I. Pronouns and antecedents
*refer to page 420-426 in The Language of Composition
The English language includes pronouns, such as she, it, or they. Pronouns are generic words that have little meaning on their own. If you hear a friend say, "She is beautiful," you know your friend is referring to a singular, feminine being or object, but with just the pronoun she, you don't know if the discussion concerns a woman, a cheetah, or an automobile. You cannot picture the she until you know the antecedent, which is the word that the pronoun refers to or replaces.
Often, an antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause that you replace with one of these third-person personal pronouns:
Often, an antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause that you replace with one of these third-person personal pronouns:
Third-Person Personal Pronoun
she, him, his, himself
she, her, hers, herself
it, its, itself
they, them, their, theirs, themselves
she, her, hers, herself
it, its, itself
they, them, their, theirs, themselves
Other times, the antecedent might be the word, phrase, or clause that a demonstrative pronoun replaces.
Demonstrative Pronouns
this, that, these, those
And sometimes the antecedent is the point of reference for a relative pronoun.
Relative Pronouns
who, whom, whose, that, which
When considering pronoun-antecedent agreement, indefinite pronouns can confuse the writer.
Singular Indefinite Pronounseach, either, neither
anybody, anyone, anything everybody, everyone, everything nobody, no one, nothing somebody, someone, something |
Plural Indefinite Pronounsboth, few, fewer
several, others, many |
Singular or Plural Indefinite Pronounsall, any, more
most, none, some such |
While you write, you must make sure your pronoun agrees with the antecedent and you must avoid sexist pronouns.
II. Consistency of pronouns
Pronouns must agree with on another and with their antecedents in number and in viewpoint (person).
-------------------------Number---------------------------
ViewpointFirst Person
Second Person Third Person |
SingularI, me, my, mine
you, your, yours he, him, his she, her, hers it, its one, one's |
Pluralwe, us, our, ours
you, your, yours they, them, their, theirs |
Shifts in viewpoint confuse the reader:The way our teachers and classmates looked at us that day in school was just a taste of the culture clash that awaited you in the real world.
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Corrected:The way our teachers and classmates looked at us that day in school was just a taste of the culture clash that awaited us in the real world.
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Shifts in number confuse the reader:One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if you have not dined well.
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CorrectedOne cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one have not dined well.
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III. Sexist Pronoun Usage
When a third-person singular pronoun (he, she, it) could refer to either a male or a female, writers have several options:
- They can combine the male and female pronouns, using or
- They can use the plural form of the pronoun, being careful to adjust the rest of the sentence accordingly
- They can alternate the gender of the pronouns
Not acceptable today:I hope I am not giving away professional secrets if I say that a novelist's chief desire is to be as unconscious as possible. He has to induce in himself a state of perpetual lethargy.
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Corrected:His/her or his or her:
I hope I am not giving away professional secrets if I say that a novelist's chief desire is to be as unconscious as possible. He or she has to induce in himself or herself a state of perpetual lethargy.
Change to unspecified singular noun to an unspecified plural noun: I hope I am not giving away professional secrets if I say that the chief desire of novelists is to be as unconscious as possible. They have to induce in themselves a state of perpetual lethargy.
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IV. Rhetorical and Stylistic Strategy
Selecting a viewpoint to use is a rhetorical decision.
Third-person
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First-Person
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Second-Person
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One way to impress readers is to be sensitive to their likes and dislikes....Many of your readers will appreciate any steps you take in your writing to establish common ground with them (The Language of Composition 423).