Pronouns, Verbs

1
Pronouns, Verbs Modifiers

• Errors to Avoid

2
Pronoun Agreement

• Remember that pronouns must agree with their
  antecedents for
• Case
• Number
• Gender

3
Personal Pronoun Paradigm
4
Relative Pronoun Paradigm
5
Pronoun Agreement Case

• Case subjective, possessive, objective
• Pronouns acting as subjects subjective case
• Pronouns expressing ownership possessive case
• Pronouns acting as objects
• objective case

6
Pronoun Agreement Case

• Examples
• Susan and I studied hard for the exam.
• Susan and me studied hard for the exam.
• They asked Ingrid and I to act in the play.
• They asked Ingrid and me to act in the play.
• Which of the above statements are correct?

7
Pronoun Agreement Case

• Susan and I studied hard for the exam.
• (I is part of the compound subject Susan and I,
  so it must be in the subjective case)
• They asked Ingrid and me to act in the play.
• (Me is part of the compound object Ingrid and
  me, so it must be in the objective case)

8
Pronoun Agreement Case

• Examples
• Margaret, who is leaving, will call us later.
• Margaret, whom is leaving, will call us later.
• Joel described the woman who he had met.
• Joel described the woman whom he had met.
• Which of the above statements are correct?

9
Pronoun Agreement Case

• Margaret, who is leaving, will call us later.
• (Who is the subject of the verb is, so it must be
  in the subjective case)
• Joel described the woman whom he had met.
• (Whom is the direct objective, so it must be in
  the objective case)

10
Pronoun Agreement Number

• Singular pronouns must refer to singular nouns
  plural pronouns must refer to plural nouns.
• Example
• If an apprentice writer wants to be successful,
  they must practice their craft everyday.

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Pronoun Agreement Number

• If an apprentice writer wants to be successful,
  they must practice their craft everyday.
• Identify the pronouns and their antecedent.

12
Pronoun Agreement Number

• If an apprentice writer wants to be successful,
  they must practice their craft everyday.

13
Pronoun Agreement Number

• If an apprentice writer wants to be successful,
  they must practice their craft everyday.
• Fix the pronoun error in this sentence.

14
Pronoun Agreement Number

• If an apprentice writer wants to be successful,
  they must practice their craft everyday.
• There are actually 4 ways we can fix this error.

15
Pronoun Agreement Number

• Pronoun agreement error
• If an apprentice writer wants to be successful,
  he must practice his craft everyday.
• Use a singular pronoun

16
Pronoun Agreement Number

• Pronoun agreement error
• If an apprentice writer wants to be successful,
  he or she must practice his or her craft
  everyday.
• Use he or she and his or her

17
Pronoun Agreement Number

• Pronoun agreement error
• If apprentice writers want to be successful, they
  must practice their craft everyday.
• Make the noun plural
• (note that the conjugation of the verb to want
  changes to accommodate the change in number of
  the subject)

18
Pronoun Agreement Number

• Pronoun agreement error
• If an apprentice writer wants to be successful,
  she must practice her craft everyday.
• Alternate masculine and feminine pronouns
• (note that you should not alternate pronouns in
  the same sentence)

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Pronoun Agreement Number

• 2 or more singular antecedents joined by and
  (compound antecedents) require a plural pronoun.
• Example
• The manager and the accountant compared their
  figures.

20
Pronoun Agreement Number

• 2 or more singular antecedents joined by or or
  nor require a singular pronoun.
• Example
• Either David or Jonathan will bring his car.
• (if one antecedent is masculine one is
  feminine, rephrase the sentence)
• Either David or Meg will bring a car.

21
Pronoun Agreement Number

• 2 or more plural antecedents joined by or or nor
  require a plural pronoun.
• Example
• Neither the players nor the coaches did their
  jobs properly.

22
Pronoun Agreement Number

• If the antecedents are mixed singular and plural,
  the pronoun should agree with its nearest
  antecedent.
• Preferred sentence construction places plural
  antecedents last.
• Example
• Neither the director nor the actors could control
  their tempers.

23
Pronoun Agreement Number

• Agreeing with indefinite pronouns (anyone, each,
  either, some, everybody, etc.)
• Almost always singular (except those like both,
  few, many, several)
• Examples
• Each of the boys worked on his own.
• Only a few returned their ballots.

24
Avoiding Gender Bias

• Do not make the mistake of substituting a plural
  pronoun for a singular noun to avoid gender bias.
• Any student who doesnt pay their fees will not
  be officially registered.

25
Avoiding Gender Bias

• Incorrect
• Any student who doesnt pay their fees will not
  be officially registered.
• Try
• Any student who doesnt pay his or her fees will
  not be officially registered.
• Students who dont pay their fees will not be
  officially registered.

26
Avoiding Gender Bias

• Incorrect
• Everyone in the room raised his hand.
• Everyone in the room raised her hand.
• Try
• Everyone in the room raised a hand.

27
Pronoun Reference

• The connection between a pronoun and a noun to
  which it refers or for which it substitutes (its
  antecedent) must always be obvious to your
  reader.
• Example
• Maria knows she should see Ms. Young for help
  with the essay, but she doesnt have time to meet
  tomorrow.

28
Pronoun Reference

• Incorrect
• Maria knows she should see Ms. Young for help
  with the essay, but she doesnt have time to meet
  tomorrow.
• Try
• Maria knows she should see Ms. Young for help
  with the essay, but the teacher doesnt have time
  to meet tomorrow.
• Maria, who is having trouble writing her essay
  and knows she should see Ms. Young for help,
  cant find the time to meet tomorrow.

29
Pronoun Reference

• Avoid vague or ambiguous references with use of
  this, that, which, it.
• Example
• His second film was far different from his first.
  It was an adventure story set in Australia.

30
Pronoun Reference

• Vague
• His second film was far different from his first.
  It was an adventure story set in Australia.
• Clear
• His second film, an adventure story set in
  Australia, was far different from his first.
• His second film was far different from his first,
  which was an adventure story set in Australia.

31
Subject-Verb Agreement

• Why is this sentence grammatically incorrect?
• The boy and his father is going to the zoo today.

32
Subject-Verb Agreement

• The boy and his father are going to the zoo
  today.
• The subject is plural, so the verb must be plural
  as well.

33
Subject-Verb Agreement

• Singular subjects take singular verbs plural
  subjects take plural verbs.
• Students enjoy writing papers.
• The teacher enjoys marking them.

34
Subject-Verb Agreement

• Do not be misled by words or phrases intervening
  between the subject and the verb.
• Example
• The repetition of the consonants helps to stir
  emotion.

35
Subject-Verb Agreement

• As a rule, the grammatical number of the subject
  is not changed by the addition of expressions
  beginning with such words as accompanied by,
  along with, as well as, in addition to,
  including, no less than, not to mention, or
  together with.
• Example
• Unemployment as well as apathy influences votes.

36
Subject-Verb Agreement

• Subjects joined by and are usually plural.
• Examples
• My mother and father do not understand.
• Her computer and my printer were stolen.

37
Subject-Verb Agreement

• Exception occasionally, a compound subject takes
  a singular verb because the subject denotes one
  person or a singular unit.
• Examples
• My husband and best friend is always to be
  trusted.
• My husband and best friend are always to be
  trusted.

38
Subject-Verb Agreement

• Every or each preceding singular subjects
  joined by and calls for a singular verb.
• Examples
• Every manager and employee in the department was
  upset.
• Each athlete and coach has her own locker.

39
Subject-Verb Agreement

• Singular subjects joined by or, eitheror, or
  neithernor usually take a singular verb.
• Examples
• Miss Thompson or her assistant usually answers
  the phone on Saturday.
• Either the Chairman or the Vice-President is the
  keynote speaker.
• Neither criticism nor praise affects them.

40
Subject-Verb Agreement

• If one subject is singular and one is plural, the
  verb usually agrees with the nearer subject.
• Examples
• Neither the quality nor the prices have changed.
• Neither the prices nor the quality has changed.

41
Subject-Verb Agreement

• The verb also agrees with the nearer subject in
  person in sentences like those below.
•  Examples
• Pat or you were supposed to call.
• You or Pat was supposed to call.

42
Subject-Verb Agreement

• Do not let inverted word order (VERB SUBJECT)
  or the structure there VERB SUBJECT cause you
  to make a mistake in agreement.
• Examples
• On the upper floors was a penthouse filled with
  fine furniture and antiques.
• There are no poisonous snakes in the area.

43
Subject-Verb Agreement

• A relative pronoun (who, which, that) used
  as a subject has the same number as its
  antecedent.
• Examples
• It is the salesman who often suggests a new brand
  to the customer.
• This is the only one of the local papers that
  prints a daily horoscope.

44
Subject-Verb Agreement

• When used as subjects, such words as each,
  either, neither, one, everybody, and
  anyone regularly take singular verbs.
• Examples
• Neither likes the friends of the other.
• Each of them has political ambitions.
• Everybody in the office has tickets.

45
Subject-Verb Agreement

• Subjects such as all, any, half, most,
  none, and some may take a singular or plural
  verb the context generally determines the choice
  of the verbal form.
•  Examples
• Dr. Ahmed collects old manuscripts some are very
  valuable.
• The clothing was reduced in price because some
  was damaged.

46
Subject-Verb Agreement

• Collective nouns and phrases denoting a fixed
  quantity take a singular verb when they refer to
  the group as a unit and take a plural verb when
  they refer to individuals or parts of the group.
• Examples
• My family has its own traditions.
• A million dollars is a lot of money.
• Two-thirds of these have been finished.
• A number were absent.

47
Subject-Verb Agreement

• A linking verb agrees with its subject, not with
  its complement.
• Examples
• His problem is frequent headaches.
• Frequent headaches are his problem.

48
Subject-Verb Agreement

• Nouns plural in form but singular in meaning
  usually take singular verbs (e.g. economics,
  measles, tactics). In all doubtful cases,
  consult a good dictionary or grammar guide.
• Examples
• News travels fast.
• Physics fascinates me.

49
Subject-Verb Agreement

• The title of a single work or a word spoken of as
  a word, even when plural in form, takes a
  singular verb.
• Examples
• Pride and Prejudice is a famous novel.
• They is often used incorrectly.

50
Modifiers

• Principally adjectives and adverbs.

51
Modifiers

• Adjectival modifiers modify nouns, pronouns, and
  phrases or clauses acting as nouns.
• Answer the questions Which? What kind of? How
  many? How much?
• Example
• Early settlers of western Canada encountered
  sudden floods, prolonged droughts, and early
  frosts.

52
Modifiers

• Adverbial modifiers modify verbs, adjectives,
  other adverbs, and whole clauses or sentences.
• Answer the questions How? When? Where? To what
  degree?
• Example
• Mix the chemicals thoroughly.

53
Modifiers

• For clarity, a modifier must be as close as
  possible to the word it modifies, and there must
  be a word in the sentence for it to describe.
• If these conditions are not met, the modifier is
  either misplaced or dangling.

54
Misplaced Modifiers

• Single words (especially almost, even, hardly,
  just, merely, nearly, only, scarcely), phrases,
  or clauses that are too far away from the word
  they describe to be clear.

55
Misplaced Modifiers

• Incorrect
• This film only runs fifty-eight minutes.
• Correct
• Only this film runs fifty-eight minutes.
• This film runs only fifty-eight minutes.

56
Misplaced Modifiers

• Incorrect
• She told him on Friday she was quitting.
• Correct
• On Friday she told him she was quitting.
• She told him she was quitting on Friday.

57
Misplaced Modifiers

• Squinting modifier
• A word or phrase put between 2 elements either of
  which it could modify.

58
Misplaced Modifiers

• Squinting
• It was so warm for a week we did hardly any
  skiing at all.
• Clear
• It was so warm that for a week we did hardly any
  skiing at all.
• It was so warm for a week that we did hardly any
  skiing at all.

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Misplaced Modifiers

• Split infinitive
• An infinitive is to a verb to walk, to think,
  to breathe.
• An infinitive is split when a modifier (usually
  an adverb) is placed between to and the verb to
  seriously think.
• Try to avoid splitting an infinitive when the
  resulting construction is awkward.

60
Misplaced Modifiers

• Split
• Alex tried to carefully prepare for the exam.
• Correct
• Alex tried to prepare carefully for the exam.

61
Dangling Modifiers

• A phrase, often at the beginning of the sentence,
  which has no logical connection with the rest of
  the sentence.
• The phrase dangles because there is no word in
  the sentence for it to modify.

62
Dangling Modifiers

• Examples
• Bitterly regretting his misspent youth, his days
  in jail seemed endless.
• When empty, return them to the store.

63
Dangling Modifiers

• You cant eliminate a dangling modifier by moving
  it to another position in the sentence.
• Instead you need to revise the structure of the
  sentence itself.
• You can do this in two ways

64
Dangling Modifiers

• Expand the dangling modifier into a subordinate
  clause.
• Examples
• Because he regretted his misspent youth, his days
  in jail seemed endless.
• When the bottles are empty, return them to the
  store.

65
Dangling Modifiers

• Revise the main clause so that it contains a word
  for the introductory phrase to modify.
• Examples
• Bitterly regretting his misspent youth, the
  prisoner found his days in jail endless.
• When empty, the bottles should be returned to the
  store.