CHAPTER V
Pronouns
The correct use of the pronouns, personal and relative, involves a degree of skill which many speakers and writers fail to possess. The choice of the appropriate pronoun, the agreement with its antecedent, the proper case form, are matters that require careful consideration.
Case Forms
Following am, are, is, was, and other forms of the verb to be, the pronoun must be in the nominative case.
“Are you the person that called?” “Yes; I am him.” The answer should have been, “I am he.”
“I saw a man trespassing on my grounds, and I think you are him.” Say, “You are he.”
“It is only me; don’t be afraid.” “It is only I” is the correct form.
“It was him that struck you, not me.” Change him, to he, and me to I.
“It might have been him that sent you the present.” Use he, not him.
“It is him whom you said it was.” The sentence should be, “It is he who you said it was.”
“That was but a picture of him and not him himself.” Say, “and not he himself.”
After Verbs and Prepositions
When a pronoun depends upon a verb or a preposition the pronoun must be in the objective case.
“Between you and I, that picture is very faulty.” The pronouns you and I depend upon the preposition between. The pronoun I should therefore be in the objective case, and the sentence should be, “Between you and me, that picture is very faulty.”
“The president of the meeting appointed you and I upon the committee.” As both pronouns are objects of the transitive verb appointed, both should be in the objective case. You having the same form in the objective as in the nominative is, therefore, correct, but I should be changed to me.
“The teacher selected he and I to represent the class.” The pronouns are the objects of the verb selected, and should be changed to him and me. The infinitive to represent, like other infinitives, can have no subject, and, therefore, does not control the case of the pronouns.
Interrogatives
When a question is asked, the subject is usually placed after the verb, or between the auxiliary and the verb; as, “Did you go to town?” “Will he sail to-day?” “Has your uncle arrived?” “Hearest thou thy mother’s call?”
The object or attribute of the verb, when a pronoun, is often used to introduce the sentence. “Who should I see coming toward me but my old friend?” Who should be whom, for it is the object, and not the subject, of the verb should see.
“Whom do you think that tall gentleman is?” Whom should be who, as it is the attribute of the verb is.
“Who do you take me for?” Being the object of the preposition for, who should be whom.
After “To be”
“I knew it was him” is incorrect, because the word which forms the pronoun attribute of the verb was must be in the nominative case. But the infinitive of the neuter verb requires the objective case. Therefore we must say, “I knew it to be him,” not “I knew it to be he.” The latter faulty form is very frequently employed.
“Who did you suppose it to be?” Incorrect. Say, “whom.”
“Whom did you suppose it was?” Incorrect. Say, “who.”
The imperative mood requires the objective case after it. “Let you and I try it.” It should be, “Let you and me try it.”
“Let he who made thee answer that.”—Byron. He should have said, “Let him who made thee answer that.”
“Let him be whom, he may.” Him is the objective after the imperative let, and is correct. Whom should be who, as pronoun attribute of the verb may be. “Who he may be, I cannot tell,” is correct. “Who he may be, let him be,” is also correct. By transposing, and by omitting be, we have “Let him be who he may.”
“Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” When, as in this case, the verb is widely separated from its object, we need to give particular care to the case of the pronoun which constitutes the object. They should be them.
Silent Predicate
“Who will go with us to the woods? Me.” The complete answer would be,” Me will go with you to the woods,” the faultiness of which is evident. The answer should be “I.”
After “Than” and “As”
The objective pronoun is often incorrectly used for the nominative after than or as.
“He can swim better than me.” The complete sentence would be, “He can swim better than I can swim.” The omission of the verb can swim affords no reason for changing I to me.
“He is no better than me.” Say, “He is no better than I,” meaning, I am.
“They are common people, such as you and me.” Such people “as you and I are.” The pronoun should be I, not me.
Parenthetical Expressions
When a parenthetical expression comes between a pronoun in the nominative case and its verb, the objective is often incorrectly used instead of the nominative.
“She sang for the benefit of those whom she thought might be interested.” The explanatory parenthesis “she thought” comes between the pronominal subject and its verb might be interested. Omit the explanatory clause and the case of the pronoun becomes clear. “She sang for the benefit of those who might be interested.”
Agreement with Antecedent
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in gender, person, and number. The gender and person usually take care of themselves, but the number of pronouns is a serious obstacle to correct speech.
“One tells the quality of their minds when they try to talk well”—George Eliot, in Middlemarch. The pronouns their and they should be singular.
“Everybody has something to say which they think is worthy of being heard.” Everybody refers to persons singly, and not collectively. They think should be he thinks, he being the proper pronoun to employ when the gender is not indicated.
“Every nation has laws and customs of their own.” The use of the word every necessitates a pronoun in the singular, hence their should be its.
“Every one is accountable for their own acts.” Use his.
“She studied his countenance like an inscription, and deciphered each rapt expression that crossed it, and stored them in her memory.” Change them to it.
“Each of them, in their turn, received the reward to which they were entitled.” This should be “Each of them in his turn received the reward to which he was entitled.”
No and not, like each and every, when they qualify a plural antecedent, or one consisting of two or more nouns, require a pronoun in the singular.
“No policeman, no employee, no citizen dared to lift their hand” Say, his hand.
When the antecedent consists of two or more nouns separated by or, nor, as well as, or any other disjunctive, the pronoun must be singular.
“Neither spelling nor parsing receive the attention they once received.” Verb and pronoun should be singular, receives and it.
Collective Noun
When a noun of multitude or collective noun is the antecedent, the pronoun, like the verb, must be plural or singular according to the sense intended to be conveyed.
Ambiguity
Never leave the antecedent of your pronoun in doubt.
“John tried to see his father in the crowd, but could not, because he was so short.” If the father was short, repeat the noun and omit the pronoun, as “John tried to see his father in the crowd but could not because his father was so short.” If John was short, recast the sentence: “John, being short of stature, tried in vain to see his father in the crowd.”
“He said to his friend that, if he did not feel better soon, he thought he had better go home.” This sentence is susceptible of four interpretations. We shall omit the first part of the sentence in the last three interpretations, as it is the same in all. “He said to his friend: ‘If I do not feel better soon, I think I had better go home.’” “If I do not feel better soon, I think you had better go home.” “If you do not feel better soon, I think I had better go home.” “If you do not feel better soon, I think you had better go home.”
“The lad cannot leave his father; for, if he should leave him, he would die.” To avoid ambiguity substitute his father for the italicised pronouns. The repetition is not pleasant, but it is the lesser of two evils.
Needless Pronouns
Avoid all pronouns and other words that are not essential to the meaning.
“The father he died, the mother she soon followed after, and the children they were all taken down sick.”
“Let every one turn from his or her evil ways.” Unless there is special reason for emphasizing the feminine pronoun, avoid the awkward expression his or her. The pronoun his includes the other.
Mixed Pronouns
Do not use two styles of the pronoun in the same Sentence. “Enter thou into the joy of your Lord.” “Love thyself last, and others will love you.”
It should not be necessary to caution the reader against the use of them for those.
“Fetch me them books.” “Did you see them, fat oxen?” “Them’s good; I’ll take another dish.”
Which, Who
“Those which say so are mistaken.” Who is applied to persons; which, to the lower animals and to inanimate things.
“He has some friends which I know.” Whom, the objective case form of the pronoun who, should here be used.
“The dog, who was called Rover, went mad.” Use which.
What, That
That is applied to persons, animals, and things. What is applied to things. The antecedent of what should not be expressed. What is both antecedent and relative.
“All what he saw he described.” Say, “What he saw,” or “All that he saw,” etc.
Uniform Relatives
When several relative clauses relate to the same antecedent, they should have the same relative pronoun.
“It was Joseph that was sold into Egypt, who became governor of the land, and which saved his father and brothers from famine.” Change that and which to who.
Choice of Relatives
Since who and that are both applied to persons, and which and that are both applied to animals and things, it often becomes a serious question which relative we shall employ. Much has been written upon the subject, but the critics still differ in theory and in practice. The following is probably as simple a statement of the general rule as can be found:
If the relative clause is of such a nature that it could be introduced by and he, and she, and it, and they, etc., the relative who (for persons) and which (for animals or things) should be used in preference to the relative that.
“Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” The language of the Bible and of Shakespeare must stand, although the forms of expression differ greatly from those employed at the present day. According to modern standards, that should be who.
“The earth is enveloped by an ocean of air that is a compound of oxygen and nitrogen!” Change that to which.
The relative that should be used in preference to who or which:
(1) When the antecedent names both persons and things;
(2) When it would prevent ambiguity;
(3) After the words same, very, all;
(4) After the interrogative pronoun who;
(5) After adjectives expressing quality in the highest degree.
“The wisest men who ever lived made mistakes.” Use that. See (5).
“He lived near a stagnant pool which was a nuisance.” Use that. See (2).
“All who knew him loved him.” Say that. See (3).
“Who who saw him did not pity him.” See (4).
“He spake of the men and things which he had seen.” See (1).
“These are my pupils which I have brought to see you.” Use whom, as which is not applied to persons.
“This is the window whose panes were broken by the rude boys.” Use “the panes of which.” Because of its convenience, perhaps, the faulty whose is very largely used; as, “The eagle whose wings,” “The house whose gables,” “The ocean whose waves,” “The vessel whose sails,” “The play whose chief merit,” “Music whose chief attraction,” etc.
Which and who cannot follow and unless there has been a preceding which or who in the same sentence and in the same construction.
“The more important rules, definitions and observations, and which are therefore the most proper to be committed to memory, are printed with a large type.”—Murray’s Grammar. In Moore’s Bad English the sentence is corrected thus: “The rules, definitions, and observations which are the more important, and which are therefore the most proper to be committed to memory, are printed in larger type.”
Adverbs for Relative Pronouns
Adverbs are often employed where a preposition with a relative pronoun would better express the sense.
“There is no method known how his safety may be assured.” Use by which instead of how.
“He wrote me a letter where he repeated his instructions.” “Letter in which he repeated,” etc.
“And curse the country where their fathers dwelt.” “In which their fathers dwelt.”
“This is a case where large interests are involved.” The preposition and relative will better express the meaning; as, “This is a case in which large interests are involved.”
The relative should be so placed as to prevent ambiguity, and as near as possible to its antecedent.
“Mr. Smith needs a surgeon, who has broken his arm.” Say, “Mr. Smith, who has broken,” etc.
“The figs were in small wooden boxes, which we ate.” “The figs which we ate,” etc.
“He needs no boots that cannot walk.” “He that cannot walk,” etc.
Omitted Relatives
The relative pronoun is often omitted when it should be expressed.
“The next falsehood he told was the worst of all.” Say, “The next falsehood that he told,” etc.
“It is little we know of the divine perfections.” Say, “Little that we know.”
“Almost all the irregularities in the construction of any language have arisen from the ellipsis of some words which were originally inserted in the sentence and made it regular.”—Murray’s Grammar. The sentence should end with “and which made it regular.”
The one, the other
When the one and the other refer to things previously mentioned, the one applies to the first mentioned, and the other to the last mentioned.
“Homer was a genius, Virgil an artist: in the one we most admire the man; in the other, the work.”