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PRONOUN AGREEMENT AND CASE ERRORS

WHATS THE PROBLEM? If every writer avoided this in their papers, this topic wouldnt be necessary for you and I. Did you notice the errors? Lets take a closer look. A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun. Without pronouns, sentences would be much more cumbersome: Elizabeth shoved Elizabeths books into Elizabeths backpack hastily because Elizabeth forgot to set the alarm clock the night before, causing Elizabeth to oversleep and nearly miss Elizabeths first college exam. Wow. Words like she and her certainly come in handy, but they can also be tricky. A pronoun agreement error occurs when the pronoun doesnt match the noun it refers to. The most common pronoun agreement errors occur when a plural pronoun is used with a singular noun. The first example above includes an agreement error: If every writer avoided this in their papers . . . Every writer is grammatically singular, and the pronoun their is plural. This error could be corrected by making both parts singular or plural: If every writer avoided this in his/her papers . . . (both singular) If all writers avoided this in their papers . . . (both plural) A pronoun case error occurs when the wrong form of a particular pronoun is used. Consider the following two sentences: She sees him. He sees her. The verb, sees, is the same in both sentences, but the situation described in each sentence is clearly different. If we ask, Who or what sees? the answer to the question (She, He) is the subject of the sentence. If we ask, sees whom or what? the answer (him, her) is the object of the sentence. A noun following a preposition (words such as with, from, to, by, near, between, etc.) is also an object.

The pronouns you and it take the same form whether they are subjects or objects, but other pronouns have different forms: singular subject form: object form: I me he him she her plural who we whom us they them

The latter half of the first example above contains a case error: . . . this topic wouldnt be necessary for you and I. In this situation, I is incorrectly used as an object of the preposition for. Replacing I with the object form, me, corrects the error: . . . this topic wouldnt be necessary for you and me. WHY ARE THESE ERRORS SO COMMON? Singular words like every, each, someone, anyone, nobody, either, and neither may seem plural, so its tempting to use plural pronouns in their place. English doesnt have a gender-free pronoun to represent a singular person. In order to avoid the sexism of using only either he or she and the awkwardness of the expressions he or she, him or her, and his or her, many writers use the plural they, them, or their. Some writers have the impression that the subject form is more formal or correct than the object form. Of course, both forms are necessary and may be correct or incorrect, depending on the situation. Many people have a natural ear for the correct form of a pronoun, but hearing an error is more difficult when the pronoun in question is part of a compound subject or object such as she and Sandy (subject) or Greg and me (object). HOW CAN WE IDENTIFY PRONOUN AGREEMENT AND CASE ERRORS? First, identify all pronouns in a sentence. Next, find the nouns they stand in for. A plural noun requires a plural pronoun; a singular noun requires a singular pronoun. Do the pronouns and nouns you identified agree grammatically? Pay special attention to plural-seeming words that are grammatically singular. The words every, each, someone, anyone, nobody, either, and neither commonly mislead writers. Depending on the context, such errors may be revised in multiple ways: Did anyone lose their chemistry book? (incorrect) Did anyone lose his/her chemistry book? (correct) Did anyone lose a chemistry book? (correct) Did everyone remember to bring their permission slips? (incorrect) Did everyone remember to bring his/her permission slips? (correct) Did you remember to bring your permission slips? (correct) Every student should post their questions by Friday. (incorrect) Every student should post his/her questions by Friday. (correct) Students should post their questions by Friday. (correct)

 Also ask yourself whether the pronoun is serving as a subject or an object in the sentence. If the pronoun is joined with another noun (perhaps a name), test for the correct form of the pronoun by eliminating the other noun and the joining word. Is the gift for Jennie or me? My parents and they are going to the concert. Did you see Darren and her in class yesterday? In other situations, you can test for the correct pronoun form by adding a word or phrase that completes the idea of the sentence. Shirandra is taller than I (am). My roommate sleeps even later than I (do). My sister likes coffee more than I (do). My sister likes coffee more than (she likes) me. To decide between who and whom, test for the correct form by replacing it with he or him (if singular) or they or them (if plural). For a handy mnemonic device, note that all three object formswhom, him, and themend in m. Who/ Whom are you inviting to the party? I am inviting him. Who/ Whom is your favorite singer? He is my favorite singer. Who/ Whom gave you the beautiful flowers? They gave me the beautiful flowers. I dont know who/ whom I will vote for. I will vote for them. TRY IT! Are you ready to try out these techniques? Identify and revise pronoun agreement and case errors in the following passage: I can never decide who my favorite author is because every author I read has their own strengths. Just yesterday, Simone gave my husband and I a copy of Joanne Harriss novel, The Coastliners, and weve both been reading it. I like it better than him, though; in fact, Ive had a hard time putting it down. The description in the story is wonderful, as is the dialogue. I can tell who is who in a conversation without even reading the names because each character has their own way of speaking. Madeleine is the main character, and theres a lot of tension between she and her father. Its clear that one of them will have to change the way they think about family, but its hard to tell whom. Just between you and I, my chores around the house are going to have to wait until after I finish this novel.