Transcript Pronoun Problems

Pronouns
Extra Pronoun
It is easy to add an extra pronoun if the
subject of the sentence is separated from
the verb by a long adjectival clause.
Wrong: The countries which Hitler wanted
to conquer in the late 1930s they were too
weak to resist him.
Right: The countries which Hitler wanted to
conquer in the late 1930s were too weak
to resist him.
First Person
Singular
The object of a formal essay is normally to
present an argument, and you will
prove your case by presenting evidence
rather than by stating that such and
such is what you think. Thus many
teachers advise their students to avoid
using the first person singular (I and
me) in their writing.
Phrases such as I think and I feel, on the
other hand, will not help you convince
the reader of the strength of your main
points.
Poor: I felt greatly moved by the final
pages of The Stone Angel.
Better: The final pages of The Stone
Angel are extraordinarily moving.
He/She
Many writers now feel that the use of he
to represent both sexes is unacceptable.
Yet he/she or he or she are undeniably
awkward and wordy. One solution is to
alternate between he and she is
successive chapters. Another is to avoid
the singular pronoun as much as
possible, either by repeating the nouns
or by switching t the plural.
Poor: A doctor who treats his patients
humanely is unlikely to benefit
financially from doing so.
Better: Doctors who treat their patients
humanely is unlikely to benefit from
doing so.
Unreferenced or
Wrongly Referenced
Pronoun
Normally a pronoun must refer to a noun
in the previous sentence or clause. In
the following sentence, the pronoun
she clearly refers to the noun Charity,
which is the subject of the first clause in
the sentence.
Ex. Charity told George that she would
start work at nine.
Notice how confusing the sentence
becomes, however, if there are two
possible shes in the first part of the
sentence:
Ex. Charity told Mavis that she would
start work at nine.
Does this mean that Charity will start
work at nine, or that Mavis will? From
the sentence, it is impossible to tell. In
cases like this, where it is not absolutely
clear who or what a pronoun refers to,
use the noun again instead:
Clear: Charity told Mavis that she
(Charity) would start work at nine.
Similar mistakes are often made when
you are writing about a general class of
people, such as policemen, or doctors,
or football players. When writing this
way you may use either the third
person singular (e.g., A doctor helps
patients. He…) or the third person
plural(Doctors help patients. They…).
Wrong: A herbalist knows a lot about
herbs and other plants. They can often
cure you by giving you medicine. ( Here
the pronoun they meant to refer to the
singular noun herbalist)
Right: A herbalist knows a lot about
herbs and other plants. He can often
cure you by giving you medicine.
It may not also be clear what or who a pronoun
refers to if it is placed too far away from the
noun.
Poor: The Finance Minister increased
corporation taxes by an average of 43%.
Other measures in the budget include 20
million pesos in student assistance. He also
introduced a variety of measures to help small
businesses.
Better: The Finance Minister increased
corporation taxes by an average of 43%.
Other measures in the budget include 20
million pesos in student assistance. The
Minister also introduced a variety of measures
to help small businesses.
Be particularly careful when using this a s a
pronoun; if the preceding sentence is a noun,
it may not be at all clear what this refers to:
Poor: The surplus was forecast to be $200
million, but turned out to be over $2 billion.
This reflected the government’s failure to
predict the increase in interest rates and the
onset of a recession.
Better: The surplus was forecast to be $200
million, but turned out to be over $2 billion.
This vast discrepancy reflected the
government’s failure to predict the increase
in interest rates and the onset of a recession.
Sometimes your meaning may be clear,
but the omission of a pronoun may
create unintended and humorous
ambiguity:
Wrong: She visited a doctor with a bad
case of the flu. (According to this the
doctor had a flu)
Right: she visited a doctor when she had
a bad case of the flu.