Usage / 417Ninth, use the pronouns who and whom the same way you would use he and him.
Look at the way the pronoun is used in its own clause; ignore the rest of the sentence.
She didn’t know (who/whom) to ask for money.
(Look at the clause, reword, and substitute:... ask (him) whom for money.)
We didn’t understand (who/whom) had permission to leave.
(Look at the clause, reword, and substitute:... (he) who had permission to
leave.)Tenth, make pronouns agree in both number and gender with the words to which
they refer.
All of the students were prepared with their homework, but neither of the
absent students has turned in her homework.
(All and their are plural pronouns to agree with the plural students; neither is
an indefinite pronoun that is always singular and so takes the singular
pronoun her.)One way to avoid sexist language is to use plural forms (we, they, our, their, theirs, us,
them) as illustrated in the preceding example.
adJective and adverb usaGe
Adjectives must modify nouns; adverbs must modify verbs, adjectives, or other
adverbs. The following enumerate common problems with adjective and adverb
usage.
- Use adverbs to modify action verbs.
He spoke brilliantly.
(Brilliantly modifies the verb spoke.) - Use adverbs to modify adjectives.
His convincingly dramatic speech swayed the audience.
(Convincingly modifies the adjective dramatic.) - Use adjectives after linking verbs.
The music sounded moody.
(Moody is a predicate adjective describing music.) - Bad is an adjective; badly, an adverb. Use the adjective, bad, after a linking verb.
I felt bad (predicate adjective after a linking verb) that he played so badly
(adverb modifying the verb played).