PERT: Use pronouns to preserve roles and clear reference

Overview

A pronoun takes the place of a noun, but it must preserve that noun's role and reference. Subject forms such as I, he, she, and who perform a clause's action. Object forms such as me, him, her, and whom receive an action or follow a preposition. Possessive forms identify ownership. Begin with the grammatical job rather than a rule that longer phrases require a more formal-sounding pronoun.

In The adviser spoke to Malik and me, the pronoun is an object of to. Remove Malik and to get The adviser spoke to me; restoring the compound does not change the case. In Ada and I carried the display, the phrase is the subject. Removing Ada and gives I carried. The same object test makes between him and her correct: between governs both members. Myself cannot substitute for me merely because it sounds polite. Nora completed the task herself uses a reflexive form to emphasize the already named subject; Herself completed the task cannot use that form as an ordinary independent subject.

Question words also need a role check. In Whom did the editor select?, rearrange the question mentally as The editor selected him. Whom is the object in formal edited prose, and did requires the base verb select. In Who presented the findings?, the question word itself performs presented, so who is the subject. Decide both case and verb form; a choice with the expected pronoun can still contain another grammatical defect.

Reference is a separate issue. When Elena handed Priya the folder, she thanked her can obscure the intended actions. If Priya thanked Elena, naming those participants makes the intended relationship explicit. A revision that reverses the giver or the person offering thanks may contain good grammar yet fail the context. For a revision question, list the original roles before selecting an option.

Keep point of view consistent when the task addresses one reader. When you finish the form, you should save a copy assigns both actions to you. Replacing the second you with we, I, or they changes responsibility without introducing a new actor. Consistency does not forbid every pronoun change; a change is appropriate when the context actually changes the actor.

Possessive pronouns do not need apostrophes. Its cover identifies ownership, whereas it's means it is or it has. The results are theirs uses an independent possessive; their needs a following noun, and their's is not its possessive form. On a new item, check role, antecedent, point of view, and ownership in that order. Read the completed sentence once more to confirm who did what.