Person and Number<\/h2>\r\nSome interesting issues with\u00a0agreements surround\u00a0indefinite pronouns:\r\n\r\n \t- Every student should do his\u00a0or\u00a0her best on this assignment.<\/li>\r\n \t
- If nobody lost his or her calculator, then where did this come from?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWords like every<\/em> and\u00a0nobody<\/em> are\u00a0singular, and match, at the level of formal grammar, with singular pronouns.\u00a0Here are some more words that fall into this category of indefinite pronouns:\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\nanybody<\/td>\r\n anyone<\/td>\r\n anything<\/td>\r\n each<\/td>\r\n either<\/td>\r\n every<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n \r\neverybody<\/td>\r\n everyone<\/td>\r\n everything<\/td>\r\n neither<\/td>\r\n no one<\/td>\r\n nobody<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n \r\nnothing<\/td>\r\n one<\/td>\r\n somebody<\/td>\r\n someone<\/td>\r\n something<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nSome of these may feel \"more singular\" than others, but they all are technically singular. Thus, using \"he or she\" is correct in terms of antecedent agreement insofar as both those pronouns are singular. However, for many academics, correctness is only one value to consider.<\/strong> Another value might be the level of formality they want. Being hyper-correct in your writing will sound very formal and might alienate some readers. The trade-off between being correct and losing readers is a genuine consideration; many academic writers would rather be read by a wider audience than be credited with correctness. <\/strong>\r\n\r\nKey Takeaways<\/h3>\r\nWe should be wary in general of identifying standardized English as \"correct\" \u2013 its conventions are widespread in academia and in many professions, but the binary of\u00a0<\/strong>correct\/incorrect or right\/wrong oversimplifies the issues and can be unnecessarily judgmental. \u00a0<\/b><\/div>\r\nAs\u00a0you may have noticed, the phrases \"he or she\" or \"he, she, or they\" can make your sentences clunky, so concerns about stylistic elegance might also outweigh correctness. When such clunkiness threatens, undergraduate writers often write something like this:\r\n\r\n \t- The way each individual\u00a0speaks can tell us so much about him or her. It tells us what groups they associate themselves with, both ethnically and socially.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nAs you can see, in the first sentence,\u00a0him\u00a0<\/em>or her<\/em> agrees with the indefinite pronoun\u00a0each<\/em>. However, in the second sentence, the writer has shifted to the plural\u00a0they<\/em>, even though the writer is talking about the same group of people. Your writing\u00a0seems\u00a0smoother if your agreement is\u00a0consistent<\/strong>, so one better solution might be to make the antecedent of \"they\" a plural noun, like \"people\" in this example:\r\n
\r\n \t- The way people speak\u00a0can tell us so much about them. It tells us what groups they associate themselves with, both ethnically and socially.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nForming a plural antecedent appeals more to most of us than the now unpopular method of avoiding the clunky \"he or she\" by deciding that the default \"neutral\" pronoun is \"he,\" as in this version:\r\n
\r\n \t- The way each individual\u00a0speaks can tell us so much about him. It tells us what groups he associates himself\u00a0with, both ethnically and socially.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nFor many people, the sexism underpinning the choice of the masculine pronoun to represent\u00a0a gender-neutral \"anybody\" means that they will never use this solution. Others will alternate\u00a0between defaulting to \"he\" or to \"she\" to refer to indefinite antecedents throughout a piece, or will default always to \"she.\"\r\n\r\nAnother solution, an increasingly popular one,\u00a0is to embrace what's known as \"singular they<\/em>.\" We use singular they<\/em> in speech all the time, in formulations like\u00a0\"To each their own\"\u00a0or \"Someone is singing in the corridor. If they haven't stopped in two minutes, I'm going to have to take drastic measures.\" But it has also been used in writing for centuries, including by Chaucer, Shakespeare, Austen, and Dickens, who all knew a thing or two about effective writing. Singular they<\/em> was the American Dialect Society's Word of the Year for 2015: it provides a stylistically attractive solution to English's lack of a gender-neutral pronoun, and it has been welcomed by people\u00a0who identify as genderqueer and who feel that \"he\" and \"she\" don't necessarily exhaust all the gender possibilities.\u00a0<\/strong>If you think about your own speech, it's very likely that you\u00a0use\u00a0they<\/em> as a singular pronoun for someone whose gender you don't know, and don't want to assume, and it's also very likely that you respect someone's chosen pronouns if they use they\/them\/theirs.\r\nNote:<\/strong> At SUNY Geneseo, many\u00a0faculty and students would rather avoid perpetuating sexist language than be hyper-correct about the number and person of an indefinite antecedent. Most professors endorse singular and neutral-gender\u00a0they.<\/em>\u00a0In many cases, you have choices about how you signal antecedents, and our best advice is to aim for thoughtful consistency within your own style.<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n\r\nHere's a paragraph that uses \"he or she\" liberally:\r\n
Every writer will experience writer's block at some point in his or her career. He or she will suddenly be unable to move on in his or her work.\u00a0A lot of people have written about writer's block, presenting different strategies to \"beat the block.\" However, different\u00a0methods work for different people. Each writer must find\u00a0the solutions that work best for him or her.<\/p>\r\nHow would you best revise this paragraph? Type your ideas in the text frame below, and then look at the suggested revisions.\r\n\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"725756\"]Show Possible Revisions[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"725756\"]There are a couple of different ways you could revise this paragraph:\r\n
\r\n \t- Writers will all experience writer's block at some point in their\u00a0careers. They\u00a0will suddenly be unable to move on in their\u00a0work. A lot of people have written about writer's block, presenting different strategies to \"beat the block.\" However, different methods work for different people. Writers must find the solutions that work best for them.<\/li>\r\n \t
- As a writer, you\u00a0will experience writer's block at some point in your\u00a0career. You\u00a0will suddenly be unable to move on in your\u00a0work. A lot of people have written about writer's block, presenting\u00a0different strategies to \"beat the block.\" However, different methods work for different people. You\u00a0must find the solutions that work best for you.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\nWere those revisions what you expected them to be?\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
Case<\/h2>\r\nSome\u00a0of the most common pronoun questions occur with the decision between \"you and I\" and\u00a0\"you and me.\" \u00a0People will often say things like \"You and me should collaborate on this presentation.\"\u00a0Or\u2014thinking back on the rule that it should be \"you and I\"\u2014they will say \"Dr.\u00a0Brewer\u00a0assigned the task to both you and I.\" However, both of these sentences are grammatically unconventional in standardized English, although it's important to note that they are in no way difficult to understand.\r\n\r\nLet's take a look at the first sentence: \"You and me should collaborate on this presentation.\" Both pronouns are the subject of the sentence, so they should be in subject case: \"You and I should collaborate on this presentation.\"\r\n\r\nIn the second sentence (\"Dr.\u00a0Brewer assigned the task to both you and I\"), both pronouns are the object of the sentence, so they should be in object case: \"Dr. Brewer\u00a0assigned the task to both you and me.\"","rendered":"
![\"Icon](\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/453\/2016\/08\/08174949\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-21-at-12.17.45-PM-300x199.png\")
A refinement of the idea of antecedent clarity involves asking whether\u00a0the pronouns you use to refer back to your nouns and concepts\u00a0match the person\u00a0and\u00a0number of the antecedent. When that matching happens, we say that the pronoun\u00a0agrees<\/strong> with its antecedent. Let’s look at a couple of examples:<\/p>\n\n- I hate it when Zacharias tells me what to do. He<\/strong>‘s so full of himself<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- The Finnegans\u00a0are shouting\u00a0again. I swear you could hear them<\/strong> from across\u00a0town!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In the first sentence, Zacharias<\/em>\u00a0is singular, third person, and masculine. The pronouns\u00a0he<\/em> and\u00a0himself<\/em> are also singular, third person, and masculine, so they agree. In the second sentence,\u00a0the Finnegans<\/em>\u00a0is plural and third person. The pronoun\u00a0them<\/em> is also plural and third person.<\/p>\nPerson and Number<\/h2>\n
Some interesting issues with\u00a0agreements surround\u00a0indefinite pronouns:<\/p>\n
\n- Every student should do his\u00a0or\u00a0her best on this assignment.<\/li>\n
- If nobody lost his or her calculator, then where did this come from?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Words like every<\/em> and\u00a0nobody<\/em> are\u00a0singular, and match, at the level of formal grammar, with singular pronouns.\u00a0Here are some more words that fall into this category of indefinite pronouns:<\/p>\n\n\n\nanybody<\/td>\n anyone<\/td>\n anything<\/td>\n each<\/td>\n either<\/td>\n every<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \neverybody<\/td>\n everyone<\/td>\n everything<\/td>\n neither<\/td>\n no one<\/td>\n nobody<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \nnothing<\/td>\n one<\/td>\n somebody<\/td>\n someone<\/td>\n something<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nSome of these may feel “more singular” than others, but they all are technically singular. Thus, using “he or she” is correct in terms of antecedent agreement insofar as both those pronouns are singular. However, for many academics, correctness is only one value to consider.<\/strong> Another value might be the level of formality they want. Being hyper-correct in your writing will sound very formal and might alienate some readers. The trade-off between being correct and losing readers is a genuine consideration; many academic writers would rather be read by a wider audience than be credited with correctness. <\/strong><\/p>\n\nKey Takeaways<\/h3>\n
We should be wary in general of identifying standardized English as “correct” \u2013 its conventions are widespread in academia and in many professions, but the binary of\u00a0<\/strong>correct\/incorrect or right\/wrong oversimplifies the issues and can be unnecessarily judgmental. \u00a0<\/b><\/div>\nAs\u00a0you may have noticed, the phrases “he or she” or “he, she, or they” can make your sentences clunky, so concerns about stylistic elegance might also outweigh correctness. When such clunkiness threatens, undergraduate writers often write something like this:<\/p>\n
\n- The way each individual\u00a0speaks can tell us so much about him or her. It tells us what groups they associate themselves with, both ethnically and socially.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
As you can see, in the first sentence,\u00a0him\u00a0<\/em>or her<\/em> agrees with the indefinite pronoun\u00a0each<\/em>. However, in the second sentence, the writer has shifted to the plural\u00a0they<\/em>, even though the writer is talking about the same group of people. Your writing\u00a0seems\u00a0smoother if your agreement is\u00a0consistent<\/strong>, so one better solution might be to make the antecedent of “they” a plural noun, like “people” in this example:<\/p>\n\n- The way people speak\u00a0can tell us so much about them. It tells us what groups they associate themselves with, both ethnically and socially.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Forming a plural antecedent appeals more to most of us than the now unpopular method of avoiding the clunky “he or she” by deciding that the default “neutral” pronoun is “he,” as in this version:<\/p>\n
\n- The way each individual\u00a0speaks can tell us so much about him. It tells us what groups he associates himself\u00a0with, both ethnically and socially.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
For many people, the sexism underpinning the choice of the masculine pronoun to represent\u00a0a gender-neutral “anybody” means that they will never use this solution. Others will alternate\u00a0between defaulting to “he” or to “she” to refer to indefinite antecedents throughout a piece, or will default always to “she.”<\/p>\n
Another solution, an increasingly popular one,\u00a0is to embrace what’s known as “singular they<\/em>.” We use singular they<\/em> in speech all the time, in formulations like\u00a0“To each their own”\u00a0or “Someone is singing in the corridor. If they haven’t stopped in two minutes, I’m going to have to take drastic measures.” But it has also been used in writing for centuries, including by Chaucer, Shakespeare, Austen, and Dickens, who all knew a thing or two about effective writing. Singular they<\/em> was the American Dialect Society’s Word of the Year for 2015: it provides a stylistically attractive solution to English’s lack of a gender-neutral pronoun, and it has been welcomed by people\u00a0who identify as genderqueer and who feel that “he” and “she” don’t necessarily exhaust all the gender possibilities.\u00a0<\/strong>If you think about your own speech, it’s very likely that you\u00a0use\u00a0they<\/em> as a singular pronoun for someone whose gender you don’t know, and don’t want to assume, and it’s also very likely that you respect someone’s chosen pronouns if they use they\/them\/theirs.<\/p>\nNote:<\/strong> At SUNY Geneseo, many\u00a0faculty and students would rather avoid perpetuating sexist language than be hyper-correct about the number and person of an indefinite antecedent. Most professors endorse singular and neutral-gender\u00a0they.<\/em>\u00a0In many cases, you have choices about how you signal antecedents, and our best advice is to aim for thoughtful consistency within your own style.<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
\nHere’s a paragraph that uses “he or she” liberally:<\/p>\n
Every writer will experience writer’s block at some point in his or her career. He or she will suddenly be unable to move on in his or her work.\u00a0A lot of people have written about writer’s block, presenting different strategies to “beat the block.” However, different\u00a0methods work for different people. Each writer must find\u00a0the solutions that work best for him or her.<\/p>\n
How would you best revise this paragraph? Type your ideas in the text frame below, and then look at the suggested revisions.<\/p>\n
| anybody<\/td>\r\n | anyone<\/td>\r\n | anything<\/td>\r\n | each<\/td>\r\n | either<\/td>\r\n | every<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n | ||||||||||||||||
| everybody<\/td>\r\n | everyone<\/td>\r\n | everything<\/td>\r\n | neither<\/td>\r\n | no one<\/td>\r\n | nobody<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n | ||||||||||||||||
| nothing<\/td>\r\n | one<\/td>\r\n | somebody<\/td>\r\n | someone<\/td>\r\n | something<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nSome of these may feel \"more singular\" than others, but they all are technically singular. Thus, using \"he or she\" is correct in terms of antecedent agreement insofar as both those pronouns are singular. However, for many academics, correctness is only one value to consider.<\/strong> Another value might be the level of formality they want. Being hyper-correct in your writing will sound very formal and might alienate some readers. The trade-off between being correct and losing readers is a genuine consideration; many academic writers would rather be read by a wider audience than be credited with correctness. <\/strong>\r\n \r\n Key Takeaways<\/h3>\r\nWe should be wary in general of identifying standardized English as \"correct\" \u2013 its conventions are widespread in academia and in many professions, but the binary of\u00a0<\/strong>correct\/incorrect or right\/wrong oversimplifies the issues and can be unnecessarily judgmental. \u00a0<\/b><\/div>\r\nAs\u00a0you may have noticed, the phrases \"he or she\" or \"he, she, or they\" can make your sentences clunky, so concerns about stylistic elegance might also outweigh correctness. When such clunkiness threatens, undergraduate writers often write something like this:\r\n
|