Why Should You Care About Pronouns in Your Writing?
We use pronouns in place of nouns in our general conversations so that we do not keep repeating the same name. Therefore, the choice of pronouns should match the nouns we refer to in terms of person and number. Here are reasons why you should mind pronouns in your writing:
- Pronouns help readers connect different actions and states to the subject. If these pronouns are not put right, readers are likely to get lost in the conversation
- Pronouns introduce the gender of the noun. You may not know if you are dealing with a male or female by just looking at the names. A he or she gives the subject a gender identity.
- Pronouns also show distance, time or space of an object in relation to the speaker. These, that and those enable you to know where the object is in the conversation.
Identifying pronoun referents in relation to the noun is therefore a vital undertaking in your writing.
10 Tips on How to Identify Pronouns and Fix All Mistakes
- Check the person
The first step in finding pronoun errors is to compare the person between the pronoun and the subject. Is the noun she, he, or it? Is the gender referenced correctly by the pronoun? If not, make the right changes.
- Identify if the subject is singular or plural
Determine if you are talking of one subject or object or there are many of them in a sentence Are you referencing one of them or all? Remember, where ‘and’ is used, pronouns take the number indicated by nouns closest to the verb. For example, “The actors and James went with his or her costumes.”
- Determine if distances between objects and the speaker are captured right
If you want to express distance between the speaker and an object, check if it is captured right. This helps you to determine if you picked the best demonstrative pronoun for the sentence. ‘This’ and ‘these’ show that objects are near while ‘that’ and ‘those’ show that objects are a considerable distance away from the speaker.
- Check if possessive pronouns are right
It is easy to make mistakes with possessive pronouns, especially if there are several characters in your plot. When editing, determine the real owner of the object in question. Ensure that the pronoun shows the owner clearly. The owner whose possession is referred to by the pronoun should be in the right gender and number, (a single person or many people).
- Check if the pronouns are in the right case
You may have gotten the gender and the number right when selecting a pronoun but used the wrong case. For example,”Me and her are going out”. When editing, check for the most appropriate pronoun case depending on the context of your writing. In the above case, the sentence would change to “She and I are going out.”
- Fix common errors with use of either, neither or each
In the conventional English usage, singular pronouns take singular verbs. However, when you use either, neither or each, even the plural nouns use singular verbs. For example, “Each of the boys dances well.” Take note of this exception when correcting pronoun problems.
- Get a reliable noun/pronoun agreement fixer
A reliable pronoun checker is crucial in identifying and correcting pronoun case errors. Even if you are good at English, it is always good to have an extra eye look at your work before you present it. If you are wondering, “How will I check my pronouns?” Remember, picking the right tool helps correct any errors that you may have missed when proofreading the work.
- Fix errors with use of apostrophes in possessive pronouns
When correcting pronoun problems, remove any apostrophes that you may have placed on possessive nouns such as whose, his, hers and theirs. They are correct even without the apostrophe. ‘Its’ only has an apostrophe when contracted from ‘it is’ and not the possessive ‘its’.
- Determine the subject and the object in your sentence
Knowing who does the action and the object is vital in determining the pronoun used is correct. Most of the time, the subject becomes the antecedent. However, if the object and the subject of the sentence are the same person, identify the correct reflexive pronouns according to the context. These pronouns end with –self or selves (plural). For example, “John brought the calamity upon himself.”
- Be consistent with the use of they and their
Most writers are not sure what variant of they and their to use when carrying a sentence check for consistent pronouns. Know how to choose the right pronoun. Start by avoiding putting any of them with singular nouns or pronouns. For example, “Someone has to complete this, and they have to do it right.” Instead, use ‘he or she’. Check these consistency errors in your writing.
Pronoun Checker Functions That Make Proofreading Easy
There are several features of the pronoun identifier online that makes write a lot easier. Here are some of them:
- Identifying pronoun errors. Our tool is able to point out errors with your pronouns. It makes it easy for writers and students who do not know how to identify pronouns with issues.
- Pronoun fixer. If you are wondering how to fix a faulty ambiguous or missing pronoun, the tool will do it on your behalf. It checks for correct pronoun usage and makes suggestions.
- Consistency checker. It is common to make incorrect pronoun shifts. However, the tool provides a quick online pronoun check for consistency and alerts you when you make accidental shifts.
Advantages of Using Pronoun Identifier Online Over Manual Editing
If you are wondering how to fix vague pronoun, there are a number of ways you can use such as manual proofreading, using an online pronoun checker or have it done by a human editor. However, the online check has several advantages over the rest as described below.
- It is fast. You will get your work ready in a few minutes
- It is consistent and reliable. You can rely on it to make the right suggestions in every article
- It is accurate and does not miss any pronoun errors unlike human manual proofreading
- It provides suggestion on correct pronoun usage, thereby helping you improve your work
Examples of Errors Detected and Fixed By Noun/Pronoun Agreement Fixer
Mary went for his book. – It detects wrong pronoun gender (his)
Which car were repaired yesterday? – It detects wrong plurality (were)
Some sugar were thrown out. – It detects misuse of pronoun on uncountable nouns
Him and I will visit the grandmother tomorrow. – It detects the wrong pronoun case (him)
Use our pronoun checker to find and fix pronoun-related errors in your work!
