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Jbninc Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Wrong pronoun?
Hello everyone! At the moment i am working on a paper that requires me to identify, correct and argue on the errors, that i find. This is my work so far:
“…The archivist, Iris Haussler, was determined to have the house and their contents designated a historic site…”
CORRECTED TO:
“…The archivist, Iris Haussler, was determined to have the house and its contents designated a historic site …”
As highlighted in the text, i corrected "their" to "its" since the pronoun "its" refers back to "house" which is 3rd person singular. Since "their" is 3rd person plural it is the wrong type of pronoun for that sentence.
Examples of correct usage of pronouns in singular and plural:
The girls took their books and went outside to read.
The bank offered its customers cheaper prices.
So.. As far as i can see, it's a fairly okay argumentation, but i think it lacks a bit more explanation. Can anyone see something the argumentation lacks?
“…The archivist, Iris Haussler, was determined to have the house and their contents designated a historic site…”
CORRECTED TO:
“…The archivist, Iris Haussler, was determined to have the house and its contents designated a historic site …”
As highlighted in the text, i corrected "their" to "its" since the pronoun "its" refers back to "house" which is 3rd person singular. Since "their" is 3rd person plural it is the wrong type of pronoun for that sentence.
Examples of correct usage of pronouns in singular and plural:
The girls took their books and went outside to read.
The bank offered its customers cheaper prices.
So.. As far as i can see, it's a fairly okay argumentation, but i think it lacks a bit more explanation. Can anyone see something the argumentation lacks?
Top answer
At any time, all you need to do is identify the antecedent (number and gender, if any) and then apply the corresponding pronoun.
- At any time, all you need to do is identify the antecedent (number and gender, if any) and then apply the corresponding pronoun.
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3 Answers
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At any time, all you need to do is identify the antecedent (number and gender, if any) and then apply the corresponding pronoun.
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JbnincAs highlighted in the text, I corrected "their" to "its" since the pronoun "its" refers back to "house" which is 3rd person singular. Since "their" is 3rd person plural, it is the wrongActually, it is the right type of pronoun; it's just the wrong pronoun. Otype ofpronoun for that sentence.
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