PRONOUNS
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
→A pronoun must agree in number, person, and gender with its
antecedent.
Bill brought his gerbil
to school.
(The antecedent in this sentence
is Bill;
it is to Bill that the pronoun his refers. Both the pronoun and its antecedent are
singular, third person, and masculine; therefore the pronoun is said to agree
with its antecedent.)
→Use a singular pronoun to refer to such antecedents as
each, either, neither, one, anyone, anybody, everyone, everybody, somebody,
another, nobody, and a person.
One of the rowboats is missing its
(not their) oars.
**Note**When a
person or everyone is used to
refer to both sexes or either sex, you will have to choose whether to offer
optional pronouns or rewrite the sentence.
A person must learn to wait his or her turn. (optional pronoun)
People must learn to wait their turn. (rewritten in plural form)
→Two or more antecedents joined by and are considered plural; two or more singular antecedents joined
by or or nor are referred to by a singular pronoun.
Tom and Bob are finishing their
assignment.
Either
Connie or Sue left her headset in
the library.
**Note**If one of the antecedents is masculine and one
feminine, the pronouns should likewise be masculine and feminine.
Is
either Dave or Phyllis bringing his or her Frisbee?
**Note** If one of the antecedents joined by or or nor is singular and one is plural, the pronoun is made to agree
with the nearer antecedent.
Neither
the manager nor the players were crazy about their new uniforms.
Relative Pronouns
→The relative pronouns who and whom are often
confused. If you can put the pronoun
“he” in the blank it is “who.” If you
can put “him” it is “whom.”
Who
= he
Whom
= him
→Who –
used with a person, followed by a verb
Example: I know the PERSON who lives here. (PERSON is the
antecedent of who)
→Whom –
used with a person, followed by a noun and then a verb
Example: I know the STUDENT whom the principal yelled at. (STUDENT
is the antecedent of whom)
→That:
used with a thing (It is essential clauses:
The sentence is incomplete w/out the clause)
Example: I don’t like movies that are violent (You need “that” to
complete the sentence. W/out it the
sentence is incomplete.)
→Which:
used with a thing (It is nonessential clauses: the sentence is still complete
w/out the clause—usually set off by commas)
Example: Twilight,
which is a book Stephanie Meyer
wrote, is a best seller. (If you take out “which is a book Stephanie Meyer
wrote” the sentence still makes sense.)
Using commas with quotation marks
→Quotation marks are used to punctuate titles of songs,
poems, short stories, episodes or TV programs, chapters of books, or articles
in a newspaper and magazine.
“Even
Flow” (song)
“A
Song for Emily” (short story)
“Warm
Welcome in Tokyo”
(short story)
“Lady
in the Cupboard” (magazine article)
**Note** In titles, capitalize the first word, the last
word, and every word in between except articles (a, an, the)
prepositions, conjunctions. Follow this
rule for titles of books, newspapers, magazines, poems, plays, songs, articles,
films, works or art, pictures, and stories.
Also underline all books, plays, newspapers, and magazines.
Going
to Meet the Man Chicago Tribune “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
A
Midsummer Night’s Dream “Jim
Crow—a National Disgrase”
→Periods and commas are always placed inside quotation
marks.
“Dr. Slaughter wants you to have
liquids, Will,” Mama said anxiously. “He
said not to give you any solid foods tonight.”
“No,” the taxi driver said
curtly, “I cannot get you to the airport in fifteen minutes.”
→An exclamation point or a question mark is placed inside
quotation marks when it punctuates the quotation; it is placed outside when it
punctuates the main sentence.
Ms.
Arbogast asked, “Do you know how proud you made me?”
What
do you suppose it means when a vampire says, “Well, of course, you’re welcome
to stay the night”?
Verb Tense
→Tense indicates time.
Each verb has three tenses: Past, Present, and Future.
Past Tense: expresses action that is completed at a
particular time in the past.
They forgot that just ninety days separated
them from seventh grade status.
Present
Tense: expresses action that is happening
at the present time, or action that happens regularly.
In September, sophomores smirk and joke about the “little sevies.”
Future Tense: expresses action that will take place in the
future.
They will remember in three years because
they will be on the bottom again.
PAST
|
PRESENT
|
FUTURE
|
involved
|
Involve
|
will
involve
|
drank
|
drink
|
will
drink
|