Style and Usage

Certain pronouns called possessive pronouns show ownership. Some are used alone; some describe a noun. Used alone: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs, whose Correct: That computer is hers. Modify noun: my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose Correct: That is her computer. Please note that none of the possessive pronouns are spelled with

It is usually pretty easy to match the verb with the subject in English. Only in the present tense does the verb have more than one form. And except for one verb, only the third person singular is different. Besides, the third person singular present tense always ends in an s. We understand this most

Indefinite pronouns are words which replace nouns without specifying which noun they replace. Singular: another, anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, little, much, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, other, somebody, someone, something Plural: both, few, many, others, several Singular or Plural: all, any, more, most, none, some Singular indefinite pronouns take singular

Words ending in -self or -selves are called reflexive or intensive pronouns. They should always refer to another word that has already been named. In grammatical terms, they need an antecedent. Incorrect: The president named myself to the committee. (Myself is not previously named) Correct: The president named me to the committee. Correct: I did

The antecedent of a pronoun is the word the pronoun refers to. There are several style problems which writers and speakers sometimes have when they do not match the pronoun and the noun it replaces correctly. Missing or Mismatched Antecedent A pronoun, unless it is an indefinite pronoun, must have an antecedent, a word it