Pronouns

• A pronoun (I, me, he, she, herself, you, it, that, they, each, few, many, who, whoever, whose, someone, everybody, etc.) is a word that takes the place of a noun. In the sentence Joe saw Jill, and he waved at her, the pronouns he and her take the place of Joe and Jill, respectively. There are three types of pronouns: subject (for example, he); object (him); or possessive (his).

Rule 1. Subject pronouns are used when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence. You can remember subject pronouns easily by filling in the blank subject space for a simple sentence.

Example: ___ did the job.

I, he, she, we, they, who, whoever, etc., all qualify and are, therefore, subject pronouns.

Rule 2. Subject pronouns are also used if they rename the subject. They will follow to be verbs, such as is, are, was, were, am, will be, had been, etc.

Examples:

It is he.

This is she speaking.

It is we who are responsible for the decision to downsize.

NOTE

In informal English, most people tend to follow to be verbs with object pronouns like me, her, them. Many English scholars tolerate this distinction between formal and casual English.

Example: It could have been them.

Technically correct: It could have been they.

Example: It is just me at the door.

Technically correct: It is just I at the door.

Rule 3. This rule surprises even language watchers: when who refers to a personal pronoun (I, you, he, she, we, they), it takes the verb that agrees with that pronoun.

Correct: It is I who am sorry. (I am)

Incorrect: It is I who is sorry.

Correct: It is you who are mistaken. (you are)

Incorrect: It is you who's mistaken.

Rule 4. In addition to subject pronouns, there are also object pronouns, known more specifically as direct object, indirect object, and object of a preposition (for more detail, see the definition of a verb in the Finding Nouns, Verbs, and Subjects section). Object pronouns include me, him, herself, us, them, themselves.

Examples:

Jean saw him.

Him is the direct object of the verb saw.

Give her the book.

The direct object of give is book, and her is the indirect object. Indirect objects always have an implied to or for in front of them: Give [to] her the book. Do [for] me a favor.

Are you talking to me?

Me is the object of the preposition to.

Rule 5. The pronouns who, that, and which become singular or plural depending on the subject. If the subject is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb.

Example: He is the only one of those men who is always on time.

The word who refers to one. Therefore, use the singular verb is.

Sometimes we must look more closely to find a verb's true subject:

Example: He is one of those men who are always on time.

The word who refers to men. Therefore, use the plural verb are.

In sentences like this last example, many would mistakenly insist that one is the subject, requiring is always on time. But look at it this way: Of those men who are always on time, he is one.

Rule 6. Pronouns that are singular (I, he, she, everyone, everybody, anyone, anybody, no one, nobody, someone, somebody, each, either, neither, etc.) require singular verbs. This rule is frequently overlooked when using the pronouns each, either, and neither, followed by of. Those three pronouns always take singular verbs. Do not be misled by what follows of.

Examples:

Each of the girls sings well.

Either of us is capable of doing the job.

Neither of them is available to speak right now.

Exception: When each follows a noun or pronoun in certain sentences, even experienced writers sometimes get tripped up:

Incorrect: The women each gave her approval.

Correct: The women each gave their approval.

Incorrect: The words are and there each ends with a silent vowel.

Correct: The words are and there each end with a silent vowel.

These examples do not contradict Rule 6, because each is not the subject, but rather an adjunct describing the true subject.

Pronouns

A pronoun takes the place of a noun. 

Example story:

Mary is one of the heads of the ToJi Corporation. Mary works with Mr. James and Mr. James' son Tom. Mr. James and Mr. James' son Tom are experts in biochemistry. Mary, Mr. James, and Tom researched and invented a drug for cancer treatment. 

If the story above is written using pronouns:

Mary is one of the heads of the ToJi Corporation. She works with Mr. James and his son Tom. He and his son Tom are experts in biochemistry. They researched and invented a drug for cancer treatment. 

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to a person:

• I go to school.
• You are a student.
• They are Koreans.
• He works here.
• We gave her food.

The word ‘it' refers to an object:

• I drank it.
• It is big.
• They cut it into halves.

Word Stress Quiz

1. Can you pass me a plastic knife?

PLAS-tic plas-TIC 

2. I want to be a photographer.

PHO-to-graph-er pho-TO-graph-er 

3.Which photograph do you like best?

PHO-to-graph pho-TO-graph 

4.He was born in China.

CHI-na Chi-NA 

5. Whose computer is this?

com-PU-ter com-pu-TER 

Prepositions "With," "Over," and "By"

With

Used to indicate being together or being involved:

• I ordered a sandwich with a drink.
• He was with his friend when he saw me.
• She has been working with her sister at the nail shop.
• The manager will be with you shortly.

Used to indicate "having":

• I met a guy with green eyes.
• Were you the one talking with an accent?
• People with a lot of money are not always happy.

Used to indicate "using":

• I wrote a letter with the pen you gave me.
• This is the soup that I made with rice and barley.
• He cut my hair with his gold scissors.

Used to indicate feeling:

• I am emailing you with my sincere apology.
• He came to the front stage with confidence.

Used to indicate agreement or understanding:

• Are you with me?
• Yes, I am completely with you.
• She agrees with me.

Over

Used to indicate movement from one place to another:

• Come over to my house for dinner sometime.
• Could you roll over?
• They sent over a gift for his promotion.

Used to indicate movement downward:

• The big tree fell over on the road.
• Can you bend over and get the dish for me?
• He pushed it over the edge.

Used to indicate more than an expected number or amount:

• This amount is over our prediction.
• Kids twelve and over can watch this movie.
• The phone rang for over a minute.

Used to indicate a period of time:

• I worked there over a year.
• She did not sleep there over this past month.

By

Used to indicate proximity:

• Can I sit by you?
• He was standing by me.
• The post office is by the bank.

Used to indicate the person that does something in a passive voice sentence:

• The microwave was fixed by the mechanic.
• The flowers were delivered by a postman.
• The branch office was closed by the head office.

Grammar Rules

Here are 20 simple rules and tips to help you avoid mistakes in English grammar. For more comprehensive rules please look under the appropriate topic (part of speech etc) on our grammar and other pages.

1. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a period/full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark. see Punctuation

• The fat cat sat on the mat.
• Where do you live?
• My dog is very clever!

2. The order of a basic positive sentence is Subject-Verb-Object. (Negative and question sentences may have a different order.)

• John loves Mary.
• They were driving their car to Bangkok.

3. Every sentence must have a subject and a verb. An object is optional. Note that an imperative sentence may have a verb only, but the subject is understood.

• John teaches.
• John teaches English.
• Stop! (ie You stop!)

4. The subject and verb must agree in number, that is a singular subject needs a singular verb and a plural subject needs a plural verb.

• John works in London.
• That monk eats once a day.
• John and Mary work in London.
• Most people eat three meals a day.

5. When two singular subjects are connected by or, use a singular verb. The same is true for either/or and neither/nor.

• John or Mary is coming tonight.
• Either coffee or tea is fine.
• Neither John nor Mary was late.

6. Adjectives usually come before a noun (except when a verb separates the adjective from the noun).

• I have a big dog.
• She married a handsome Italian man.
• (Her husband is rich.)

7. When using two or more adjectives together, the usual order is opinion-adjective + fact-adjective + noun. (There are some additional rules for the order of fact adjectives.)

• I saw a nice French table.
• That was an interesting Shakespearian play.

8. Treat collective nouns (eg committee, company, board of directors) as singular OR plural. In BrE a collective noun is usually treated as plural, needing a plural verb and pronoun. In AmE a collective noun is often treated as singular, needing a singular verb and pronoun.

• The committee are having sandwiches for lunch. Then they will go to London. (typically BrE)
• The BBC have changed their logo. (typically BrE)
• My family likes going to the zoo. (typically AmE)
• CNN has changed its logo. (typically AmE)

9. The words its and it's are two different words with different meanings.

• The dog has hurt its leg.
• He says it's two o'clock.

10. The words your and you're are two different words with different meanings.

• Here is your coffee.
• You're looking good.

11. The words there, their and they're are three different words with different meanings.

• There was nobody at the party.
• I saw their new car.
• Do you think they're happy?

12. The contraction he's can mean he is OR he has. Similarly, she's can mean she is OR she has, and it's can mean it is OR it has, and John's can mean John is OR John has.

• He is working
• He has finished.
• She is here.
• She has left.
• John is married.
• John has divorced his wife.

13. The contraction he'd can mean he had OR he would. Similarly, they'd can mean they had OR they would.

• He had eaten when I arrived.
• He would eat more if possible.
• They had already finished.
• They would come if they could.

14. Spell a proper noun with an initial capital letter. A proper noun is a "name" of something, for example Josef, Mary, Russia, China, British Broadcasting Corporation, English.

• We have written to Mary.
• Is China in Asia?
• Do you speak English?