416 / Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics
Most errors occur when the pronoun is part of a compound object. To avoid the
error, consider the pronoun alone.
The voters elected Jordan and her to the school board.
(The voters elected her to the school board.)Fourth, when a noun immediately follows a pronoun, blank out the noun to
choose the correct pronoun.
We students enjoyed the pep rally.
(We... enjoyed the pep rally.)Fifth, in a comparison, complete the comparison to choose the correct pronoun.
Lewis is a better student than I.
(Lewis is a better student than I [am].)Sixth, use a possessive pronoun with –ing nouns.
my, mine, our, ours, your, yours, his, hers, its, their, theirs
His swearing was offensive.
(Swearing is an –ing noun, technically called a gerund. See Verbals and Verbal
Phrases in Chapter 44, Phrases and Clauses.)Seventh, in an appositive, use the same form for the pronoun as the word it
renames. (An appositive is a noun that identifies another noun.)
The two injured players, Glenn and I, will sit on the sidelines.
(Read as... I will sit on the sidelines. Glenn and I renames players, the subject
of the sentence; the pronoun takes the subjective form.)
The coach sent the two injured players, Glenn and me, to the showers early.
(Read as The coach sent... me to the showers early. Glenn and me renames
players, the object of the verb sent; the pronoun takes the objective form.)Eighth, use a compound pronoun only if the word it refers to is in the same sen-
tence. The following are compound pronouns:
myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Mr. Kiegle himself announced the Kiegle Award winner.
(Himself refers to Mr. Kiegle.)
Those who won included Treena and me.
(Do not say Treena and myself; no noun reference for the pronoun appears in
this sentence.)