Troublesome or Confusing Pronouns by Solomon Osuokam Ogbeh

Pronouns are words used to replace nouns in sentences, helping to avoid repetition and making sentences clearer and more fluid. However, some pronouns can be particularly troublesome or confusing due to their forms, uses, and the nuances they introduce into sentences.

1. Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are used to connect clauses and provide additional information about a noun. The most common relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and that. The confusion often arises in choosing the correct relative pronoun for a given sentence.

• Who and whom are used to refer to people.
• Who is used as a subject.
• Example: "Ngozi is the student who won the award."
• Whom is used as an object.
• Example: "The teacher whom we met yesterday was very kind."
• Whose indicates possession.
• Example: "Chuka, whose father is a lawyer, wants to be a doctor."
• Which is used for animals and objects.
• Example: "The book which she borrowed is on the table."
• That can refer to people, animals, or things, often used in restrictive clauses.
• Example: "The house that they bought is near the school."

Common Confusions:

• Who vs. whom: In informal speech, whom is often replaced with who, leading to confusion. Remember, use whom when referring to the object of a verb or preposition.
• Which vs. that: Use which for non-essential clauses and that for essential clauses.

 

2. Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to non-specific persons or things and include words such as everyone, someone, anyone, nobody, each, and few. They can be tricky because they often imply singular or plural forms but do not always follow straightforward rules.

• Everyone, someone, anyone, nobody are singular and require singular verbs.
• Example: "Everyone is expected to attend the meeting."
• Each is singular and is used with a singular verb.
• Example: "Each student has completed their assignment."
• Few, several, and many are plural and require plural verbs.
• Example: "Few students attended the workshop."

Common Confusions:

• Everyone vs. everybody: Both are singular, but everyone is more formal.
• None can be singular or plural, depending on the context.
• Example: "None of the team is available" (singular, when referring to the team as a unit) vs. "None of the team members are available" (plural, when referring to individuals).

 

3. Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used to point to specific things or people and include this, that, these, and those.

• This and these refer to objects close to the speaker.
• Example: "This book is interesting." / "These books are interesting."
• That and those refer to objects further from the speaker.
• Example: "That car is fast." / "Those cars are fast."

Common Confusions:

• This vs. that: This is used for something near in time or space, while that is for something more distant.
• These vs. those: These refers to things close to the speaker, while those refers to things further away.

 

4. Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns indicate ownership and include my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. They often cause confusion in distinguishing between possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives.

• Possessive Pronouns replace nouns and stand alone.
• Example: "The book is mine."
• Possessive Adjectives modify nouns and are used before a noun.
• Example: "That is my book."

Common Confusions:

• Its vs. it’s: Its is a possessive pronoun, while it’s is a contraction for it is or it has.
• Example: "The dog wagged its tail." vs. "It’s been raining all day."
• Their vs. there: Their is a possessive pronoun, while there indicates a place.
• Example: "Their house is on the hill." vs. "There is a house on the hill."

 

5. Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the object of the verb are the same. They include myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.

• Reflexive Pronouns are used for emphasis or to indicate that the subject is performing an action on itself.
• Example: "I taught myself to play the guitar."

Common Confusions:

• Myself is often incorrectly used in place of I or me.
• Example: "John and I went to the market." (not "John and myself went to the market.")
• Each other vs. one another: Each other is typically used for two people, while one another is used for more than two.
• Example: "Mary and Jane looked at each other." / "The team members congratulated one another."

 

Practice Exercises

1. Choose the correct relative pronoun for the following sentences:
• "The student ___ won the competition is from Lagos."
• "The book ___ you lent me was fascinating."
2. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate indefinite pronouns:
• "___ of the guests were late to the party."
• "Is there ___ who can help me with this problem?"
3. Select the correct demonstrative pronoun for each sentence:
• "___ is the dress I bought last week."
• "I can’t believe how expensive ___ shoes are."
4. Circle the correct possessive pronoun:
• "Is this (your / yours) pen?"
• "The cat played with (its / it’s) toy."
5. Complete the sentences with reflexive pronouns:
• "She enjoyed the concert by ___ (herself / herself)."
• "We need to finish this project by ___ (ourselves / ourself)."

Understanding and correctly using these troublesome pronouns will enhance your writing and speaking skills, making your communication more precise and effective.