Search results for 'tag:Conversations tag:Pronouns' matching tags 'Conversations' and 'Pronouns'

Re: "According to me" or "In my Point of view"

Grammar Geek — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:01:14 GMT

The explanation given above is a good one. Did you read it?

To simply express your opinion in everyday conversation, I suggest you do not use "According to me." It's fine for other pronouns and other nouns. According to Mike, according to her, according to the written procedure, but not acording to me.

You can say many other things: I believe, In my opinion, It's my expressed belief that, I contend, etc.

Re: he/he or she

Clive — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:19:17 GMT

Hi,
If a teacher hits a student, [he/ he or she/they] may get sued.

In casual conversation, which pronoun is used?
Hard to say. eg Primary school teachers are usually women.

'They' is often used.

Clive

Re: Possessive adjectives and pronouns, object pronouns for words such as "person, one, who"

khoff — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:06:35 GMT

English really needs another pronoun for cases like this!

Traditionally, if the gender was unknown, the masculine pronoun would be used. In a grammar book from 50 years ago, your examples would most certainly use "his." Today this would still be considered grammatically correct, but might be considered socially incorrect. These days, at least in the U.S., the "best" solution is probably to say "his or her", like this:

The one who had lost his or her identification card, couldn't come in. (This example bothers me a bit, probably because I think it's unlikely that the speaker would know that someone had lost a card and was not allowed to come in but would not know if it was a man or a woman.)

- Each person should take his or her equipment to the bus.

- We don't know the person, but we shall wait for him or her, wearing white shirts and holding daisies in our hands.

In some cases, rewriting the sentence into the plural would be a good choice:

"Passengers should take their equipment to the bus."

"Those who lose their identification cards will not be allowed in." Obviously, this is not always possible if the subject is definitely singular.

We would never use "it" for a person.

However, since our language has no pronoun for "a single person of unknown gender," people have begun to use "they, their, them" in situations like this. (Each person should take their equipment to the bus.) Technically it's not correct to use "they" for a single person, but its gender-neutral property is so useful that it is being used this way more and more. It's much easier than saying "his or her." I can't speak for everyone, but it doesn't offend me, and I would be very likely to say it myself in conversation. It would probably be best to avoid it in very formal writing or on English exams.

(In thinking about this, I'm not sure why the evolution of the language has favored using the plural pronoun as a gender-neutral singular rather than using the gender-neutral but inanimate "it" for people -- but that's definitely what has happened. It would be very common to hear any of your examples with the appropiate form of "their," but never, never with "its.")

Re: "as ... as" expression

Spides — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:30:35 GMT

Your instinct is right--the phrase refers to "last year's figure" but the word "figure" is understood and so dropped. So grammatically the spelling should be year's. However, it has become common ~~especially in conversation~~to drop the 's, and that has slipped into common usage in many cases. It's common for this to happen, as a language is a constantly changing thing. But careful writers will still, I think, make that a possessive form. A similar thing has happened with a sentence like, "James is taller than I." The pronoun "I" is correct because the entire sentence would be "James is taller than I am," but when the understood verb "am" is dropped, many speakers will say, "James is taller than me." That construction, too, has slipped into common usage in writing for many people. In fact, those who insist on the grammatically correct form are thought of as old-fashioned, perhaps, by many.

Re: 'than' in a comparative sentence

Spides — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:59:12 GMT

It's very common in sentences of this sort to drop everything after the pronoun. So "John is taller than I" is the acceptable wording. In fact, in conversation many, probably most, people would say, "John is taller than me." To those folks using the "correct" pronoun seems pretentious. So your final example would read "John plays chess better than I." Mind you, it's not incorrect to add "do" or to repeat the verb "can dance," or"can play," but most native speakers would not do that, and it would sound odd to many. If you wanted to sound like a native speaker, however, you would use the object form even though your text would tell you it's incorrect.

Re: help me!!

CalifJim — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:37:50 GMT

Anonymous
Is the last sentence grammatically correct?

Yes.

Anonymous
can 'no one' substitue for the noun phrase' the copy shop' ??

Not really. Where would you make that substitution? No one means nobody at all; it doesn't refer to the copy shop. The sentence is saying that there does not exist any person or group of people who can do better than the copy shop in question.

Anonymous
what does the pronoun 'them' exactly substitue for?

'the copy shop', or more specifically, the people who work there.

Anonymous
I don't know why (a) can't be also a possible answer.

The dialog starts with a greeting formula. Hi, Mark! starts a conversation with a known acquaintance, a friend. How often do you approach a friend and say 'hello' and then ask your friend how long he has lived there? Does that sound like the first question you would ask a friend of yours?

Re: Help proofreading "A Doll's House"

Mister Micawber — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 05:53:58 GMT

I have underlined some problem areas:

The Woman Within the Doll

The Baltimore Sun wrote that back in 1879, âA Doll's Houseâ by Henrik Ibsen âshocked and offended people wherever [it] was played,â and that the dramatist assured it was not about a woman, but about âanyone who had to live according to the rules created by othersâ (Hyder). Society thought to be outrageous that a woman would get involved in manly things, for her role in society was exclusively to care for the family and please her husband. Women did not enjoy the rights women do now. They were not taken seriously, and decisions were made by the man who was and still is considered the head of the family. Nora's choice to become free, independent and leave her husband, along with some of the characters' actions made this play to be scandalous for its time.

Ibsen wrote in a letter that the story in âA Doll's Houseâ was about a woman who feels:

" Oppressed and bewildered by belief in authority, she loses her faith in her own moral right and ability to bring up her children... [She is bittered because,] like certain insects, (ought to) go away and die when she has done her duty towards the continuance of the species... [she shakes] off of cares, [but then she feels] a sudden return of apprehension and dread. She must bear it all aloneâ (Doll).

Nora had a beautiful life, she had a husband, beautiful children, and everything she wanted. Earlier in her marriage, his husband suffered of an illness of which he needed to recover somewhere in the south, but this was concealed from him by the doctor and Nora. Not having the means to afford a trip so costly and out of love and desperation, Nora decides to ask for a loan without letting Tolvard know. She forges her father's signature to obtain the loan because she does not want to trouble her father either, who is very ill himself too. However, she is responsible and works secretly from home in order to make the payments. Eventually, Tolvard finds out about her secret and feels that his life, happiness and reputation will be lost once Krogstad, who lent the money, publishes the then scandalous situation out of revenged for having fired him from the bank he now manages. He quickly turns against her. That is the moment when Nora starts to understand things she did not understand before; she realizes she does not love Tolvard anymore just as he does not really love her as she thought, and decides to leave for good to discover herself. [Too many pronouns-- I don't know who's doing what to whom]

The scenery consists of the Helmer's apartment and nowhere else. The description of the apartment depicts the decision that Nora will have to make. There is a door to the right which leads to the entryway and another to the left which leads to Helmer's study. Nora will have to decide which door to take: freedom or Helmer [Tolvard / Helmer: we don't know if they are one or two]. The place is not âexpensively furnishedâ, but it is comfortable, just like Nora's marriage, she lives a comfortable life, but there are certain things she lacks that are more important than riches. No woman could even consider back in the 1800s doing such a scandalous things as to leave not only the husband, but her children too.

The main character in the story is Nora, a seemingly selfish, materialistic woman who cares a lot about money and in living a good life. This is to be expected since her father liked to spend money himself and live a life he could only could afford with credit. He used to called her his âdoll-child, and he played with [her] the way [she] played with [her] dollsâ (Ibsen 1041). She was obviously very protected and spoiled by both, her father and her husband, who provided anything she needed or wanted. Her father raised her not think for herself and just play her role in society. âWhile [she] was at home with [her] father, he used to tell [her] all his opinions, and [she] held the same opinions. If [she] had others [she] said nothing about them, because he wouldn't have liked itâ (1041) [All the bracketed pronouns are distracting; it would be better to give the exact quotes]. This repeated again as a married woman; she would not express her opinion to Tolvard, for they never talked seriously, but seemed to have trusted Dr. Rank better. Norah was greatly misunderstood. She was a loving person, she loved her husband so much that she was willing to forge her father's signature to obtain a loan to take her husband south in order for him to recover from a deadly illness [You said all this before; cut it.]. She is willing to do anything for him. Eventually she realized she does not have to play the doll anymore. One can only imagine people's reaction throughout the play's events.

Tolvard Helmer seemed [Be consistent in verb tenses] to be an ideal husband. He is loving, admirable, honest, ethical, hard-working and successful, but there seems to be a dark side of him. He is a prideful man, he won't ask for money to anyone, to [Commas are not conjunctions.] do so would be humiliating. To him, honor and appearances are more important than family. He does not believe people can change and become good, as he did not believe Krogstad was a good person although he had been honest for a long time already. Also, he is so affectionate that makes one wonder of his sincerity; he calls Nora diminutive names such as featherbrained, spendthrift [These are not diminutives.] , a squirrel, a song-bird, lark, strange little being all the time (994). One cannot think of a woman who would like being called like that and who would not be affected emotionally. Tolvard's reaction after finding out Nora's secret is amusing. He had told Nora that sometimes he wished â[she] was in some terrible danger, just so [he] could take [his] life and soul and everything, for [her] sakeâ (1038), yet he quickly turns against her calling her a wretched woman, a criminal, unprincipled, untrustworthy of raising her children, incapable, etc. His hypocrisy is clearly revealed when as soon as he realizes that Nora's mistake won't affect his reputation he forgives her (1039-1949). There's a saying that goes something like a good friend is hard to find, specially during difficult times; Tolvard was nor a good friend neither that perfect husband he seemed to be. He loved to have control of his wife's life, and his conversations usually tend to imply that Nora would be lost without him; that she needed his guidance and teaching. Tolvard did not love Nora, â[he] thought it fun to be in love with [her]â (1041).

Dr. Rank is in love with Nora, and that seems to have been the main reason he visited the Helmer's house. This character is not essential in the play, but it causes outrage when he dares to reveal Nora his secret. This is almost vulgar for him to do, and very dishonorable, specially during those times in which people were very conservative. It is as if he had taken advantage of the trust the family had in it and ended up tarnishing his reputation.

Mrs. Linde is one of Nora's old friends from school. She gave up her true love for money, but in the end things did not turn out the way she had expected. Her husband died leaving her in a terrible financial situation making [On the other hand, commas are essential for separating dependent clauses.] it necessary for her to work in order to sustain her mother and brothers. After her mother passed away and her brothers did not need her help she left town. Not to have someone to take care of made her feel âcompletely alone in the worldâ, and it frightened her âto be so empty and lostâ (1032). She needed âsomeone to take care ofâ, she wanted to be a mother and wanted the companionship of a husband. In the end, she was supposed to have helped Nora hide her secret. She could have convinced Mr. Krogstad to get the letter back, but she did not intercede (1033). She might have been envious of Nora, after all, Nora had all she was longing for; a husband, beautiful children, and a good life.

Lastly, Krogstad is the one who lent Nora money to save her husband, and threatens her to tell her husband if she does not convince Tolvard to let him keep his job at the bank, but just as Nora did, he once made a mistake, which caused him to loose his reputation. He was a man who seems to have been harden by life's difficulties. When he was left by the woman he dearly loved âit was as if all the solid ground dissolved from under [his] feetâ (1031). This might have caused him to become the âhalf-drownedâ kind of man, as he refers to himself. After finding love in his life he turns from the revengeful person into a forgiving one.

In conclusion, Nora realized of her true value as a human being and as a woman. She decides to leave everything and everyone, husband, children, luxuries to a journey to liberate herself. To do such thing was unthinkable at that time and caused turmoil, but it was the best choice she could ever make. To leave one's children is a terrible things to do and was not necessary, but looking beyond that, without prejudices, it is not hard to understands she is trying to figure out who she really is and what she believes in. This is essential to one's happiness; therefore she is determined to make necessary changes in her life even if people think bad of her. It seems that daring to do so back in the 1800s was just as bad as selling drugs or prostituting oneself.

Re: Everyone does their jobs

khoff — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:27:21 GMT

Clive -- I agree that "everyone" is often treated as plural in casual conversation, and I might well say "everyone does their best" myself. But technically, shouldn't it be "everyone does his job and everyone does his best," at least in formal writing?

I realize that the concept of "everyone" is plural by nature, but I think traditionally the word is treated as singular grammatically. After all, you would say "everyone is here," not "everyone are here." For that matter, "does" is the singular form of the verb. So why not the singular pronoun (his)?

I would not argue that "their" is really bad -- in some cases, it might just "sound better." But I think it's worth pointing out that "his" is certainly also possible, and might be preferable.

Re: When I see him/Tom

khoff — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 05:48:29 GMT

When I saw him, Tom was drunk. (I would never say this. It is not right to introduce a pronoun before the noun)

Hoa Thai is correct -- if this is the first mention of Tom. However, if the other people in the conversation are already discussing Tom, it would be okay. Something like this:

"Did anyone see Tom drinking on the night of the accident?"

"When I saw him, Tom was already drunk."

Re: Please help me to correct these grammer mistakes(Important)

Grammerlearn — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 19:23:14 GMT

Each of the following sentences contains a faulty comparison. Rewrite each sentence to eliminate the error.

a. The word-processing equipment in the direct-mail department operates more efficiently than the customer relations department.

b. The production manager expressed greater appreciation for the temporary help than the sales manager.

c. Julia Valenti, the personnel manager, felt that the applicant was better qualified than Charles Crane, the director of office services.

Each of the following sentences contains a squinting modifier â that is, a modifier that may qualify either of two elements within the sentence. Locate the modifier and rewrite the sentence in two ways.

a. The transformer that was sparking violently shocked the line operator.

b. The man who was making calculations hastily rose from the desk and left the room.

c. After the committee decided that the work must be completed by Monday, in spite of other commitments, it adjourned immediately.

d. He planned after the convention to take a short vacation.

Each of the following sentences contains an unclear pronoun reference. Rewrite the sentences as necessary to eliminate the errors.

a. Many members complained that their representatives made decisions secretly without considering them.

b. Technology has so simplified computer operation that it is now being used in homes.

c. The crane operator did not file a safety grievance and does not plan it.

d. Our company decided to relocate in Grandview Hills, after rejecting Westville and Dale City, which was a difficult decision to make.

e. Anita has held stenographic positions in two insurance companies and in an auto-rental firm, and it should help her in finding a new job.

f. Mrs. Jardina wanted to dictate a letter to her assistant, Mrs. Sanfredini, but she was unable to begin work until after lunch.

g. If you feel that you would like to become a dental hygienist, by all means take a course in it.

Each of the following sentences contains a redundant word, phrase, or clause. Rewrite the sentences to eliminate the redundant elements.

a. Our experienced salespeople, who have many years of work behind them, will plan an aggressive advertising campaign to sell the new product.

b. Any two raceway assemblies can be connected together with the plate as shown.

c. The radio announcer kept repeatedly saying, "Buy PDQ brand pretzels!"

d. Dissatisfied employees should give their complaints to the manager who is in charge as supervisor.

e. If you are interested in economics, do not neglect to read the abovementioned book, which was discussed previously.

Each of the following sentences contains at least one padded phrase. Rewrite the sentences to eliminate such phrases.

a. We began the project in the month of April.

b. He opened the conversation with a reference to the subject of inflation.

c. The field of engineering is a profession that offers great opportunities.

d. The process was delayed because of the fact that the chemicals were impure.

e. The personnel manager spoke to the printing-plant supervisor with regard to the scheduling of employee vacations.

f. Due to the fact that Monday was a holiday, we will not be able to complete the job until Wednesday.