Read this: “Grandma baked bread. Grandma gave Grandma’s bread to Grandma’s friend.” Too many Grandmas! Words like she and her can take the place of a noun. They are called pronouns.
| Instead of… | say… |
|---|---|
| Grandpa, Dad, the boy | he |
| Grandma, Mom, the girl | she |
| the kite, the dog | it |
| the ducks, Mia and Leo | they |
| my friend and I | we |
Key idea
A pronoun takes the place of a noun: I, he, she, it, we, they.
Why it works
Once the reader knows who you mean, saying the name again and again sounds bumpy. A pronoun points back to the noun, so the writing flows.
Worked example: Swap the noun
“The ducks are hungry. ___ swim to the bread.”
- The ducks means more than one.
- More than one: they.
Answer: “They swim to the bread.”
Worked example: Two people doing something
Which is written in standard English: “Me and him played tag.” or “He and I played tag.”?
- Try each person alone: “He played tag.” “I played tag.”
- “Me played tag” does not sound right in writing.
- So write: “He and I played tag.”
Answer: “He and I played tag.”
Common mistake
Starting a sentence with “Me and him…”. Many people say it, but in writing the ones who do the action are I, he, she, we and they. Try each person alone to check, and name yourself last.
For the grown-up. The test of trying each person alone works for any pair: “Mom and I” → “Mom went” and “I went.” Pronouns like me and him come in the Usage and Mechanics course.