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Grammar Quiz #23: Pronouns

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Correct errors of pronoun use in the following sentences.

1. Do you want to go with Hamed and myself to the park?

2. Last summer, the Retys were extremely kind to my family and I when we stayed with them.

3. If it snows, me and the children will take our sleds to the hill behind the school.

4. Be sure to remind the children that too much horseplay could cause them to hurt theirselves.

5. The coach of the boys’ basketball team said, “I expect everyone to do their best in the game tonight.”

Answers and Explanations

1.
Original: Do you want to go with Hamed and myself to the park?
Correct : Do you want to go with Hamed and me to the park?

Pronouns used as the object of a preposition take the object form. “Hamed and me” is the compound object of the preposition with.

2.
Original: Last summer, the Retys were extremely kind to my family and I when we stayed with them.
Correct : Last summer, the Retys were extremely kind to my family and me when we stayed with them.

“To my family and me” is the object of the preposition to.

3.
Original: If it snows, me and the children will take our sleds to the hill behind the school.
Correct : If it snows, the children and I will take our sleds to the hill behind the school.

Pronouns used as the subject of a verb take the subject form. “the children and I” is a compound subject.

4.
Original: Be sure to remind the children that too much horseplay could cause them to hurt theirselves.
Correct : Be sure to remind the children that too much horseplay could cause them to hurt themselves.

Although sometimes heard, theirselves is a nonstandard form of themselves.

5.
Original: The coach of the boys’ basketball team said, “I expect everyone to do their best in the game tonight.”
Correct : The coach of the boys’ basketball team said, “I expect everyone to do his best in the game tonight.”

Although “their” is commonly used with a singular pronoun like “everyone,” when the context makes it clear that only one gender is being referred to, there’s no reason not to use a singular possessive adjective.

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5 thoughts on “Grammar Quiz #23: Pronouns”

  1. Someone needs to learn to use a spellchecker on everything:
    “Grammar Quiz #23: Pronous”

  2. #5 “Correct : The coach of the boys’ basketball team said… his best.”
    I agree, I agree! Whole-heartedly!
    Also, wherever I went to school, we called these “possessive pronouns”:
    {my, your, his, her, hers, its, our, their}
    The same was true for their equivalents in German, some of which are {mein, Ihr, ihr, sein, euer} Unfortunately, depending on context, “sein” can mean “her”, “its”, or “their”, and “sein” is also the verb “to be”, and “Sein” is a noun.
    “Sein und Schein” means “reality and appearance”.

  3. I agree with Dale A. Wood who wrote, “Someone needs to learn to use a spellchecker on everything: ‘Grammar Quiz#23: Pronous.'”

  4. False Hood to the rescue:

    <>
    NOUN
    A discussion of pronouns. Anything having to do with pronouns on a DWT entry.

    Example sentence:

    Oh, look, it’s the word “pronous” written down, up on the screen there.

    Origin

    Late Middle English-Early March 2018 English: from pro- ‘on behalf of’, + nous, suggested by French nous, meaning we, especially when the “we” in question is pronouns. So ‘on behalf of we pronouns.’ Latin pronomenus (from pro- ‘for, in place of’ + nomen ‘name’ + us ‘having to do with us pronouns’).
    Pronunciation
    pronous
    /ˈprəʊnəs/
    First recorded use: March 1, 2018 in a pronous entry on DWT.

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