Thursday, October 19, 2006

Pronoun Trouble

[Extra credit: Can anyone name the cartoon I got this blog title from?]

Last time, she pretended to know something about grammar and discovered that she can't spell, or at least shouldn't be left to edit her own material. Is she stupid enough to do it again?

I think we all know the answer to that question.

So, as promised, today we work with pronouns. The focus will be narrow -- specifically, pronouns as objects, as opposed to subjects. Let's start with examples and do the explaining afterwards:
Pronouns as subjects:
I wrote a blog.
Bubba and I busted broncos.
Pronouns as objects (the hard part):
Bubba told me to quit horsing around (ha ha).
It was a long day for him and me.

Hey, did you catch that last one? Him and me. Would you believe that's actually correct? (OK, I know some of you knew it already. Try not to gloat too loudly. That's my job.) It makes sense if you break it apart: It was a long day for him. It was a long day for me. Therefore, It was a long day for him and me. The and in the middle doesn't change anything. The same is true when the pronoun is the object of a verb instead of a preposition: The horse told Bubba and me to stop writing sentences about it.

OK, it's getting kind of late and I promised to be concise. But can I squeeze one last thing in here? The word which modifies what comes before it; this means you're not supposed to have a second sentence subject after it.
Right: She talks to angels, which all know her name.
Wrong: She talks to angels, which they all know her name.

I'm too tired to belabor that point now, which is just as well because I'd probably get snitty. I had to say at least a little something, though.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do semicolons next! Do semicolons next!!! :-D

Sean (who can't be bothered to get a blogger acccount, and will continue posting as "anonymous.")

Anonymous said...

You're dethpicable.

Holly said...

Well done!