Pronouns stand
in for nouns in a sentence.
When replacing any noun (Matt, the cheerleader,
the chair) with a pronoun (he, she, it), the pronoun must match the
form of missing noun. A noun has
three elements: number, gender, and case.
Number: A noun can be either singular (one) or plural (more
than one) and the pronoun must reflect that. For example: Matt
went to the store. Because Matt is singular (one person) the
correct pronoun would be he as in "He went to
the store" and not "They went to the store".
The pronoun they would be appropriate only if more than one person
were going to the store. For example, "The students went to
the store" would change to "They went to the store"
because there is more than one person.
Gender: This refers to whether the noun is masculine or
feminine. The pronoun must reflect this. For example, "Matt
went to the store" should be rewritten as "He
went to the store" and not "She went to the store"
because Matt is male.
Case: Keep in mind whether the noun is the subject or object
of the sentence and use the appropriate pronoun. The subject of
the sentence is the noun that is doing the action. In the sentence
"Matt went to the store", Matt is the person
"going", so replace "Matt" with "he":
"He went to the store". The subject of the sentence
is the thing receiving the action. Take the sentence "The
ball struck Matt in the arm". In this case Matt is the
one being struck, therefore use the objective pronoun (him). The
ball struck him in the arm.
Because pronouns follow the same agreement
rules as nouns, it is important to be clear about what noun it is
replacing. The first step in tackling a pronoun question is
to locate and identify the pronouns in the sentence.
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