Campus Recruitment – Verbal Ability – Pronoun

Campus Recruitment – Verbal Ability – Pronoun

Pronoun

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Depending on the role of the nouns they replace, personal

• The subjective form of pronoun is used after the verb be; formally like, It is I.
  E.g: I saw at once that it was she.
• It is also used after ‘than’ in comparison with ‘be I.
  E.g: Sylvia is cleverer than I.
• Indefinite pronouns refer to persons, places, things or amount in general like none, many, some, few etc.
  E.g: One should love one’s country.
  Anything is possible in the world.
• Distributive pronouns individually refer to all pert .ms, places, things of a group: each, either, neither.
  E.g: Each of the participants is provided with a folder.
• Reflexive pronouns talk of action that he or she has caused to happen or of which he or she is object,
  E.g: I cut myself with a knife.
• Emphatic pronouns are similar in form to reflexive pronouns,e.g.: myself yourself himself herself, themselves, itself. These are used to lay emphasis on the subject,
  E.g: I did this project myself, (nobody helped me)
  They manage the house themselves.
• Compare : Relexive and Emphatic:
  He cut himself
  (Reflexive: here the subject and object j refer to the same person)
  He himself cat the cake.
  (Emphatic: here the emphatic pronoun himself merely puts emphasis on the noun he)
• Demonstrative pronouns are used to indicate distance in time or space in relation to the speaker,
  E.g: This is my teacher Mrs. Sarala.
  That new red car is mine.
• Relative pronouns link subordinate clause to the main clause.
  E.g: He might lose his job which might be disastrous.
  That is the car which she has just bought.
  That is the person about whom Rani was talking.
• Reciprocal pronouns are ‘each other’ and ‘one another’.
  E.g: They looked at one another.
  They often fought with each other.

Troublesome Rules and Confusing Areas

• Reflexive and emphatic pronouns are never used independently as a subject.
  E.g: Myself and my friend went to a movie (incorrect)
  I and my friend went to a movie. (correct)
  
• After the verb ‘to be’ (am, is, are, was, were) the subject form is used.
  E.g: Raju is taller than me. (incorrect)
  Raju is taller than I. (correct)
• When two or three different personal pronouns are combined in a sentence,
  the first person T is never used in the beginning.
  E.g: I and he will talk to the Principal. (incorrect)
  He and I will talk to the Principal. (correct)
  George, you and I are meeting tonight. (correct)
• After the ‘distributive’ pronouns like ‘each, either, neither’ and ‘indefinite’ pronouns, plural nouns may appear but the verb is always singular.
  E.g: Neither of these accusations are true. (incorrect)
  Neither of these accusations is true. (correct)
  Each of the girls were given a prize. (incorrect)
  Each of the girls was given a prize. (correct)
  Either of the questions have to be answered. (incorrect)
  Either of the questions has to be answered (correct)
• The possessive form of ‘one’ is ‘one’ & not his or hers.
  E.g: One must not praise himself. (incorrect)
  One must not praise oneself. (correct)
• Relative pronouns ‘who, whom and whose’ are used only with persons and ‘which’ and ‘that’ are used with things and animals, ‘who’ is used as subject/ ‘whom’ as object and ’whose’ as possessive.
  E.g: He is the man who met me at the enquiry counter.
  That is the book which I bought last night.
  She is the girl whom I recommended for the post.
  This is Mr. Reddy, in whose house I live.
  Here is the flowering plant that I want to keep in my house.
• Relative pronoun should be in close proximity to the noun it refers to.
  E.g: The boy is the son of my friend Mr. Joshi who won the first prize. (incorrect)
  The boy, who won the first prize, is the son of my j friend Mr. Joshi. (correct)
• When two or more singular nouns are joined by ‘and’ and refer to separate persons, the pronoun used for them must be plural.
  For example,
  Both Rajesh and Raghu completed his work (incorrect) Both Rajesh and Raghu completed their work (correct) (since they refer to two different persons the pronoun should be ‘their’)
• The indefinite pronoun ‘one’ should be used consistently, if used at all.
  E.g: One must use her/his book. (incorrect)
  One must use one’s book. (correct)

Correction of  Sentences

1. The crew protested against their management.
   (crew is collective noun. So its should be used.)
2. The books are for you and I. (me)
3. Myself Hari Krishna, (reflexive cannot come as subject so it should be I am)
4. I, you and he are invited to give our presentation. (He, you and I)
5. Whom book is this? (whose)
6. Each of the girls submitted their assignment, (her)
7. What car did you buy? (ivhich)
8. She works for an MNC who has five years experience (the relative clause should be placed immediately after the noun/pronoun it modifies).
   She who has five years of experience, works for an MNC is correct.
9.  I would not take up this job if I were him. (he)
   (When the situation is ‘imaginary or ‘unreal’ or ‘impossible’ or ‘a dream’, ‘were’ must be used, ‘were’ is not a real past unlike ‘was’ which refers to a real past. ‘were’ is called the ‘subjunctive’ i.e. an imaginary or unreal situation).
10. She is as tall as me. (as I am)
11. The man that the police arrested was let on bail. (whom)