USING PRONOUNS IN MISCELLANEOUS FORMS
In this module, you will learn to place pronouns into their
correct form when they are functioning
 As reflexive pronouns
 With gerunds
 With appositives.
Introduction
We will look at three aspects of pronouns: when they function as reflexive pronouns, when
they function with gerunds, and when they function with appositives. Don't worry about
what the terms mean right now; we'll get to that as we discuss each function.
Reflexive Functions
Reflexive pronouns, ending "self" or "selves," accomplish two things. First, the reflexive
reflects action back onto the noun or pronoun with which it is associated. Second, the
reflexive intensifies the noun or pronoun with which it is associated.
The list below shows the antecedent (the pronouns that are reflected upon or are
intensified) and the reflexive pronoun that reflects or intensifies.
List:
I, myself; you, yourself; she, herself; he, himself; one, oneself; it, itself.
We, ourselves; you, yourselves; they, themselves.
But reflexive pronouns can also be associated with nouns, as in the first sentence below.
Reflecting Action
"Saul injured himself with the dull knife."
Saul (the subject) is doing the action (the verb).
When the action (injured) reaches the reflexive pronoun himself, the action is
REFLECTED back upon the antecedent, Saul.
So Saul, who did the action, also received the action.
Intensifying Nouns and Pronouns
"They themselves arranged the company picnic."
When the reader reaches the reflexive pronoun themselves, the pronoun "They" takes on
more importance than it would have without the "themselves" in the sentence.
NOTE: Do not use reflexive pronouns with prepositional phrases indicating space or
location. For example, in the sentence
"Isao looked at the mirror beside him,"
you would not use the reflexive pronoun himself because you simply do not have a
REFLECTED action. However, we have one exception, illustrated by the two sentences
below.
"They were beside themselves with grief."
"Marge was beside herself after hearing the good news."
In expressions such as those above, the reflexive is acceptable.
Examples
The following sentences show reflexive pronouns and how they function both as they
reflect action and as they intensify the antecedent.
Reflecting:
"I quizzed myself intensely the night before the exam."
Intensifying:
"Yes, it was Sam himself who wrote the report."
NOTES: Reflexive pronouns are not appositives, so commas are not used.
The terms "hisself," "theirself," and "theirselves" do not exist in our language. So do not
use the terms.
Gerundial
"Gerundial" is an adjective derived from the noun "gerund." "Identifying Nouns and
Adjectives" states that gerunds are the present participial form of a verb used to name
actions. For instance, in
"He was assured that running would increase his athletic performance,"
we see that "running" is the name of an activity. Thus, "running," in this sentence, is acting
as a noun and is called a GERUND.
Examples:
"The coach stated that Mary's running could injure her knees."
The proper noun "Mary," acting as an adjective, describes the noun "running." When we
have the noun Mary function as an adjective, Mary's is called a noun-adjective. Notice that
we've placed the adjective "Mary" into the possessive case. All possessive case nouns
and pronouns are adjectives.
Let's try a variation of the same sentence.
"The coach talked to Mary and said that her running could injure her knees."
The pronoun "her," acting as an adjective, describes the noun "running." The pronoun is in
the possessive case.
Let's try another variation of the same sentence.
"The coach stated that the athletes' running could injure their knees."
The noun "athletes," acting as an adjective, again describes the noun "running." The noun
"athletes" is in the possessive case.
Rule
Whenever a noun or a pronoun modifies a gerund, the noun or pronoun must be in the
possessive case. Let's examine this a bit more.
Problem
The problem with gerunds is that they are abstract nouns. In other words, gerunds do not
physically exist as do concrete nouns such as dog, girl, or pencil. So let's compare the
gerund with a concrete noun. Look at the sentence below.
"Mr. Sanchez hated Henrietta whistling in the classroom."
"Whistling" is a gerund, an abstract noun. Let's replace the abstract noun with a concrete
noun.
"Mr. Sanchez hated Henrietta dog in the classroom."
Do you see why you need the possessive case for Henrietta? So to correct the sentences,
you would write
"Mr. Sanchez hated HENRIETTA'S dog in the classroom."
"Mr. Sanchez hated HENRIETTA'S whistling in the classroom."
Caution
We have seen that when we use noun-adjectives and pronouns to modify gerunds, we
place those noun-adjectives and pronouns into the possessive case. Here are examples
of each:
Noun-adjective:
"Pancho was awakened by the DOG'S barking."
Noun-adjective:
"We were all concerned about out STUDENTS' passing the entrance tests."
Pronoun:
"Michael didn't say a word about HIS winning first prize."
Pronoun:
"Ami watched the girls play and worried about THEIR winning the game."
Exception
Read the following sentence.
"We marvelled at the children's singing so beautifully."
Although the sentence is grammatically correct, the term children's singing doesn't sound
good. The reason that the term doesn't sound good is that the possessive case "s" sounds
very awkward when attached to some common plural nouns that don't end in "s."
So for plural noun-adjectives, don't use the possessive case if the sentence sounds
awkward.
Appositives
The appositive--a word, a phrase, or a clause--is added to a noun or pronoun in order to
explain or clarify the noun or pronoun. Usually, the appositive simply adds additional
(usually nonessential but useful) information about the noun or pronoun to which the
appositive refers.
Appositive Recognition
Most appositives can be recognized through punctuation. While there are four commonly
used methods to punctuate appositives, we will restrict our efforts to the two most
commonly used methods: comma punctuation and the dash (--).
We punctuate appositives in the same manner as we punctuate nonrestrictive modifiers
("Punctuating Restrictive and Unco-ordinate Modifiers"). An appositive within a sentence is
set off with commas. If the appositive starts or ends a sentence, we place a comma after
or before the appositive.
Let's look at the following sentences.
"Natvinder, a brilliant student, won a scholarship to a medical school."
"A brilliant student, Natvinder won a scholarship to a medical school."
The term "a brilliant student" adds nonessential information about the noun "Natvinder." In
a way, "a brilliant student" renames, restates, or further explains the noun "Natvinder."
Thus, "a brilliant student" is an appositive to "Natvinder."
Problems
When the appositive consists of or contains a pronoun, some problems may arise. Look at
the following sentence in which you must choose the correct pronoun.
"We immediately recognized the new clerk, (he, him) sitting at the computer."
We must decide whether to use he or him in the sentence. It's a matter of deciding into
what case to place the pronoun--subject or nonsubject ("Making Pronoun Numbers Agree
with Antecedents"). To decide which case, we will walk through one complete procedure in
which we must
1. Identify the appositive.
2. Identify the antecedent of the appositive.
3. Determine the case of the antecedent.
4. Place the appositive into the same case as the antecedent.
Procedure
Sentence:
"We immediately recognized the new clerk, (he, him) sitting at the computer."
1. We have identified the appositive "(he, him) sitting at the computer."
We must decide whether we use the subject or nonsubject list ("Making Pronoun Numbers
Agree with Antecedents").
To decide, we must first identify the antecedent.
2. We ask:
Who or what is (he, him) sitting at the computer?
The answer to the above question identifies the antecedent.
Answer:
clerk
3. We ask:
(he, him) sitting at the computer
In what case is "clerk"?
We go through the procedure we learned in "Making Pronoun Numbers Agree with
Antecedents."
The procedure is condensed below.
Question 1: Is clerk the subject of a verb?
NO.
Question 2: Is clerk involved in a comparison?
NO.
Question 3: Does clerk come after a verb "to be"?
NO.
You have got three NOs for answers; therefore, clerk is in the nonsubject case.
4. Place the apposition pronoun into the same case as the antecedent.
We select "him" from the nonsubject list.
Let's try one more, but we'll condense the procedure.
Sentence:
"The young woman--the one on the street (she, her) comforting the injured child--asked for
help."
1. We have identified the appositive "--the one on the street, (she, her) comforting the
injured child--."
2. We identify the antecedent as "one."
We arrive at "one" as the antecedent. But "one" is also a pronoun, and because "one"
does not inflect (change spelling) from subject to nonsubject case, we cannot learn the
case. So we must find the antecedent for "one."
The noun "woman" is the antecedent for "one" and subsequently for "(she, her)."
Question 1: Is woman the subject of a verb?
Yes.
You have got a YES; therefore, woman is in the subject case.
4. Place the apposition pronoun into the same case as the antecedent.
We select "she" from the subject list.
Here's another quick one:
Sentence:
"The guest speaker, (he, him) at the podium, raised his hand to silence the crowd."
We recognize the appositive "(he, him) at the podium."
We identify the antecedent of the appositive as "speaker."
We determine that "speaker" is the subject of the verb "raised."
We choose "he" from the subject list in order to place the appositive in the same case as
its antecedent.
Exercises
For the first four questions, select the statement that correctly describes the pronoun
within parentheses? The answers appear after the last question.
1. I (myself) will prepare the acceptance speech.
A. The pronoun is functioning as reflexive.
B. The pronoun is functioning with a gerund.
C. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive.
2. We had high hopes of (his) passing with distinction.
A. The pronoun is functioning as reflexive.
B. The pronoun is functioning with a gerund.
C. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive.
3. They hurried (themselves) into their seats before the game started.
A. The pronoun is functioning as reflexive.
B. The pronoun is functioning with a gerund.
C. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive.
4. The president-elect, (she) at the desk, is about to make a motion to adjourn.
A. The pronoun is functioning as reflexive.
B. The pronoun is functioning with a gerund.
C. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive.
For the last six questions, select the statement that supports your choice of pronoun.
5. I believe it was they (themselves, theirselves, them) who requested a postponement.
A. The pronoun is functioning as reflexive, so my choice is theirselves.
B. The pronoun is functioning with as reflexive, so my choice is themselves.
C. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive, so my choice is them.
D. None of the above.
6. The acrobat fell into the net below (himself, hisself, he, him).
A. The pronoun is functioning as reflexive, so my choice is himself.
B. The pronoun is functioning with a gerund, so my choice is hisself.
C. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive, so my choice is he.
D. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive, so my choice is him.
E. None of the above.
7. The passengers escaped injury as a result of (themselves, they, them, their) wearing
seat belts.
A. The pronoun is functioning as reflexive, so my choice is themselves.
B. The pronoun is functioning with a gerund, so my choice is their.
C. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive, so my choice is they.
D. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive, so my choice is them.
E. None of the above.
8. Dilbert was ill, and we wondered about (himself, he, him, his) retiring before the yearend.
A. The pronoun is functioning as reflexive, so my choice is himself.
B. The pronoun is functioning with a gerund, so my choice is his.
C. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive, so my choice is he.
D. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive, so my choice is him.
E. None of the above.
9. The three of us--Marge, Dipti, and (myself, I, me, my)--will present a joint paper to our
science class.
A. The pronoun is functioning as reflexive, so my choice is myself.
B. The pronoun is functioning with a gerund, so my choice is my.
C. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive, so my choice is I.
D. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive, so my choice is me.
E. None of the above.
10. The professor asked the three of us--Marge, Dipti, and (myself, I, me, my)--to present
a joint paper to our science class.
A. The pronoun is functioning as reflexive, so my choice is myself.
B. The pronoun is functioning with a gerund, so my choice is my.
C. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive, so my choice is I.
D. The pronoun is functioning with an appositive, so my choice is me.
E. None of the above.
Answers
1, A. 2, B. 3, A. 4, C. 5, B. 6, E. 7, B. 8, B. 9, C. 10, D.