On Proper Pronoun Usage

A pronoun is just a word that stands in for a noun, which is a person, place or thing. In many cases, pronouns serve to make sentences clearer and more concise by preventing word repetition. Consider the following sentence:

I went to the Empire State Building; the Empire State Building was very tall.

Technically, this sentence is fine, but it's awkward and wordy. Now, consider the following revisions:

I went to the Empire State Building, which was very tall.

I went to the Empire State Building; it was very tall.

Each revision uses a pronoun to stand in for the Empire State Building, making the sentence much more concise without obscuring its meaning. In this case, the Empire State Building is the antecedent, the word or phrase that the pronoun replaces.

Pronouns probably aren't the most difficult words in the English language to understand, but they may be the hardest to use properly in writing. In everyday speech, we use pronouns very casually, which isn't a big deal as long as our meaning is clear. In formal writing, though, we have to be very careful to avoid pronoun usage errors.

To use a pronoun correctly, you need to consider three aspects of the word: gender, number and case. Let's look at each of these in detail.

The gender of a pronoun is the type of person or thing it appropriately replaces. For instance, if I want to use another word to stand in for my friend Daniel in a sentence, I need to use a male personal pronoun, such as “he.” If I want to refer to my desk in a sentence, I need to use a pronoun that refers to an object, such as “it.”

Probably the most common pronoun gender error I see is incorrect usage of “that or “which.” These pronouns refer to objects, not people. If you catch yourself using either word to refer to a person or group of people, stop and use “who” instead. For instance, the sentence “Students that complete their assignments will earn higher grades” is incorrect. Write “students who complete...” instead.

A related issue is violation of the pronoun shift rule: “One” and “you” are both acceptable pronouns to stand in for people, but they must be used consistently in each piece of writing. Don't switch between “one” and “you” unless you have a very good reason to do so. (Hint: You don't.)

Watch out for subtle violations of this rule, as in “If one wants to stay healthy, exercise.” The first part of this sentence uses “one,” but the second part is a command, which means its subject is the implied “you.” Instead, write “If one wants to stay healthy, one should exercise” or “If you want to stay healthy, exercise.”

The number of a pronoun indicates whether it stands in for a single person, place or thing or a group of people, places or things. If you start with a plural noun, you need to use a plural pronoun; if you need to replace a singular noun, use a singular pronoun.

Often, writers use “they” (and “them” and “their”) to refer to a single person of indeterminate gender. While this is understandable, it is incorrect. Write out “he or she” (or “him or her” or “his or her” as appropriate) instead, or make the noun plural. For instance, consider:

A politician must carefully watch their words.

As written, this sentence is incorrect because it uses a plural pronoun to replace a singular noun. There are two ways to fix this issue:

A politician must carefully watch his or her words.

Politicians must carefully watch their words.

Either revision makes certain that the pronoun matches up properly with the antecedent.

Now we get to pronoun case, which is probably the trickiest piece to understand. Most pronouns are either subjective or objective. We use the subjective case when a pronoun acts as a subject; that is, it is performing an action. We use the objective case when the pronoun serves as an object; that is, it either receives an action or falls after a preposition.

Common subjective pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, who, we, they.

Common objective pronouns: me, you,* him, her, it,* whom, us, them.

*Note that “you” and “it” can be either subjective or objective, depending on context. This is a good thing; it means you don't have to worry about using the correct form in different parts of a sentence.

Pronoun case errors commonly show up in compound constructions where another noun or pronoun gets in the way, so to speak. For instance, “He lectured Harry and I” doesn't sound too bad, but remove Harry, and we have “He lectured I.” Clearly, that's incorrect; the pronoun is receiving the action (the lecture, in this case), so it should be in the objective case, “me.”

Since the word “whom” is almost never used in everyday speech, it's especially difficult to use correctly in formal writing. The easiest way to distinguish between "whom" and its better-known cousin "who" is to try plugging in “he” or “him.” If “he” works, use “who.” If “him” works, use “whom.”

For instance, consider the question “[Who/whom] gave you that zebra?” We would say that "he" gave you the zebra, so “who” is correct. Conversely, try the sentence “She gave that zebra to [who/whom]?” In this case, we would say that she gave the zebra to "him," so “whom” is correct.

Another commonly used pronoun form is the possessive* case, which indicates ownership. Usually, we use the possessive case before nouns, as in “I went to his house and sat on his couch.” However, the possessive case is also used before any verb form ending in -ing, as in “We found her singing very impressive.”

*Some grammarians point out that certain possessive forms are not, strictly speaking, pronouns at all, since they function as determiners rather than nouns. The only real “possessive pronouns” are words such as “theirs,” “mine” and “yours” that actually serve as nouns. Nevertheless, words such as “their,” “my” and “your” are commonly called possessive pronouns, and I refer to them that way in my writing.

A final common pronoun case is the reflexive, which in English is just a word that ends in -self or -selves. Usually, the reflexive case is used when someone or something is both giving and receiving an action, as in “He had to pat himself on the back.” In grammatical terms, the subject and object are the same.

The reflexive form can also be used as an intensive pronoun, which is just a way to provide extra emphasis. Use this case in sentences like “Arthur himself took up the sword” or “I myself insist on proper pronoun usage.”