Kevan Peabody
Sabir Posse
English 201 A
September 23 2009

jimmy’s Punctuating Pronoun ProblemsStewart Pidd Hates English contains the following information about pronouns: Pronouns function as replacement words for noun phrases and nouns. Three common types of pronouns that give writers trouble are indefinite, possessive, and personal. Pronouns have different functions: pronouns that do not refer to an object or a particular person are indefinite pronouns, possessive pronouns show possession; personal pronouns replace an object or a specific person. Pronouns can prevent unnecessary repetition. An antecedent is the noun that comes before or after the pronoun(s) that reference it (Pollitt and Baker 70-83). Faulty pronoun agreement is a common writing error. In “Go Big or Go Home,” Jimmy Dent fails to make his pronouns agree with their antecedents.Dent makes a pronoun/antecedent agreement error: “ Hey, Stewie, when a skater dude goes to Ludville Pipe, they need to go big or go home” (1). The singular antecedent “skater dude” does not agree with the plural pronoun “they.” To fix the sentence, Dent needs to replace the singular antecedent “skater dude” with a plural antecedent. The revise sentence will read, “ Hey Stewie, when skaters go to Ludville Pipe, they need to go big or go home.”Dent makes a pronoun/antecedent agreement error with a indefinite pronoun. He states, “ Nobody wants to put their relatives in a home” (2). The singular antecedent “Nobody” does not agree with the plural possessive pronoun “their.” The revised sentence will read, “They do not want to put their relatives in a home.”Dent makes a pronoun/antecedent agreement error using a collective noun. Dent writes,” On a good day, the Dent clan will unite to make their relatives feel like chewed- up gum” (2). The singular antecedent “clan” does not agree with the plural possessive pronoun ”their.” The collective noun “clan” is singular because it functions as a unit. To fix the sentence, Dent needs to replace the plural pronoun “their” with a singular possessive pronoun. The revised sentence will read, “ On a good day, the Dent clan will unite to make its relatives feel like chewed-up gum.”Untrained writers and speakers who make pronoun agreement errors should consider the wise words of Thomas Browne: “There is music wherever there is harmony, order or proportion.” Good writing is like good music. Having pronoun agreement brings harmony, order or proportion to one’s writing. Having harmony, order or proportion creates a nice flow, sound and good in the writing. Browne Thomas. Attackthetext.com 16 Sep. 2009 Http://attackthetext.com. Dent. Jimmy. “ Go Big Or Go Home”. 29 Feb. 2009Pollitt, Gary, and Craig Baker. Stewart Pidd Hates English Fullerton, CA, Attack text publishing. 2009
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