Basic English Grammar Workbook For Dummies (+ Chapter Quizzes Online) E-Book

Geraldine Woods

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 471

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Simple explanations and plenty of grammar practice—for native speakers and learners alike

Basic English Grammar Workbook For Dummies is full of examples and practice questions that make it easy to master English grammar. You can learn the rules—and exceptions to those rules—with hands-on exercises and clear explanations of the answers.

With the help of this easy-to-understand guide, you'll be an expert at pronouns, word order, passive voice, verb tenses, and punctuation. By the end, you'll be speaking clearly, writing correctly, and impressing bosses, teachers, and even the pickiest grammarian.

• Work your way through the most important topics in English grammar, with hands-on exercises, answers, and explanations
• Practice using formal and informal English, choosing the correct expressions for any situation
• Learn about pronouns and inclusive language, including the changing rules about “they” and “them”
• Access free online chapter quizzes for even more practice, so you can solidify what you've learned

If you're studying English grammar in school or on your own—or if you're looking for resources to teach grammar—this is the Dummies guide for you.

Leseprobe

Basic English Grammar Workbook For Dummies®

To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Basic English Grammar Workbook For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Beyond the Book

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part 1: Mastering the Basics

Chapter 1: Tailoring Language to Suit Your Audience and Purpose

Climbing the Ladder of Language Formality

Matching Message to Situation

Answers to “Tailoring Language to Suit Your Audience and Purpose” Questions

Chapter 2: Noticing Nouns and Perfecting Pronouns

Getting to Know Nouns

Pinning Down Pronouns

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Noun and Pronoun Questions

Answers to Noun and Pronoun Questions

Chapter 3: Getting Acquainted with Verbs

Treasure Hunt: Finding the Verb

Using Past, Present, and Future Tense at the Right Times

Getting a Handle on Common Irregular Forms

Recognizing and Using Helping Verbs

Answers to Questions about Verbs

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Chapter 4: Writing Good or Well: Adjectives and Adverbs

Identifying Adjectives and Adverbs

The Right Place at the Right Time: Placing Adjectives and Adverbs

How’s It Going? Choosing Between Good/Well and Bad/Badly

Mastering the Art of Articles

For Better or Worse: Forming Comparisons

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Adjectives and Adverbs

Answers to Adjective and Adverb Questions

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Chapter 5: Packing Plenty of Power: Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections

Pinning Down Prepositions

Connecting with Conjunctions

Interjections Are Simple!

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections

Answers to Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections Questions

Answers to the “Overachievers” section

Part 2: Creating Correct Sentences

Chapter 6: Digging Deeper into Verb Tense

Working with “ing” Verbs

Putting Perfect Tenses in the Spotlight

Getting the Part(iciple): Irregular Forms

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Progressive and Perfect Tenses

Answers to Verb Tense Questions

Answers to Overachiever Verb-Tense Questions

Chapter 7: Tackling Subjects, Objects, and Complements

Zeroing in on the Subject

Meeting Their Match: Pairing Subjects and Verbs

Adding Meaning: Objects and Complements

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Subjects, Objects, and Complements

Answers to Subject, Object, and Complement Questions

Answers to Overachiever Questions

Chapter 8: Having It All: Writing Complete Sentences

Examining the Essentials

Making a Match between Subjects and Verbs

Checking for Complete Thoughts

Setting the Tone with End Marks

Proper Sentence or Not? That Is the Question

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Complete Sentences

Answers to Complete Sentences Questions

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Part 3: Perfecting Punctuation and Capitalization

Chapter 9: Catching Up on Apostrophes, Hyphens, and Dashes

Snagging Meaning with Apostrophes

Lining Up Hyphens and Dashes

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Apostrophes, Hyphens, and Dashes

Answers to Apostrophe, Hyphen, and Dash Questions

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Chapter 10: Pausing to Consider the Comma

Keeping Lists in Order with Commas

Placing Commas in Combined Sentences

Punctuating Descriptions

Inserting Extras with Commas: Introductions and Interruptions

Directly Addressing the Listener or Reader

Punctuating Dates

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Commas

Answers to Comma Questions

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Chapter 11: “Can I Quote You on That?” Quotation Marks

Quoting and Paraphrasing: What’s the Difference?

Giving Voice to Direct Quotations

Punctuating Titles

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Quotation Marks

Answers to Quotation Problems

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Chapter 12: Hitting the Big Time: Capital Letters

Setting up Sentences and Naming Names

Awarding Titles

Capitalizing Titles of Literary and Media Works

Managing Capital Letters in Abbreviations

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Capital Letters

Answers to Capitalization Problems

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Part 4: Grammar in Action

Chapter 13: Texting, Emailing, and Posting

Perfecting Your Texts

Brushing Up on Email Etiquette

Posting Without Stamps

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Texts, Emails, and Posts

Answers to Texting, Emailing, and Posting Questions

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Chapter 14: Stacking Ideas: Numbered Steps and Bulleted Lists

Introducing the Ingredients of Steps and Bulleted Lists

Putting It All Together in Presentation Slides

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Presentation Slides

Answers to Numbered Steps and Bulleted List Questions

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Chapter 15: Writing at School and at Work

Writing on the A-Plus level

Writing in the Working World

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with School and Work Writing

Answers to School and Work Questions

Answers to Overachiever School and Work Writing Questions

Part 5: Getting the Details Right

Chapter 16: Taming Tricky Words

Telling Word-Twins Apart

Distinguishing Between Commonly Confused Words

Selecting One Word or Two

Banning Bogus Expressions

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Tricky Words

Answers to Tricky Word Questions

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Chapter 17: Avoiding Common Mistakes

Putting Descriptive Words in Their Proper Place

Keeping Everything in Order: Parallel Sentences

Making Sure Your Pronouns Are Clear

Dropping Double Negatives

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Common Mistakes

Answers

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Chapter 18: Sharpening Your Verb Skills

Voicing an Opinion: Active and Passive Verbs

In the Mood: Selecting the Right Verb for All Sorts of Sentences

Speaking Verbally

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Verbs

Answers to Verb Questions

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Chapter 19: Mastering Picky Pronouns and Avoiding Confusing Comparisons

Matching Pronouns to “ing” Nouns

To “Who” or To “Whom”? That Is the Question

Writing Logical Comparisons

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Pronoun and Comparison Questions

Answers to Pronoun and Comparison Questions

Answers to Overachievers Questions about Pronouns and Comparison

Chapter 20: Putting the Right Letters in the Right Place: Spelling

Obeying the Rules

Mastering Spelling Demons

Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Spelling

Practice Questions and Answers

Answers to “Overachievers Questions”

Index

About the Author

Connect with Dummies

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 3

Table 3-1 Verb Forms for the Irregular Verbs

To Be

and

To Have

Chapter 4

Table 4-1 Forms of Irregular Comparisons

Chapter 9

Table 9-1 Frequently Used Contractions

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Begin Reading

Index

About the Author

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Basic English Grammar Workbook For Dummies®

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2025933230

ISBN 978-1-394-33099-7 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-394-33102-4 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-394-33101-7 (ebk)

Introduction

John leaves a note for his dad:

I had to write a report for school. I sat at your desk because your chair is more comfortable than mine. I typed the report on your computer. Everything was fine for the first ten minutes. Then it broke! I’m sorry.

What does John’s dad think?

Where’s my toolbox? I can fix that chair.

or

That desk is an antique. Only an expert can repair it.

or

I hate when my computer breaks.

Here’s what I think: John needs to sharpen his grammar skills. Surprised? Many people believe that grammar is a set of meaningless rules. In fact, grammar is the structure of language. It comes from traditions, from the way people speak and write. If you obey commonly accepted grammar rules, more people will understand your message. By the way, I don’t know what broke — the chair, the desk, or the computer. I do know that the pronoun it is unclear. That’s the grammar rule that John broke. Basic English Grammar Workbook For Dummies can help John. It can help you, too, whether you have spoken English all your life or you’re learning the language now.

About This Book

In Basic English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, I focus on the information you need to improve your grasp of Standard English. That’s the version of the language that educated people use when they’re in formal situations. I explain the rules of Standard English, but I also tell you when you can bend or break them in casual situations.

For the most part, I stay away from technical vocabulary. You can speak and write perfectly well without labeling everything in a sentence! I provide grammar terms only when you need them to understand a rule. Don’t worry: I define every grammar term I use and give examples.

Each topic begins with a short explanation of the rules. Then, a set of questions prompts you to apply the rules. The final section of each chapter is “Calling All Overachievers.” Its questions cover all the rules in the chapter. Once you’ve answered the questions, you can check your work. The answer key at the end of the chapter tells you what’s correct and explains why it’s correct. For even more practice, take an online quiz. (See “Beyond the Book” later in this introduction for details on how to access online material.)

Basic English Grammar Workbook For Dummies is divided into five parts:

Part 1

explains how to tailor your writing style to fit your audience and purpose. This part also introduces you to the building blocks of language — the parts of speech — and explains what you need to know in order to use them correctly.

Part 2

explores three important elements of a sentence: verbs, subjects, and complements. In this part, you also practice recognizing and writing complete sentences.

Part 3

covers capitalization and punctuation (periods, commas, question marks, and so forth).

Part 4

connects grammar to modern life. You apply your grammar knowledge to texts, emails, online posts, presentation slides, and bulleted lists. One chapter takes grammar to work and to school, with questions about reports, memos, letters, and other such tasks.

Part 5

covers common mistakes so you can avoid making them. Questions direct your attention to words that sound alike but have different meanings, nonstandard expressions, confusing comparisons and descriptions, spelling, and more.

A NOTE ABOUT PRONOUNS

A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun or another pronoun. Because of pronouns, you can write “George said that he forgot his phone” instead of “George said that George forgot George’s phone.” The pronouns he and his make the sentence flow more smoothly.

A pronoun should match the word it refers to. A singular pronoun (referring to one) pairs with a singular noun or another singular pronoun. A plural pronoun (referring to more than one) pairs with a plural noun or another plural pronoun. Gender matters, too. Some pronouns are masculine (he, him, his), some are feminine (she, her, hers), and others are neuter (it and they when referring to objects, ideas, or places). The rules for these pronouns have stayed the same. So have the rules for pronouns referring to a group of people (they, them, their, theirs).

The rules have changed, though, when a pronoun refers to a person whose gender is unknown or not accurately described as “male” or “female.” For these situations, many grammarians (including me) select they, them, their, and theirs. Each of these pronouns may be either singular or plural, depending on the word it refers to. Take a look at some examples:

The children ate their lunches. (The plural pronoun their pairs with the plural noun children.)If anyone forgot their lunch, the teacher will give them something to eat. (The singular pronouns their and them refer to the singular pronoun anyone.)Alix arrived late because they were stuck in traffic. (The singular pronoun they pairs with the singular noun Alix, the pronoun Alix prefers.)

The first two examples may look familiar to you. From the 14th century onward, they, them, and their have been used to refer to one person or a group, just as the pronoun you does. In the 18th century, though, a few grammarians decided that the pronouns they, them, their, and theirs were correct only for references to a group. According to these grammarians, the forms he, him, and his and she, her, and hers were the only appropriate references to one person. If the gender was unknown, he, him, and his were said to be the proper choice. You can imagine how popular this decision was with supporters of women’s equality! In the late 20th century, many writers used pairs — he or she, him or her, and his or her — for singular references. That practice often resulted in awkward sentences like “Everyone must bring his or her gym suit with him or her.” Paired pronouns also ignore people whose identity isn’t described by a male or female label, such as the situation in the third example about Alix. The singular they/them/their/theirs solves these problems.

It may take a while to get used to they as a singular word. If you’re expecting one dinner guest and hear “they're on the way," you may rush to cook more food before you remember that they is your guest's preferred pronoun. You may also find yourself writing for an authority figure who insists you use they, them, their, and theirs as plurals only. In that situation, you can reword the sentence to avoid using pronouns. You can find more examples and information about pronouns in Chapter 2.

Conventions Used in This Book

As you work your way through this book, I want your mind focused on grammar. I don’t want you to spend time wondering why some words are in bold, some are in italics, and some are underlined. Here’s the key:

Bold

calls your attention to the main idea of each item on a list.

Underlining

identifies the portion of a sentence I’m discussing.

Italics

signal a new term or a word I’m discussing. For example, I might tell you to examine

signal,

the second word in this bullet point.

Foolish Assumptions

I have never met you, but I have spent quite a bit of time with you — the reader, I imagine. When I write, you sit on the corner of my desk, asking questions and keeping me on track. This is how I see you:

You know the English language, but you’re open to learning more.

You want to sharpen your grammar skills.

You have a busy life.

The last idea on the list is the most important. I don’t want this book to sit on the shelf or in the cloud. I want you to use it! You’re more likely to do so if the explanations are clear, simple, and short. If you want more detailed explanations and additional examples, pick up a copy of the companion book, Basic English Grammar For Dummies, 2nd Edition.

Beyond the Book

As they say in late-night television commercials, “Wait! There’s more!” Look online at www.dummies.com to find a cheat sheet for Basic English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, where you can zero in quickly on crucial information. Competitive? You can also test yourself with online quizzes oriented to a single chapter or to a heftier amount of information. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Basic English Grammar Workbook For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.

You also get access to online practice tests. To gain access to the online practice, all you have to do is register. Just follow these simple steps:

Go to

www.dummies.com/go/getaccess

.

Create a new account or log in to an existing account.

If you create a new account, you’ll receive an email confirmation. Click through to finish creating a new account.

Note: If you do not receive a confirmation email after creating your account, please check your spam folder before contacting us through our Technical Support website at http://support.wiley.com or by phone at 877-762-2974.

After you’ve logged into your new or existing account, select “Dummies” under the “Select the brand for your product” header.

Select your title from the drop-down list. Choose “[need product name here].”

Answer a validation question about the product, and then click “Redeem.”

You must choose the correct title and edition from the drop-down list. Select the option that says “Basic English Grammar Workbook For Dummies.”

Now you’re ready to go! You can come back to the practice material as often as you want — simply log on with the username and password you created during your initial login.

Your registration is good for one year from the day you redeem your product.

Icons Used in This Book

Icons are little drawings that alert you to key points, pitfalls, and question sets. Here’s what they mean:

I live in New York City, and I often see tourists wandering around. They need someone who lives here to help them find their way. The Tip icon is like a helpful New Yorker, giving you inside information.

When you’re walking through a minefield, it’s nice to have a map. The Warning icon tells you where the traps are so you can avoid them.

This icon notifies you that it’s time to get to work. It appears at the beginning of each set of exercises.

Where to Go from Here

To the refrigerator for a snack. Nope, I’m just joking! If you know which grammar issues confuse you, turn to those chapters first. If you aren’t sure what you need, browse through the Table of Contents. Select a chapter that interests you. Sample a couple of questions from the “Calling All Overachievers” section or from the chapter’s online quiz because they cover everything in the chapter. Next, check your answers. If all your answers are correct, give yourself a gold star and skip that chapter. If anything puzzles you, read the explanations and examples. Then, work through the rest of the questions in the chapter. Repeat the process with another chapter, and keep going. You’re on the road to grammar mastery!

Part 1

Mastering the Basics

IN THIS PART …

Tailoring language to suit your audience and purpose

Noticing nouns and perfecting pronouns

Getting acquainted with verbs

Adding information with adjectives and adverbs

Packing plenty of power: prepositions, conjunction, and interjections

Chapter 2

Noticing Nouns and Perfecting Pronouns

IN THIS CHAPTER

Recognizing nouns and forming their plurals

Attaching this, that, these, those to nouns

Identifying pronouns and the words they refer to

Choosing the correct pronoun

Wave a magic wand. Make all people, places, things, ideas, and emotions disappear. What’s left? Not much. That’s how important nouns are. This part of speech names all the things your magic wand wiped out. Pronouns are an important part of speech, too. They refer to or replace nouns. Pronouns can also refer to other pronouns. Without pronouns, you’d have to write “Geraldine is writing Geraldine’s book, with help from a friend of Geraldine’s” instead of “She is writing her book, with help from a friend of hers.” In this chapter, you identify nouns and pronouns and practice using them correctly.

Getting to Know Nouns

Everything needs a name. Sometimes, it’s specific: Geraldine Woods, Chicago, Walmart. Sometimes it’s general: woman, city, store. Both types of names are nouns. Nouns also name feelings (love, anger) and ideas (loyalty, democracy).

Did you notice that specific names are capitalized and general terms aren’t? For more on capitalization, turn to Chapter 12.

Identifying nouns

I admit it: You can speak and write perfectly well without knowing which of your words are nouns. That extra knowledge is interesting, I believe. If you disagree, skip this section. If not, try your hand at identifying nouns.

Identify the nouns in each sentence.

 Q. Grandpa bought a house in the most expensive area of Brooklyn.

A. Grandpa, house, area, Brooklyn. The names of people (Grandpa), places (area, Brooklyn), and things (house) are nouns.

1 My grandfather is a retired attorney who practiced law for more than forty years.

2 Grandma teaches chemistry and physics to juniors and seniors at Cole College.

3 Her students call her “Granny Science.”

4 Chemistry is a tough course, but good teaching makes the subject easier.

5 Three times a week, my grandfather volunteers at the community center.

6 Many people come to the center for free legal advice.

7 The clients express gratitude.

8 Sometimes, Grandma calls her husband “Grandaddy Law.”

9 The grandchildren like that nickname.

10 On Thanksgiving, the law books and lab equipment that usually sit on their kitchen table will be stacked on the floor.

Forming plurals

When small children ask Santa for a present (a singular noun), chances are they really hope for presents (a plural noun). Here’s some guidance on how to form a regular plural noun: Add the letter s to the end of the word unless the noun ends with sh, ch, ss, or x. (bank → banks, arrow → arrows, shoe → shoes)

If the singular noun ends with

sh

,

ch

,

ss

, or

x

, add

es

to the end of the word. (

wish → wishes, watch → watches, loss → losses, tax → taxes

)

When a noun ends with

o

, you usually add the letter

s

if the letter before the

o

is

a

,

e

,

i

,

o

, or

u

. (

radio → radios, tornado → tornados

) You generally add es if the letter before the

o

is not

a

,

e

,

i

,

o

, or

u

. (

tomato → tomatoes, hero → heroes

) However, some words ending with the letter o don’t follow these rules. (

halo → halos, zero → zeros

)

When a noun ends with

y

, add s if the letter before the

y

is

a

,

e

,

o

, or

u

. (

bay → bays, key → keys, boy → boys, guy → guys

)

When a noun ends with

y

, and the second-to-last letter isn’t

a

,

e

,

o

, or

u

, change the

y

to

i

and add

es

. (

story → stories, party → parties, baby → babies

)

When a noun ends with

f

or

fe

, you generally change the

f

to

v

and add

es

. (

life → lives, half → halves

). However, many words don’t follow this rule (

roof → roofs

)

Some irregular plurals don’t add

s

. (

child → children, man → men, goose → geese, deer → deer

)

If you’re unsure how to form the plural, check the dictionary.

Write the plural form of each noun.

Q. bowl ______

A. bowls. The singular noun does not end with sh, ch, ss, or x. Therefore, you add only the letter s to form the plural.

11 dash _____

12 donkey _____

13 potato _____

14 hex _____

15 fuss _____

16 sauce _____

17 calf _____

18 church _____

19 floor _____

20 moose _____

21 runway _____

22 copy _____

23 suitcase ______

24 espresso ______

25 switch _____

26 tattoo ______

27 kitten _____

28 jury _____

29 woman _____

30 foot _____

Attaching “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those” to nouns

Which grammar rule: This rule or that one? Which annoying questions: These questions or those? The underlined words point to nouns. They’re descriptions, and they’re helpful when, for example, you’re pointing to the dessert you want. The rule for using these words is simple: this and that attach to singular nouns (a word naming one person, place, or thing), and these and those attach to plural nouns (a word naming more than one person, place, or thing). So, you live with this cat or that cat, but if you really love animals, you probably live with these cats or those cats.

Mark each phrase as correct or incorrect.

 Q. this dictionaries

A. Incorrect.Dictionaries is a plural word, so you cannot attach this or that to it.

31 that flower _____

32 those doorknob _____

33 these cloud _____

34 this statue _____

35 these answers _____

Pinning Down Pronouns

Pronouns take the place of nouns. (See the preceding section, “Getting to Know Nouns,” for more information.) Besides pinch-hitting for nouns, pronouns can replace other pronouns. Pronouns must match the word they replace in three ways:

Number:

This is the term English teachers use for singular (one) or plural (more than one). In the world of grammar, singular pronouns must pair with singular nouns, and plural pronouns with plural nouns. When nouns and pronouns pair up correctly, English teachers say they’re in agreement.

Gender:

Some pronouns represent females, some represent males, and some are gender-neutral. A few pronouns —

it

, for example — refer to things.

Case:

Pronouns may change form depending on their role in the sentence. For instance, the pronouns

I

and

me

always refer to the speaker, but

I

works as a subject and

me

as an object. (For more on subjects and objects, see

Chapter 7

.)

My

, another pronoun referring to the speaker, is possessive because it shows ownership.

Language mirrors people’s experiences and understanding of the world. Because people never stop changing, language doesn’t either. Recently, the pronoun they has attracted attention and sometimes arguments. Turn to “A Note about Pronouns” in the Introduction for more information.

Before you work on number, case, and gender, you should learn to recognize the most common pronouns:

I

,

me

,

my

,

myself

, and

mine

are pronouns representing the person who is speaking or writing. The plural pronouns

we

,

us

,

our

,

ourselves

, and

ours

represent the group that is speaking or writing.

You

,

your

,

yours

,

yourself

, and

yourselves

are pronouns representing the audience — whoever is listening to or reading the sentence.

You

,

your

, and

yours

may be either singular or plural.

Yourself

is singular, and

yourselves

is plural.

Many pronouns represent whoever or whatever is being talked about. The most common singular pronouns in this category are

he

,

him

,

his

,

himself

,

she

,

her

,

hers

,

herself

,

it

,

its

, and

itself

. The pronouns

they

,

them

,

their

, and

theirs

may be either singular or plural. Themselves refers to a group or to one person without specifying gender. (Some people choose

themself

as a nongendered, singular pronoun.) Another common plural pronoun is

both

.

Some pronouns represent a group:

everyone

,

everybody

,

everything

,

someone

,

somebody

,

something

,

anyone

,

anybody

,

anything

,

no one

,

nobody

, and

nothing

. The

every-

pronouns take the place of the names of all the people or things in the group. The

any-

and

some-

pronouns represent one person or thing in the group without specifying which one. The

no-

pronouns rule out every member of the group.

In Standard English, the self pronouns have only two jobs. They can emphasize (I myself will take charge of the cooking), and they can show action that doubles back. (The cat washed himself.) Don’t use a self pronoun in any other way:

NONSTANDARD: Diego and myself will introduce the guests.

STANDARD: Diego and I will introduce the guests.

Identify the pronouns. If the word the pronoun represents appears in the sentence, identify it.

 Q. Maria asked herself whether she should look for a new job.

A. herself, she → Maria. Both pronouns refer to the noun Maria.

36 Her supervisor was the meanest man on the planet, and she didn’t like him.

37 Actually, Maria didn’t like anyone!

38 Once he told her to complete a project only ten minutes after he gave it to her.

39 The project had seventeen parts, yet Maria had experience with only two of them.

40 She knew nothing about marketing, for example.

41 The supervisor himself was an expert in marketing.

42 “You should take care of the job yourself,” he told her when she asked for help.

43 “The first two parts are mine,” declared Maria, “but the other fifteen are for somebody else.”

44 Everyone thinks Maria will be fired.

45 Maria herself told us that she was quitting.

46 “My aunts will help me out while I look for work,” Maria said.

47 They retired when they bought a winning lottery ticket.

48 “Don’t worry about us,” they told Maria. “We have enough money to support ourselves and you.”

Coming to an agreement with pronouns

To make a good match, as every online dating service knows, you have to pair like with like. That’s true for grammar, too. Singular pairs with singular and plural with plural. No mixing allowed! Here’s how to sort singular and plural pronouns:

Singular:

I, me, my, mine, myself, yourself, he, him, his, him, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, themself, everyone, everybody, everything, someone, somebody, something, anyone, anybody, anything, no one, nobody, nothing

Plural:

we, us, yourselves, both

Singular and plural:

you, your, yours, they, them, their, theirs, themselves

I listed themself as an acceptable singular pronoun, but not everyone agrees with me. Themself was used from the 16th to the 19th centuries to refer to one person without specifying gender. Themselves was the pronoun used to refer to a group, again without specifying gender. Then, some grammarians rejected themself. In recent years, themself has gained popularity. What should you do? You can use themselves for both singular and plural, nongendered situations, or you can use themself as a singular pronoun and themselves as a plural pronoun. (Or, if you’re unsure, you can rewrite the sentence so that you don’t need a pronoun at all!)

You can sort pronouns by gender, too:

Feminine (for females)

:

she, her, hers, herself

Masculine (for males):

he, him, his, himself

Gender-neutral:

I, me, my, myself, we, us, our, ourselves, you, your, yours, it, its, itself, they, them, their, theirs, themself, themselves, everyone, everybody, everything, someone, somebody, something, anyone, anybody, anything, no one, nobody, nothing, both

In the blank, write a pronoun that may replace each underlined noun or phrase. Here’s a list of characters and how they identify themselves:

Helen, female

Georgie, gender neutral (neither male nor female)

Tomas, male

 Q.All the people stayed overnight. _____

A. everyone, everybody. Both pronouns include the entire group without naming them. Did you choose they? Count yourself correct because that pronoun may also refer to a group.

49 My name is Georgie, and Georgie just won the lottery.

50 “Georgie, that’s fantastic! Tomas and I can give Georgie investment advice,” screamed Helen, the money manager of a large company.

51 “For sure,” Tomas said, nodding Tomas’s head.

52Not one person in the room was calm.

53 “You can invest in government bonds because government bonds are safe,” Helen remarked.

54 “So much money! You can put the money under your mattress,” Tomas joked, laughing at Tomas’s own joke.

55 “The money will be too bumpy to sleep on,” Helen whispered to Helen.

56Tomas and Georgie heard what Helen said.

57 “Give Tomas and Helen some money, and the bed will be smoother,” said Helen.

58 “Georgie said, “Georgie can deal with bumps in the bed!”

Solving pronoun case

When you select a pronoun, do you ever wonder whether to say I, me, or my? Perhaps you must decide between he and him or their and them. Don’t call a detective to help you with pronoun case — the quality of a pronoun that shows its role in a sentence. Instead, learn how to sort out these pronouns.

Subject pronouns

represent the person performing the action or existing in the state of being expressed by the sentence.

In

Chapter 7

, you practice identifying subjects. In this preview, the subject pronouns are underlined:

He

is cooking.

I

am hungry.

We

will eat soon, and

they

will clean up.

Object pronouns

are on the receiving end of the action.

In other words, the action is directed at an object pronoun. Object pronouns answer the questions

whom?

or

what?

after a verb or a preposition. (For more about the object of a verb, see

Chapter 7

. For more about the object of a preposition, turn to

Chapter 5

.) In these sentences, the object pronouns are underlined:

Give

him

a cookbook!

The food delivery is for

me

.

Yesterday’s meal made

us

ill.

Possessive pronouns

show ownership.

In these sentences, the possessive pronouns are underlined:

His

cooking skills are terrible.