 Notice the absurd meaning here, all because of a pronoun problem. Has Garys nose completely
disappeared? Get rid of the problem by replacing the pronoun with its intended referent:

Garys nose was badly sunburned, but the sunburn has now completely disappeared.

OR
again, restructuring the sentence is often the easiest way to fix the problem, and again, the best
way to restructure a sentence is often to restructure the subject.

The bad sunburn on Garys nose has now completely disappeared.

Technical Areas (look these up in a grammar handbook if you want a more detailed explanation):

1. Subjective vs objective forms for pronouns.

2. Singular vs plural forms of pronouns
Singular group pronouns
Using non-sexist language in pronoun use
3. Using demonstrative pronouns (this, that, those, these)
4. Using relative pronouns (which)
5. Pronoun antecedents must be clearly indicated.

Most important hints:

1. To identify the correct pronoun use in a pair, take away one, and
you can then hear the proper form of the other.
2. Restructure your sentences to avoid problem pronoun use.
1. avoid awkward his or her constructions;
2. to avoid leaving this by itself as the subject;
3. to avoid using leaving which to refer to something other
than a single word.