We’ve all been confused by pronouns at times.
He, she, they, it, someone, anybody, everyone.
Throw in singular/plural agreement, and it’s easy to make a mistake.
Let’s clarify usage of this troublesome group of words. This is the first in a short series on using pronouns the right way.
A couple definitions are in order before we begin.
Pronoun: A word used to substitute a noun or noun phrase.
Antecedent: The noun a pronoun refers to.
Got it? That’s an easy start. Baby steps, people. Here we go.
Singular/plural agreement
This seems simple on the surface. A pronoun and its antecedent must both be either singular or plural.
Nancy parked her car in Lot A.
The nurses ate their lunch at the same time.
Using pronouns like this helps us avoid continually using the same noun over and over again. Can you imagine having to read sentences like this?
Nancy parked Nancy’s car in Lot A.
The nurses ate the nurses’ lunch at the same time.
Now do that through an entire newspaper article, blog post or novel. Aaahhh! I think people would actually stop reading.
How about making this a bit more difficult?
Indefinite pronouns
An indefinite pronoun refers to nonspecific persons or things. Some indefinite pronouns are always singular and some always plural. And just to throw you off, some can be either singular or plural.
Always singular indefinite pronouns – another, anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, other, somebody, someone and something
Always plural indefinite pronouns – both, few, many, others and several
Singular or plural indefinite pronouns – all, any, more, most, none and some
Let’s look at some examples of indefinite pronouns and how to fix problems that can arise.
When someone has eaten too much, they could get a stomach ache.
In this example, the plural pronoun “they” is used incorrectly with the singular indefinite pronoun “someone.” There are three ways to correct a mistake like this:
- Use a singular pronoun instead, such as “he or she.”
When someone has eaten too much, he or she could get a stomach ache.
- Change the singular indefinite pronoun to a plural antecedent.
When people eat too much, they could get a stomach ache.
- Rewrite the sentence to eliminate the problem.
Someone who has eaten too much could get a stomach ache.
Since using “he or she” can become tiresome and wordy, I recommend using the second or third strategy for revising problem sentences.
Generic nouns
Generic nouns refer to all members of a group and are used to generalize about that group. They may seem to have plural meanings, but they are always singular.
Every writer must practice his or her craft to succeed.
If a plural pronoun is incorrectly used to refer to a generic noun, you can revise it in the same ways described above.
Incorrect usage – A writing student must first know grammar rules before they can break them.
Option one – A writing student must first know grammar rules before he or she can break them.
Option two – Writing students must first know grammar rules before they can break them.
Option three – A writing student must first know grammar rules to break them.
I bet you’re seeing a pattern here. Fixing this problem is relatively easy with a bit of rewriting.
Collective nouns
You’ve seen collective nouns everywhere. Words like committee, crowd, class, family, team and couple classify as collective nouns. These words can be paired with either a singular or plural pronoun. Here’s the rule:
If the group functions as a unit, use a singular pronoun. If the members of the group function individually, use a plural pronoun.
As a unit – The team won its third game in a row.
As individuals – The team put their gear on the bus.
Compound antecedents
If the word the pronoun you’re using refers to a compound antecedent joined by “and,” use a plural pronoun.
Nancy and Bob knew they couldn’t sneak past the security guard.
If the compound antecedent is joined by “or” or “nor,” the pronoun should agree with the nearer antecedent.
Neither Jim nor Bob saw his friend Rick walk by.
Either the instructor or her students should clean up the mess they made in the classroom.
When you have a singular and plural compound antecedent as in the second example above, placing the plural antecedent last helps avoid an awkward construction.
If one antecedent is male and the other female, the traditional rule does not apply. The best strategy is to rewrite the sentence to avoid the need for a pronoun at all.
A final thought
I’m sure you’ve noticed the recent increase in using the pronoun “they” in place of “he or she” to avoid gender pronouns. This breaks the grammar rules established above but has become somewhat acceptable.
My recommendation is to rewrite the sentence instead. Rather than breaking grammar rules and possibly confusing your readers, rewriting solves the problem. It will probably make the sentence stronger in the process.
More to come
Follow the blog to find out more about pronouns in coming weeks. I’ll do my best to at least keep it interesting.