Make a conscious choice of your pronouns. Don't shift from a person to they to you to I.
The problem comes with sentences like
I got mad; it does make you feel upset when people don't
listen.A young person has to manage their time well if they want
to get ahead.Unless someone loves bluegrass music, they won't like
this CD.
A person and someone are singular; they and their are plural. Mixing these words in one sentence leads to awkward writing and creates errors. Nowadays you will hear this usage in conversation and will even see it in print, but it is still not acceptable in most writing.
Study the following options:
| people … they | Instead of a person or someone, try people (which fits with they). |
| When people know what they want, they can be firm. | |
| a real person | Better yet, use a true-to-life example, a real person. |
| My cousin Marc is very firm because he knows what he wants. | |
| A real example not only makes the grammar correct, but it is also much more interesting and memorable. A person and someone are nobodies. | |
| he, he or she | The old-fashioned pronoun choice to accompany a person is he. |
| If a person is strong, he stands up for his beliefs, even when his friends disagree. |
-21-
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: Shortcuts for the Student Writer.
Contributors: Jay Silverman - Author, Elaine Hughes - Author, Diana Roberts Wienbroer - Author.
Publisher: McGraw-Hill.
Place of publication: New York.
Publication year: 2005.
Page number: 21.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
One moment ...
- Georgia
- Arial
- Times New Roman
- Verdana
- Courier/monospaced
Reset