A pronoun is a word that can function by itself as a noun phrase.
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4answers
2k views
Using the expression “the same” for a previously mentioned item
I frequently use "the same" as in the following sentence.
I need the details of XYZ project. Could you please send me the same as soon as possible?
Is this grammatically correct? I have not been ...
0
votes
1answer
414 views
How do we pronounce “others'”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in s?
I know that we pronounce "someone else's" as "someone else sus."
I'm wondering how do we pronounce others'.
Is it ...
1
vote
0answers
88 views
Pronoun after verb “to be” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Who wants ice-cream?
Which is correct to say: “It's me” or “It's I”?
“This is her” or “This is she”
I'm reading a book and I found a sentence which made me have some ...
2
votes
2answers
509 views
Speaking about someone of unknown gender [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Gender neutral pronoun
For example, user clicked the button. I don't know if the user is male or female, what gender should I use? Now I read a book, where the user is ...
4
votes
2answers
795 views
What are the most popular gender-neutral pronouns that aren't the same as other contemporary pronouns?
There have been attempts to use other contemporary English pronouns to stand-in as a true gender-neutral pronoun, given that English is lacking a commonly-accepted one for adult humans (non-humans and ...
8
votes
3answers
2k views
Pronoun “it” for baby?
Does anyone know why the word "baby" is referred to by the pronoun "it" rather than a human pronoun. Is there an historical/etymological reason?
6
votes
3answers
814 views
Reason for the current trend to use «she» as the gender-neutral pronoun?
There are some questions on gender-neutral pronouns both here and on Writers.
User Christine Letts writes:
In academia, there is currently a
movement toward using the feminine
pronoun at all ...
1
vote
0answers
3k views
Older than me (or I)? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
I can run faster than _. (1) him (2) he?
Is it correct to say, "She's older than me" or "She's older than I?" I almost always hear people say the former (me). If I ...
2
votes
1answer
2k views
Anyone: (“they” or “he/she”) why is it sometimes plural? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is it correct to use “their” instead of “his or her”?
Plural versus singular:
Anyone can learn to dance if they want to.
Anyone can ...
17
votes
1answer
4k views
Ones or one's: Which is the correct usage?
I've been confused about this as long as I can remember. Should it be:
One should do ones duty.
or
One should do one's duty.
I'm guessing it should be the latter. But that doesn't sit well ...
1
vote
2answers
401 views
The history of the use of “man” [closed]
The pronoun 'he' used generically, as well as a lot of words including "man-kind" or generic "man" are sex-biased and are not acceptable. However, not so long ago, they were the proper used terms for ...
7
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3answers
676 views
To refer back to “one or more”, should I use “it” or “them”?
In one computer program, there is an option to specify one or more arguments (software packages in this case). I am writing the help documentation, so I'm wondering what phrase to use to explain that ...
4
votes
2answers
548 views
Ambiguity when a sentence contains multiple possessive pronouns
I have a question related to another one that I have asked.
In the following sentence, whose father is being referenced?
Billy’s friend and his father were there.
In the following re-structured ...
5
votes
3answers
181 views
Which is the object, 'one' or 'another' ? I just don't know how this sentence constructed
(All the condoms are faulty. Abed need to notice everybody)
Go, Abed, Go. before people sex one another!
3
votes
2answers
161 views
Is the formation “[s]he” overly distracting?
Does the use of "[s]he" as a gender-neutral pronoun prompt eye-rolling in the reader or is it generally accepted? I know it cannot be pronounced, but it seems to me a helpful contraction in written ...
1
vote
0answers
177 views
Possessive “that's” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
'Which', 'whose' or something else?
Is the use of "that's" correct in the sentence below?
Imagine a frame with two sets of strings stretched across, ...
1
vote
0answers
164 views
How to take the gender of an anonymous person into consideration? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Gender neutral pronoun
Very often, I find myself writing about a user, an anonymous person whose gender I don't know.
Right after mentioning this abstract user, I need ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
Can “whose” refer to an inanimate object?
We lit a fire whose fuel was old timber wood.
Is the word whose referring to fire, an inanimate object, correct in this sentence? Or is there a more appropriate word?
9
votes
2answers
294 views
“I saw your lesson request, but when I saw *it* it was late”
If I want to say:
I saw your lesson request, but when I
saw it it was late.
Is it correct to use the first it? I know that in this sentence the first it function as a pronoun, and the second ...
2
votes
2answers
6k views
“Anyone has” or “anyone have” seen them?
So I thought I'm sure about this and my instincts say that: "If anyone has seen them .." would be right but then again when I said it like: "If anyone have seen them .." I started thinking which one ...
3
votes
1answer
137 views
“Whomsoever” as a subject
In the big-budget game Warcraft III, the following is written on a pedestal:
Whomsoever takes up this blade shall wield power eternal.
Is it correct to use whomsoever as a subject, as in this ...
3
votes
5answers
2k views
Is [Its'] a word? (Note the apostrophe at the end.)
I just had a strange flashback to a conversation I had when I was in high school, with a man who was regarded by many members of a particular online community as having an impressive degree of ...
20
votes
3answers
2k views
Why doesn't “its” have an apostrophe?
I know that its is the possessive and it's is the contraction, and know when to use them. But why doesn't the possessive have an apostrophe?
"The bear's eating a fish." [contraction]
"The bear's ...
7
votes
2answers
448 views
Historical usage of “was”/“were” with “you”
I was reading letters from a surgeon to his wife during the Civil War and noticed he used "was" as opposed to "were" on many occasions. Examples:
I truly wish you was here with me.
Was you ...
3
votes
2answers
631 views
Are you comfortable with who(m) he is?
Are you comfortable with him? (correct)
Are you comfortable with whom he is? (??)
You're comfortable with whom he is. (??)
Are you comfortable with who he is? (??)
You're comfortable ...
0
votes
2answers
2k views
Is “none” singular or plural? How can I decide? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
None as plural indefinite pronoun
With words that indicate portions—some, all, none, percent, fraction, part, majority, remainder, and so forth How can we cdecide the ...
3
votes
2answers
845 views
In a business proposal, which personal pronoun should be used?
Which personal pronoun would you use in a business proposal?
Most people either go with first or third person, e.g.,
We propose this marketing plan.
or
Company x proposes this marketing ...
0
votes
1answer
6k views
What are the grammatical rules for use of “these”, “those”, and “them”?
I am unclear of the use of [these|those] objects. I am unsure when to use [these|those|them].
Please someone help me tell me which is correct in the previous sentences.
This is not a dupe of ...
2
votes
4answers
3k views
“He” / “she” vs. “it” regarding beloved objects
Is that normal to regard a beloved object (an animal, a car, a book) as he/she? If yes, what gender should be used in this case?
One comment in this question touched the tendency to humanize things ...
2
votes
1answer
472 views
Usage of “whose” not referring to a person [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Referring to some attribute of an inanimate object — use “who's”?
I noticed the use of "whose" in the following sentence I wrote does not refer to a ...
1
vote
1answer
412 views
Do “that” and “it” refer to different things in this sentence?
He likes going to the library
to study. That always makes her happy.
What if the last sentence were to be changed to
It always makes her happy.
Do these two sentences mean something ...
4
votes
4answers
9k views
When to use “me” or “myself”?
Which one is correct:
Someone like me...
or
Someone like myself...
Is "like myself" ever correct?
9
votes
5answers
4k views
What's the difference between “these” and “those”?
First of all, I'm not a native English speaker, but in school I learned that these is used if referring to something near, and those is used when referring to something far away (temporally or ...
2
votes
3answers
231 views
When using the preposition “for” should it be followed with the subjective or objective case?
The activity we engaged in was good for she and I.
or
The activity we engaged in was good for us both.
or
The activity we engaged in was good for her and me.
9
votes
1answer
1k views
Is it correct to say, “Jamie and I look forward to seeing you and Kate on Friday?”
Pronouns can be so confusing. Is this appropriate or is there a preferred structure other than this?
12
votes
4answers
1k views
Is “so” a pronoun?
Reminded by What is the grammatical function of so in this sentence, something that has always bothered me is that the word "so" can be used as a pronoun:
It looks like rain
Responding with:
...
8
votes
6answers
2k views
Difference in pronunciation between “your” and “you're”?
I'm a native English speaker (Texas counts, I suppose), and I pronounce "your" to rhyme with "core", and "you're" to rhyme with "cure". Is it just me or did I pick this up somewhere?
1
vote
2answers
82 views
About the pronoun “one”
and the choice of what to include and what not to include was necessarily a personal one
Could it be said: "...was necessarily personal"? Which is the "one" to substitute, "choice"?
2
votes
3answers
667 views
Should “that” or “it” be used in this sentence?
People say things like ‘all publicity is good publicity’ but that isn't always true.
Should that in the sentence above be replaced with it? It's sort of ambiguous as to what that is referring to, ...
8
votes
1answer
365 views
Usage of “we” as plural second-person
I often hear people saying phrases of the type "How are we doing over here?" by servers at restaurants, for example. Obviously they mean "How are you (plural) doing?" Where does this type of usage ...
8
votes
3answers
4k views
“It is they who lied” or “it is them who lied?”
Which is the correct usage of the third person, plural pronoun?
It is they who lied.
It is them who lied.
2
votes
6answers
281 views
“It's” versus “its” frequencies
My hypothesis is that in informal writing (say something like Stack Exchange questions) "it's" is massively more common than "its".
Is this true? Are there any data to support it?
Concrete ...
1
vote
1answer
204 views
who vs that as a pronoun [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to use: who/that
I have seen many writers using "that" as a pronoun in cases where "who" should be used. For example, a book author says
I apologize to those of you ...
2
votes
1answer
547 views
Can “who” as a relative pronoun sometimes be omitted?
Somebody once observed two things:
people often omit the relative pronoun "who" or "whom" to avoid having to worry about which is grammatically correct
however, in all cases where it can be omitted, ...
3
votes
3answers
641 views
“I don't think that that can be done” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How do you handle “that that”? The double “that” problem
Is there something wrong with this sentence?
"I don't think that that can be done."
...
7
votes
2answers
373 views
Words that sound all-inclusive, but aren't necessarily all-inclusive
Words like "anywhere" and "everybody" usually have a predefined or implicit context during conversations:
Everybody is going out to lunch. Would you like to come too? We are willing to go anywhere ...
1
vote
0answers
144 views
“You and I” versus “you and me” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Which is correct, “you and I” or “you and me”?
I was surprised to hear "you and I," when I expected "you and me." Are the two expressions ...
3
votes
3answers
411 views
What does “this” refer to?
What does "this" refer to in the following quote from the Wikipedia article on Learning Curve?
The learning curve can also represent at a glance the initial difficulty of learning something and, ...
3
votes
2answers
558 views
Switching pronouns mid-sentence
I know that switching pronouns when referring to the same subject mid-sentence is considered grammatically incorrect, as in,
It is very easy for one to open a program in our newest operating ...
6
votes
2answers
289 views
Referring to a gerund with a pronoun
Is it considered grammatical to refer to a gerund in the subject position with the pronoun "it"?
Example:
Visiting a dentist regularly is recommended as it can contribute to overall health.
