In a series of sharing sentence correction techniques, today I am sharing how you can use Pronouns to find errors. Also read - How to use Adverbs to find grammatical errors
First Person: I and We
Second Person: You
Third person: He, she,it,they or any name (Ram)
For example:
Sita pinched herself. (The reflexive pronoun herself tells us that John did something to John.)
Sita pinched her brother. (There are no reflexive pronouns in this case)
Relative Pronouns are That, Which, Who, Whom, Whose. We use it to give the description of a noun. Relative pronouns are used after the Noun to:
Identify it:
Example:
The man who invented Telephone was an American.
The Noun is ‘the man’. The relative pronoun is ‘who’. The Adjective Clause identifying the man.
Gives more detailed about it:
Example:
I drove my car, which now had two flat tyres, back home.
The Noun is ‘my car’. The Adjective clause tells us some information about it.
Relative Pronouns (FOR PEOPLE AND THINGS)
Example:
Each got a certificate for their participation.
Please note that the plural forms of ‘This’ and ‘That’ are ‘These’ and ‘Those’ respectively.
Example:
This is my house.
That is the pencil, which belongs to you.
Example:
I, myself cooked the food for my dad.
1. (a) When the mother saw /(b) the child in /(c) the courtyard /(d) he was laughing.
Ans.
(d) ‘it’ will be used. Here ‘he’ is a pronoun but the child’s sex cannot be determined so, it is wise to use it.
2. (a) The committee elected/ (b) the president (c) of workers without/ (d) having his lunch.
Ans.
(d) ‘Their’ will be used because committee is a plural noun and it will take a plural pronoun.
3. (a) Either the soldiers/ (b) or the gate-keepers over/ (c) there failed in/ (d) his primary duty.
Ans.
‘Their’ will be used. When plural Noun and singular Noun are joined by ‘or’ or ‘nor’, the pronoun must be according to the second subject.
4. (a) The College/ (b) which is the largest/(c) college in terms/ (d) of area in Maharashtra.
Ans.
‘Which’ is unnecessary used.
5 (a) None of the/ (b) participants has/ (c) filled-up their/ (d) details properly.
Ans.
‘his’ will be used. If the structure is------ Noun1 + Preposition + Noun2, then the pronoun will be according to the first Noun.
6 (a) All of/ (b) the girls here/ (c) practiced their/ (d) dance.
Ans.
(e) No error.
7. (a) I have practiced so much / (b) for the singing competition that there/ (c) is no question of / (d) mine coming second.
Ans.
(d) ‘My’ will be used. Pronoun coming before V-ing remains in the possessive form
8. (a) It is her/ (b) who should be/ (c) terminated for/ this machinery failure.
Ans.
(a) ‘She’ will be used. After “is, are, was, were, be, been, such, as, but, except”, Nominative case of the pronoun is used, i.e. I, we, you, he, she, it,
they.
9 (a) Sita dressed/(b) her in absolutely/(c) in informal wear/ (d) on her wedding.
Ans.
(b)‘herself’ because Sita has dressed Sita.
10. (a) Either Seema or Reema/(b) forgot to/ (c) take their/ (d) purse.
Ans.
(c) ‘her’ will be used. When two or more singular nouns are joined by ‘or’, either-----or, neither----nor, the pronoun is generally singular.
Personal Pronouns
The pronouns that denote the persona and the things are called personal pronouns. There are three kinds of personal pronouns.First Person: I and We
Second Person: You
Third person: He, she,it,they or any name (Ram)
Reflexive Pronouns
The reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. A reflexive pronoun is used with another noun (or pronoun) when something does something to itself.For example:
Sita pinched herself. (The reflexive pronoun herself tells us that John did something to John.)
Sita pinched her brother. (There are no reflexive pronouns in this case)
Relative Pronouns
Relative Pronouns are That, Which, Who, Whom, Whose. We use it to give the description of a noun. Relative pronouns are used after the Noun to:
Identify it:
Example:
The man who invented Telephone was an American.
The Noun is ‘the man’. The relative pronoun is ‘who’. The Adjective Clause identifying the man.
Gives more detailed about it:
Example:
I drove my car, which now had two flat tyres, back home.
The Noun is ‘my car’. The Adjective clause tells us some information about it.
Relative Pronouns (FOR PEOPLE AND THINGS)
- WHO and WHOM refer to people.
- WHICH refers to things?
- THAT and WHOSE refers to people or things.
DISTRIBUTIVE PRONOUNS:
are used for persons (individuals) or things one at a time. (Either,Neither, Each, Every). They are always singular verb.Example:
Each got a certificate for their participation.
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
: All that can be demonstrated by your hand, ‘this’ is used near to your hand; ‘that’ is used for the farther.Please note that the plural forms of ‘This’ and ‘That’ are ‘These’ and ‘Those’ respectively.
Example:
This is my house.
That is the pencil, which belongs to you.
EMPHATIC PRONOUNS
When the personal pronouns are given stress/emphasis. Emphatic pronouns are used.Example:
I, myself cooked the food for my dad.
LET’S SPOT THE ERROR IN THESE SENTENCES USING PRONOUNS
Ans.
(d) ‘it’ will be used. Here ‘he’ is a pronoun but the child’s sex cannot be determined so, it is wise to use it.
2. (a) The committee elected/ (b) the president (c) of workers without/ (d) having his lunch.
Ans.
(d) ‘Their’ will be used because committee is a plural noun and it will take a plural pronoun.
3. (a) Either the soldiers/ (b) or the gate-keepers over/ (c) there failed in/ (d) his primary duty.
Ans.
‘Their’ will be used. When plural Noun and singular Noun are joined by ‘or’ or ‘nor’, the pronoun must be according to the second subject.
4. (a) The College/ (b) which is the largest/(c) college in terms/ (d) of area in Maharashtra.
Ans.
‘Which’ is unnecessary used.
5 (a) None of the/ (b) participants has/ (c) filled-up their/ (d) details properly.
Ans.
‘his’ will be used. If the structure is------ Noun1 + Preposition + Noun2, then the pronoun will be according to the first Noun.
6 (a) All of/ (b) the girls here/ (c) practiced their/ (d) dance.
Ans.
(e) No error.
7. (a) I have practiced so much / (b) for the singing competition that there/ (c) is no question of / (d) mine coming second.
Ans.
(d) ‘My’ will be used. Pronoun coming before V-ing remains in the possessive form
8. (a) It is her/ (b) who should be/ (c) terminated for/ this machinery failure.
Ans.
(a) ‘She’ will be used. After “is, are, was, were, be, been, such, as, but, except”, Nominative case of the pronoun is used, i.e. I, we, you, he, she, it,
they.
9 (a) Sita dressed/(b) her in absolutely/(c) in informal wear/ (d) on her wedding.
Ans.
(b)‘herself’ because Sita has dressed Sita.
10. (a) Either Seema or Reema/(b) forgot to/ (c) take their/ (d) purse.
Ans.
(c) ‘her’ will be used. When two or more singular nouns are joined by ‘or’, either-----or, neither----nor, the pronoun is generally singular.
