This week: Nouns & Pronouns Edited by: Carol St.Ann  
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In this month’s newsletter I’m discussing Noun/Pronoun Agreement. Noun pronoun disagreement is one of the most common errors made in writing, especially these days, thanks to what I refer to as the YouTube school of language and etiquette. It’s the reason for confusing sentences. Given the reason for writing is to tell a story, mystery writing, possibly more than any other type, has zero room for clarity issues caused by such things. I trust you’ll find this worthwhile and helpful.
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Nouns & Pronouns
(An Oldie, but A Goodie)
A pronoun is used to edify and/or replace an antecedent noun. Grammar buffs know the pronoun and antecedent must always agree. The function of a pronoun is a valuable tool in our language. Excluding pronouns would create cumbersome communication. To illustrate my point I have taken all the pronouns out of the following sentence:
Cindy wanted to go with Paula but Paula had to take Jake, Paula’s dog, leaving no room for Cindy in Paula’s already over packed car.
As you can see, the exclusion of pronouns can make communication, both spoken and written, rather tiresome. However, substituting pronouns simplifies the process, but can create confusion:
She wanted to go with her but she had to take him, leaving no room for her in her already over-packed car.
Clearly, the solution is a combination of both noun and pronoun.
Cindy wanted to go with Paula but Paula had to take her dog, Jake, leaving no room for Cindy in her already crowded car.
As you can see, the use of nouns and pronouns together are essential for both streamlining a sentence and clarifying it. However, like all relationships, nouns and pronouns must agree in order to exist happily together. Okay, you say, but what actually is noun/pronoun agreement?
Have you ever been corrected (probably as a child) for using “me” or “I” incorrectly? For example, a statement like: ”Michael and me are going to the store” should be: ”Michael and I are going to the store”
The key here is to remember that, just as a noun must agree with verb form and tense, so must a pronoun. So, just like it is incorrect to say:
Her is going to the store.
It is also incorrect to say;
Jane and her are going to the store.
Or worse: me and her are going to the store (as the YouTube school of language and etiquette would have you say or write.)
The following example gives a clue as to how you can easily check your work for correct agreements. By simply taking away your noun and leaving your pronoun with your verb, you can tell if you are using the correct pronoun.
Jimmy wanted to go with he and Frank.
Remove he and
You are now left with the correct CLEAR versions:
Jimmy wanted to go with Frank
Or Jimmy wanted to go with him
Or Jimmy wanted to go with them
(You would never say I want to go with he.)
When applied against a little common sense the misuse of your pronouns will simply not sound right. Correcting will become second nature in no time. And before you know it, you won’t even feel yourself correcting you’ll simply say it, and write it right.
The biggest noun pronoun agreement errors, however, occur in the use of plural and singular cases. Take, for example, this sentence:
If a writer wants better sales and reviews they must edit and craft.
This is the most commonly seen noun pronoun agreement error made. So common, in fact, that it has almost become accepted as correct. The problem with this sentence is that there is a singular noun/antecedent (writer) and a plural pronoun (they). Unfortunately, our current language does not provide for us a comfortable genderless singular pronoun. That’s why this error is made quite commonly, “a writer” can refer to both a male and a female, yet to make such a statement correctly, one must choose between he and she. For this reason, the above example is increasingly becoming an exception to this rule. However, since it is not yet an established change to the rule, it is good to know the correct way to deal with “genderless” subjects and their pronouns.
First of all, it is never incorrect to assign a singular pronoun to a genderless noun and use that pronoun with the same “genderless” intent as long as you are consistent. The most commonly used singular pronoun for this purpose has traditionally been the masculine, he or him, but it is just as correct to use the feminine she or her. It really depends on the taste of the person speaking or writing. However, if you do not happily use gender specific pronouns in such cases there are other ways around this sticky situation. Here is a list of correct sentences:
•If a writer wants better sales and reviews, he must edit and craft.
•If a writer wants better sales and reviews, she must edit and craft.
•If a writer wants better sales and reviews, he or she must edit and craft.
•If a writer wants better sales and reviews, he/she must edit and craft.
•If a writer wants better sales and reviews, the writer must edit and craft.
•If one wants better sales and reviews, one must edit and craft.
•If students want better sales and reviews, they must edit and craft.
Aside from these examples, there are several types of noun/pronoun disagreement errors and far more than I could address with one issue of this newsletter. However, there are plenty of resources regarding this issue and I will leave you with two I have found very informative and helpful and I know you will, too. :
Perdue Writing Lab
Chicago Manual of Style
(Gratitude and regards to author:Nlthomps S.C2001/edited 11/2024csa)
Happy writing until we meet again!
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Write me your pronoun issues, uh, literarily speaking, of course.
ASKED AND ANSWERED:
Max Griffin 🏳️🌈 wrote:
I read your newsletter. "Mystery Newsletter (October 30, 2024)"
Challenge accepted. I think it meets the criteria: an everyday mystery and the sleuth has a quirk that's not been done before.
My sleuth's quirk is kind of like Monk--he does count sometimes--but not quite as obsessively as Mollie. The mystery is certainly everyday--a text sent to the wrong number. It was a fun way to spend my morning. Thank you for the inspiration.
And it was a delightful read! Thank you for accepting the challenge. I’ve highlighted it this months NL.
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Mystery: November 27, 2024 Issue [#12863]
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