Freshmen: Dirty Dozen Review: P-R/P-A Errors Last Name, First ______

Do Now: Make two observations about the quality of writing in the following sentence: How would you revise it?

Jay-Z had to explain who Jay-Z was to an elderly woman on the subway. Jay-Z wasn’t annoyed that she didn’t recognize Jay-Z and in fact, displayed Jay-Z’s trademark charm and affability. ______

AIM: ______

Grammar + Traffic: NY DMV Turn Signal 100 feet turn rule

1) ______

2) ______

3) ______

Pronouns: take the place of ______; we use them ______
P-A/Pronoun Antecedents ante= beforeà think P-A/after (as in before and after)

1. Pronouns should: Agree in number. If the pronoun replaces a singular noun, use a singular pronoun.

NOT: If a student parks a car on campus, they have to buy a parking sticker.

Should be: ______

Remember: the words everybody, anybody, anyone, each, neither, nobody, someone, a person, etc. are singular and take singular pronouns.

NOT: Everybody ought to do their best. Should be: ______

NOT: Neither of the girls brought their umbrella. Should be: ______

NOTE: You might try using plural nouns as your default antecedent so that you can use plural pronouns. If you do use a singular noun and the context makes the gender clear, then it’s fine use just "his" or "her".

Everybody ought to do their bestà ______ ought to do their best.

2. Pronouns should: Agree in person. If you are writing in the "first person" (I), don't confuse your reader by switching to the "second person" (you) or "third person" (he, she, they, it, etc.). Similarly, if you are using the "second person," don't switch to "first" or "third."

NOT: When one comes to class, you should have your homework ready.

Should be: ______

or ______

3. Pronouns should: Refer clearly to a specific noun. Don't be vague or ambiguous.

NOT: Although the freshman crashed into Ms. Byun, she was okay. ( ______?)

Should be: ______

NOT: I don't think they should give us so much HW. (______?)

Should be: ______

NOT: Vacation is approaching, which is awesome! (______?)

Specify: ______

P-R/Relative Pronoun error (think of Relative/Relate as in “pronouns like WHO Relate to Relatives like Ralph + pronouns like THAT Relate to THings)

NOT: I am the one that stole the cookie from the cookie jar. thatà ______. . .

Who vs. whom (Who should replace the Subject of the sentence; whom replaces the Object of the sentence)

NOT: The professor, who I respect, recently received tenure. whoà ______. . .

Think: Who did it?/I did it (vowel ending) vs. To whom?/to me (the “m” in both words)

Test yourself: The punishment should be given to you and I. (try ignoring either pronoun at the end)

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Circle and label (P-R/P-A) the pronoun error and write the correct word(s) above the sentence.

1.  You can just hand that $100 bill over to him and I.

2.  Helmer believes that anyone who betrays their family and loved ones is a wretched person.

3.  A really cool pick-up line: You and me should get together sometime to study the Dirty Dozen errors.*

4.  Someone inevitably forgets their coat and rushes back to class to retrieve it.

5.  Her and her teammates swept the robotics competition last weekend.

6.  We finally discovered that it was Ms. Byun that stole the cookie from the cookie jar.

“Let’s Get Technical”

A Place this sheet in your binder and hand it in to me later.

Improved version ______

B It's wrong to support a more strict cutting policy. They make it hard for students to survive here.

Improved version ______

C I just found out that we have a Writing Seminar Dirty Dozen quiz next week. That leaves me nauseous.

Improved version ______

______

*Note the grammatically incorrect Death Cab for Cutie lyric from “I Will Follow You into the Dark”:

“You and me have seen everything to see

From Bangkok to Calgary…”

It should be: ______

In this case, the band kept the error in order to ______