Grammar Quiz #13: Pronouns

By Mark Nichol

Correct any pronoun forms that are incorrect in the sentences below.

1. My mother expected my brother and I to do well in school.

2. Mike and me are going to Mexico this summer.

3. Myself and Alan volunteer every Saturday at the animal shelter.

4. When we get to the theme park, all the passengers have to look out for theirselves.

5. The principal suspended the boys whom had been responsible for the damage.

Answers and Explanations

1.
Original: My mother expected my brother and I to do well in school.
Correct : My mother expected my brother and me to do well in school.

The pronoun is the indirect object of “expected” and the semantic subject of the infinitive phrase “to do well in school.”

2.
Original: Mike and me are going to Mexico this summer.
Correct : Mike and I are going to Mexico this summer.

“Me” is incorrect because it is part of the subject.

3.
Original: Myself and Alan volunteer every Saturday at the animal shelter.
Correct : Alan and I volunteer every Saturday at the animal shelter.

“Myself” is a reflexive pronoun. Using it as a subject is erroneous. I flipped the subject word order in the corrected sentence because putting the other person first is civil practice.

4.
Original: When we get to the theme park, all the passengers have to look out for theirselves.
Correct : When we get to the theme park, all the passengers have to look out for themselves.

“Theirselves” is not a standard English word. “Themselves” is the correct pronoun.

5.
Original: The principal suspended the boys whom had been responsible for the damage.
Correct : The principal suspended the boys who had been responsible for the damage.

“Who” is the subject of the clause “who had been responsible.”