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Personal Pronouns
Subjects and Objects
A handful of pronouns cause more trouble than all the rest put together. These personal
pronouns, as you may recall from Part One, Lesson 9, have different forms when they are used as
subjects and as objects. There is plenty of room for confusion. Because these pronouns can be so
tricky, this lesson reviews some basic guidelines for getting them right. Here are the
troublemakers:
Singular Plural
As subjects: I, he, she we, they
As objects: me, him, her us, them
Notice that these pronouns are paired. Your choice in a sentence would be between I and
me, for example. I is the form used for the subject and me for the object.
I watched the Bears game Monday night.
(I is the subject of the verb watched.)
Steve told me about the surprise party for Luis.
(Me is the object of the verb told.)
Most pronoun difficulties occur when two pronouns are joined by and. When in doubt, say
what you would say if each pronoun stood alone.
Laura and she (not her) competed in the debate.
Say:
Laura competed.
She competed.
Laura and she (not her) competed. Laura and she form a compound SUBJECT.
Mr. Foster gave Mollie and me (not I) a chance to play in the mixed-doubles tournament.
(Note: It is courteous to mention the other person first: “Mollie and me,” NOT “me and
Mollie.”)
Say:
Mr. Foster gave Mollie.
Mr. Foster gave me.
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Mr. Foster gave Mollie and me (not I). Mollie and me form a compound indirect
OBJECT.
EXERCISE 1. In each sentence, underline the correct form of the pronoun (used as a subject) in
parentheses.
EXERCISE 2. In each sentence, underline the correct form of the pronoun (used as an object) in
parentheses.
1. Mike bought shakes for him and (I, me).
2. Janna saw Greg and (them, they) on the bus.
3. The coach awarded letters to all of (us, we) members of the team.
4. We found our cat Max and (she, her) asleep on the couch.
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5. Play with Sean and (I, me) in the band concert.
EXERCISE 3. In each sentence, underline the correct form of the pronoun (either subject or
object) in parentheses.
1. (Her, She) and her tennis partner will travel to Cleveland for the match.
2. Mom prepared a hot dinner for Dad and (I, me).
3. (Us, We) students are entering our sweet potato casserole in the cooking contest.
4. Devon caught sight of Lam and (them, they) on the bus to Lockport.
5. (Them, They) are applying for American citizenship as soon as possible.
6. My faithful dog and (I, me) climbed Mt. Washington together.
7. When it comes to precalculus, Don is as quick as (her, she).
8. Mr. Ortiz brought Nathan and (her, she) some homemade fudge.
9. The treasurer asked all of (us, we) club members to pay our back dues.
10. Joanna and (them, they) made all the sandwiches for her sister’s bridal shower.
11. At the end of the recycling drive, the chairperson of the committee thanked (us, we)
workers for our help.
12. Aaron and (I, me) played a strong doubles match but lost in a tiebreaker.
13. Ellen is planning a picnic for Danny and (I, me).
14. At the end of the school year, Sasha, Annie, and (he, him) were commended for academic
achievement.
15. (Us, We) members of the National Honor Society had a special assembly.
16. Li and (he, him) are in the same Spanish class.
17. (Them, They) are the best strawberries I’ve ever tasted.
18. Our pen pal in Bosnia wrote a long letter to Karin and (I, me).
19. We saw Marisol and (he, him) in the stands at the baseball game.
20. (Him and I, He and I) went on a rafting trip on the Nantahala River.
Its refers to wolf. Wolf is the antecedent of its. Wolf is singular. Therefore, its is singular.
(Notice that the antecedent “goes before” the pronoun.)
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Now look at this sentence:
Their refers to wolves. Wolves is the antecedent of their. Wolves is plural. Therefore, their is
plural.
EXERCISE 4. In each sentence below, write a pronoun that agrees with its antecedent.
1. A girl leaving the store stumbled and dropped _____ ice cream cone.
2. Marilyn has a new dress but has not worn _____ yet.
3. Michael knows that _____ will make the team.
4. Janine likes cats, but Ariel dislikes _____.
5. The building will have _____ roof repaired.
Indefinite Pronouns
Many problems of agreement arise with the words on the following list. They are called
indefinite pronouns. A personal pronoun that has one of these words as an antecedent must be
singular.
anybody either neither one
anyone everybody nobody somebody
each everyone no one someone
With either . . . or or neither . . . nor, use the nearer antecedent when choosing a pronoun.
Jill . . . Claire is a compound subject. Since Jill is singular and Claire is also singular, the singular
her is used.
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Norm is singular, but cousins is plural. Therefore, the plural their is used to agree with the nearer
antecedent, cousins.
EXERCISE 5. In each sentence below, underline the correct form of the possessive pronoun in
parentheses.
1. Someone on the girls’field hockey team forgot (her, their) hockey stick.
2. No one on the swimming team gave (his or her, their) approval to the practice schedule.
3. An elephant forms a close bond with (its, their) trainer.
4. Neither Dario nor Justin had (his, their) purple hair for very long.
5. Everybody brought (their, his or her) own golf clubs.
Still another error is using a plural verb with one of the indefinite pronouns. Note these correct
forms.
Neither the twins nor she wants to go to the beach this summer.
Twins is plural, but she is singular. The singular verb, wants, agrees with the nearer subject, she,
which is also singular.
Some indefinite pronouns usually require a plural verb: several, many, both, some, few.
Possessive Pronouns
Look carefully at the last sentence—it will help you avoid a common mistake. You have seen
the word it’s, with an apostrophe. It’s is a contraction of it is. Whenever you wonder whether its
needs an apostrophe, simply replace its with it is. If the sentence does make sense, use an
apostrophe. If it doesn’t make sense (as in “Where is it is collar?), don’t use the apostrophe.
EXERCISE 7. In each sentence, underline the correct possessive pronoun form in parentheses.
1. (We, Us) students are willing to volunteer our time in the community.
2. Jayne says that book is (hers, her’s).
3. Go with John and (I, me) to the movies.
4. One of the girls (were, was) dismissed from the chorus.
5. Neither of the boys (plays, play) ice hockey.
6. (They, Them) are the teachers from our school.
7. Everyone on the girls’soccer team had (her, their) name read aloud at the awards
ceremony.
8. Few students taking the test brought (his or her, their) own pencils.
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9. Between you and (I, me), I thought the acting was bad.
10. Pedro and (I, me) liked John Grisham’s latest novel.
In this section, you are going to write in the left column (Sinking) about what are the things
you have learned in this module, and on the right column (floating), write what are the things that
are still confusing to you.
Sinking Floating
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