Blog about English
Frequent learner mistakes involving English pronouns.
Use subject pronouns as subjects and object pronouns as objects.
Common mistakes include Me went home, between you and I and Him likes football instead of I went home, between you and me and He likes football.
Do not confuse possessive determiners with possessive pronouns.
Compare my car with The car is mine. Errors such as mine car and this is mys are incorrect.
Use reflexive pronouns only when they are grammatically required or used for emphasis.
Avoid forms such as Please contact myself or John and myself attended the meeting.
Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject, while reciprocal pronouns express mutual actions.
Compare They blamed themselves with They blamed each other.
Choose demonstratives according to number and distance.
Typical errors include this books, these car and using this instead of that for distant reference.
Choose who, which, whose, whom and that according to their grammatical function.
Common mistakes include using which for people, omitting necessary relative pronouns and misusing whom.
Choose what, which, who and whom according to meaning and context.
Learners often confuse what and which or overuse whom in informal English.
Use the correct pronoun and verb agreement with indefinite pronouns.
Typical errors include Everybody are..., double negatives with nobody and incorrect adjective placement such as interesting someone.
Ensure pronouns agree with their antecedents in number, person and gender.
Modern English widely accepts singular they where appropriate.
Every pronoun should clearly identify its antecedent.
Rewrite sentences when a pronoun could refer to more than one noun.
Some pronoun constructions are acceptable in conversation but should be avoided in formal writing.
Examples include between you and me versus between you and I, the declining use of whom and unnecessary reflexive pronouns in business English.
Check every pronoun for agreement, reference, form and clarity when editing your writing.
A systematic review of pronouns helps eliminate many common grammar mistakes before publishing or submitting a text.