A pronoun is a word that can function by itself as a noun phrase.
57
votes
4answers
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What’s the rule for using “who” and “whom” correctly?
I can never figure out whether I should use who and whom. Most people use who for both colloquially, but that’s not correct.
What’s the rule for using who and whom correctly?
62
votes
8answers
3k views
12
votes
7answers
13k views
Which is correct, “you and I” or “you and me”?
When the phrase is used as an object, why so many native speakers are saying "you and I" instead of "you and me"? I'm not a native speaker but I thought "you and me" is correct. Not sure if this falls ...
18
votes
5answers
12k views
“My friends and I” vs. “My friends and me” vs. “Me and my friends”
I've always been taught to put myself last when referring to myself in the same sentence as others but the usage of "me and..." seems to be everywhere these days. The misuse of the word "me" instead ...
15
votes
6answers
6k views
“Who wants ice-cream?” — Should I say “(not) I” or “(not) me”?
With the enthusiastic question of "Who wants ice-cream?", what is the more correct response?
(Not) I.
(Not) me.
Neither response is a sentence. The first response of "(not) I" sounds ...
30
votes
14answers
4k views
I can run faster than _____. (1) him (2) he?
Consider the sentence "I can run faster than 15 miles per hour." Its meaning is clear and to my eyes obviously grammatically correct. Now let me present some variations that have given me trouble for ...
22
votes
7answers
3k views
How do you handle “that that”? The double “that” problem
Have you ever had a case where you felt compelled to include strange things like a double that in a sentence? If so, then what did you do to resolve this?
For me, I never knew whether it was ...
26
votes
6answers
19k views
Is it correct to use “their” instead of “his or her”?
Is this sentence grammatically correct?
Anyone who loves the English language should have a copy of this book in their bookcase.
or should it be:
Anyone who loves the English language should ...
6
votes
3answers
6k views
How to use “who” vs. “that”
I often get confused when trying to use who vs that.
Some examples that often confuse me:
That
The person that went to the store.
The people that went shopping.
The persons that went ...
12
votes
5answers
6k views
When is it correct to use “yourself” and “myself” (versus “you” and “me”)?
I'm confused by why people use the following:
It's up to yourself.
Rather than:
It's up to you.
Another example of this would be:
Please feel free to contact ourselves if you have any ...
47
votes
2answers
6k views
Why should the first person pronoun 'I' always be capitalized?
Why should we capitalize first person pronoun 'I' even if it does not appear in the beginning of a sentence? Why it is not the case for other pronouns?
6
votes
2answers
1k views
Inversion in “only [adverb] have they”
I have seen this construction quite often:
Online ads have been around since the dawn of the Web, but only in
recent years have they become the rapturous life dream of Silicon
Valley.
What ...
11
votes
6answers
1k views
“None” as plural indefinite pronoun
In my grammar book (English Grammar, HarperCollins Publishers), I read that none is occasionally treated as plural, but it is usually regarded as singular. Can you give me an example of sentence where ...
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?
3
votes
4answers
3k views
'Which', 'whose' or something else?
I would appreciate your help phrasing the following:
I am looking for elements
which/whose/... size/sizes is/are relatively large.
12
votes
6answers
6k views
Which one is correct to say: “It's me” or “It's I”?
I was taught at school that the following expression is not grammatically correct:
Who is there? It's me.
The correct one is:
Who is there? It's I.
Can you let me know which one is ...
27
votes
10answers
4k views
What does “it” refer to in “it's raining”?
I wanted to leave the question title as is so as not to take away from my amusement :).
Anyway,
It's raining.
What is raining? Is it the sky? The clouds? The weather? The rain? What is "it"? ...
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.
22
votes
8answers
4k views
Is there a subtle difference between “somebody” and “someone”, “anybody” and “anyone”?
Are there any subtle differences between "somebody" and "someone", or can they be used completely interchangeably? Similarly, can you imagine a situation in which you would prefer "anybody" to ...
17
votes
6answers
23k views
Which is correct, “neither is” or “neither are”?
Bob: "Can I set the font color? Can I customize the text?"
Frank: "Neither of these options is available. Sorry!"
Is "neither is" always correct or should one use "neither are" in some cases and ...
144
votes
5answers
12k views
Did English ever have a formal version of “you”?
From the top of my head, Danish "de" (practically never used), German "Sie", Chinese "您", French "vous", Spanish "usted" are a formal way of addressing someone, especially if one isn't familiar with ...
2
votes
1answer
419 views
Referring to some attribute of an inanimate object — use “who's”?
This came up in describing an input to a function:
A handle to the daemon who's name is desired.
(Daemon is a type of process on a system.)
Somehow, "who's" just doesn't seem right because it's ...
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 ...
14
votes
2answers
434 views
Ellipsis that results in one word serving as both subject and object
Quoting from Jeff Atwood's blog:
[I expanded the team] by adding Kevin, who I didn't know, but had built amazing
stuff for us without even being asked to, from Texas. And again by adding ...
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 ...
13
votes
6answers
2k views
Sentence Construction: “Just Because … Does Not Mean”
I've already found an entry on this here.
However, it does not solve my problem:
I just read an entry on "cross platform" from Wikipedia, in which it was written:
Just because a particular ...
13
votes
4answers
3k views
Referring to objects as “she”
Sometimes people are referring to mechanical objects as "she":
I love my car. She always gets the best service.
Are there any rules when it is appropriate to use "she" instead of it, and is "he" ...
6
votes
2answers
3k views
“Me and my wife” or “my wife and me”
Which is correct: me and my wife or my wife and me? The sentence in which this is used is
Ms. Smith informed me and my wife that she was afraid of being accosted.
6
votes
5answers
1k views
Is it appropriate to refer to a person of unknown sex by “it”?
I would like to treat a user as a non-gender noun and refer to it with the gender-neutral pronoun, it. E.g.,
The user defines two variables, x and y. It then multiplies each variable by a prime ...
8
votes
3answers
8k views
Should you use “who” or “that” when talking about multiple people doing something?
Which of the following is correct?
There were 10 people that went to the store.
There were 10 people who went to the store.
Edit:
Which of the following is correct?
There were 10 ...
6
votes
1answer
525 views
Why do we say “of mine/of his” instead of “of me/of him”?
He's a friend of mine.
That's a car of his.
Why do we use the possessive when the meaning would be the same while not using it (e.g. a friend of me and a car of him)? I thought maybe it is ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Is using “he” for a gender-neutral third-person correct?
I know there are different opinions on this issue. My question: Is using "he" for a general, gender-neutral third person still in common use for formal writing? By common use I mean, can I expect my ...
13
votes
3answers
10k views
Which is correct: “This is her” or “This is she”?
Upon answering the telephone, the person calling asks if Joan is available. If Joan is the person who answered the phone, should she say "This is her" or "This is she"?
4
votes
0answers
392 views
What is the possessive form of “what”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
'Which', 'whose' or something else?
First of all, I'm not a native speaker so I can't rely on my intuition in this specific case.
For a very long time I ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
Is naming the first person last proper grammar or just proper manners? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“My friends and I” vs. “My friends and me” vs. “Me and my friends”
I cringe when someone does not follow the rule of naming the first person last:
Who went to the ...
2
votes
1answer
471 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 ...
11
votes
3answers
11k views
Is “everyone” singular or plural?
Which is correct?
Everyone were convinced that he would go to the game.
Everyone was convinced that he would go to the game.
I think it's "was", because "everyone" is singular, but I just ...
4
votes
3answers
949 views
“All our X” vs. “all of our X”
Is the word "of" optional in this instance? Is either of these considered preferable to the other?
Taste all our delicious treats.
Taste all of our delicious treats.
3
votes
2answers
1k views
Is “either you or [third-person]” followed by a singular verb or a plural verb?
Or, put in examples: which of the following is grammatically correct?
Either you or your sister is going to have to do the chores.
Either you or your sister are going to have to do the ...
6
votes
2answers
134 views
How did the practice of identifying an object after using a pronoun evolve?
While watching Barclay's Premier League matches on the Fox Soccer Channel, the announcers often identify an object by name immediately after using a pronoun. For example, in a match occuring right ...
2
votes
1answer
545 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, ...
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, ...
8
votes
3answers
803 views
How are pronouns resolved?
Are pronouns in English resolved syntactically or semantically? Do they always refer to the closest matching noun?
A wikipedia article has these examples:
We gave the bananas to the monkeys because ...
5
votes
4answers
5k views
Should I use “his/her” or “its”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
Gender neutral pronoun
Is it correct to use “their” instead of “his or her”?
I am writing a software documentation. I have this issue: I am ...
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 ...
9
votes
1answer
832 views
Origins of possessive pronouns
If apostrophe + s is the acceptable way of denoting a genitive in English, is it possible that possessive pronouns, such as hers, ours and yours, started life as possessive adjectives with apostrophe ...
7
votes
5answers
1k views
8
votes
2answers
414 views
*all of us's friend
There's this funny gap I tried to write a paper once upon a time when I studied linguistics, and I'd like to know if anyone has insight into it. The construction in question is the possessive ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Why haven't we used “it” instead of “he or she”?
There is a related discussion on this forum.
My questions is different. I'm all for gender awareness, but why hasn't a properly defined pronoun "it" been used instead of "he/she" or "he or she", etc. ...
3
votes
3answers
639 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."
...
