CAT Pronoun Errors Session

CAT @ George Prep
Sentence Correction – Session 2
www. georgeprep.com 09985372371

Standard Errors
1. Subject- Verb Agreement
2. Pronoun Errors
3. Modifiers
4. Parallelism
5. Tenses
6. Miscellaneous

Pronoun errors
Pronoun:
a pronoun is a word or form that substitutes for a noun or noun
phrase.
Example:
Joe saw Jill, and he waved at her
A pronoun must agree in gender, person and number with its antecedent.
Rule of thumb:
every time you see a pronoun, such as it, its, they, them, or their, the first
question you must ask yourself is this: What is the antecedent of this
pronoun?

Pronoun errors
Warm-up drill
1. Find the pronoun
2. Find the antecedent
3. Check whether the former correctly refers to and agrees in gender, person and
number with the latter.
Example:
1. Legislators should now be wary of hiding, or not disclosing, the required
information when it contests elections.
2. The questions that are most often asked today concern our basic lifestyles,
and the faculty does not seem to be answering it

Pronoun errors
Non-existent antecedent
Example:
1. The school teachers discussed measures to prevent the
increasing drop-out rates, which has been affecting its
reputation.
How about the school’s teachers?

Pronoun errors
Note : Possessive referring to Possessive
Ankit's father is working in a bank. His mother is
working in the banking sector.
CORRECT (possessive "His"=possessive “Ankit's")
Ankit's father is working in a bank. He is working in the
banking sector.
INCORRECT (The possessive word “Ankit's" CANNOT
be the antecedent for the subject pronoun “He")

Pronoun errors
Ambiguous pronoun references
Example:
1. I looked for the article in the magazine, but I did not
find it.
2. When my uncle takes my little brother to the park, he is
very happy.

Pronoun errors
Antecedent – pronoun pair making sense
Example:
1. Although the term “psychopath” is popularly applied to
an especially brutal criminal, in psychology it is
someone who is apparently incapable of feeling
compassion or the pangs of conscience.

Pronoun errors
Antecedent – pronoun pair agreeing in gender
Example:
1. If a person wants to succeed in corporate life, he has to
know the rules of the game.
Antecedent - a person (third person neutral singular)
Pronoun - he (third person masculine singular)

Pronoun errors
Antecedent – pronoun pair agreeing in person
Example:
1. If a person wants to succeed in corporate life, you have to
Antecedent - a person (third person)
Pronoun - you (second person)

Pronoun errors
Antecedent – pronoun pair agreeing in number
Example:
1. If anybody wants to succeed in corporate life, they have to
Antecedent - anybody (third person singular)
Pronoun - they (third person plural)

Pronoun errors
Pronoun Types
Subject
Pronouns
Possessive
Pronouns
Object
Pronouns
Singular
he
who
his
whose
him
whom
Plural
they
who
their
whose
them
whom

Choosing from various forms of the pronoun who:
who, whose, whom, whoever, whomever.
Re-phrase the sentence so that you can choose between he and him
Him – whom
He – who
Let us try
Who(A)/Whom(B) do you think is responsible?
Who(A)/Whom(B) shall we ask to the party?
Give the box to whoever(A)/whomever(B) you please.
Give the box to whoever(A)/whomever(B) seems to want it most
Whoever(A)/whomever(B) shows up first will win the prize.
Pronoun errors

Subject or Object Pronoun?
To decide whether to use the subject or object pronoun after the
words than or as, mentally complete the sentence.
Ricky is as smart as she/her.
Ankit is taller than I/me.
Tarith would rather talk to her than I/me
Pronoun errors

Its vs it’s?
The only time it's has an apostrophe is when it is a contraction
for it is or it has.
It's(A)/its(B) been a cold morning.
The thermometer reached its(A)/it’s(B) highest reading.
He's the one who's(A)/whose(B) always on time.
He's the one who’s(A)/whose(B) wife is always on time.
Pronoun errors

Each and every are singular and can strong-arm an otherwise plural antecedent to
become singular as well.
Examples
 The cowboy and his horse drank their fill at the desert oasis.
 Each cowboy and horse drank his fill at the desert oasis.
 Every cowboy, horse, pack mule, trail hand, and cook
drank his fill at the desert oasis.
Pronoun errors

either ... or, neither ... nor, and not only ... but also.
Use the closer of the two antecedents to determine if you need a singular or plural pronoun.
Let us try
 Not only the handpicked flowers but also the homemade peanut butter
pie will win Briana's heart with it’s(A)/its(B)/their(C) thoughtfulness.
 Not only the homemade peanut butter pie but also the handpicked
flowers will win Briana's heart with it’s(A)/its(B)/their(C)
thoughtfulness.
Pronoun errors

Singular indefinite pronouns
everyone, somebody, and nothing are singular and require a singular pronoun for
agreement.
Let us try
Everyone on the planet deserves clean water to quench their thirst.
Can you believe it?
Somebody left their dog in a hot car with the windows rolled up!
Nothing is in their place after the violent shaking from the earthquake.
Pronoun errors

Indefinite Pronouns – singular/plural
.
Let us try
Some of this footwear smells because Tina
wears it(A)/them(B) to the barn.
Some of these shoes smell because Tina wears it(A)/them(B) to
the barn.
Pronoun errors

Pronoun errors
Ending note
Subject-Verb Agreement and Pronoun-antecedent act similarly.
 A number of vs number of etc. can be borrowed from Subject-
verb agreement.

Pronoun errors drill
Many of the emerging powerhouses of globalization, like Brazil, are
interested in democracy and the rule of law, but not in the
preachments of the West, which it regard as laced with hypocrisy.
Correct Usage:
Many of the emerging powerhouses of globalization, like Brazil,
are interested in democracy and the rule of law, but not in the
preachments of the West, which they regard as laced with
hypocrisy.

Dhoni’s captaincy was so good that he commanded respect from
everyone in the team.
Correct Usage:
Dhoni’s captaincy was so good that it…...

After flunking the chemistry exam, Theodore brought peanut butter
cookies to Dr. Wilson, his professor, who was not pleased by this.
‘this’ refers to??

The results of my oral exam are out today. I hope they don't put it up
on the notice board.
Correct Usage:
The results of my oral exam are out today. I hope the person
concerned doesn’t put them up on the notice board.

Modifiers
 A modifier describes or "modifies" someone or something
in the sentence.
 It could be a word, phrase, or clause which functions as
an adjective or an adverb to describe a word or make its
meaning more specific.
 Modifiers can be adjectives ( noun modifier) or adverbs (
verb modifier)

Modifiers - Types
Misplaced Modifier - landed in the wrong place
Dangling Modifier - no word to logically modify
Squinting modifier - two-way modifier

Modifiers - Types
Misplaced Modifier – (adjectives/adverbs) landed in the wrong place
Misplaced words
almost, only, just, even, hardly ,not, nearly, merely. Most often, these words
are placed in front of the words they modify.
 Misplaced: My sister only has two children.
 Correct: My sister has only two children.
Misplaced phrase
 Misplaced: The little girl screamed at the library at her mother.
 Correct: At the library, the little girl screamed at her mother.

Modifiers - Types
Dangling Modifier – A dangling modifier is a modifier that has nothing to modify.
Having read your letter, my cat will stay indoors until the ducklings
fly off.
Having read your letter, we will keep our cat indoors until the
ducklings fly off.
Meticulous and punctual, David's work ethic is admirable.
Meticulous and punctual, David has an admirable work ethic.

Modifiers - Types
Squinting Modifier – A squinting modifier is a modifier (usually an adverb) which
could feasibly modify the words before it or the words after it. ( also considered as a
misplaced modifier)
 Cycling up hills quickly strengthens your quadriceps.
 Taking a moment to think clearly improves your chances.

Modifiers drill
He had almost lost all the buttons off his coat
Correct Usage:
He had lost almost all the buttons off his coat

Modifiers drill
Convicted of murdering his wife, the judge sentenced him to life
imprisonment.
Correct Usage:
Convicted of murdering his wife, he was sentenced by the judge to
life imprisonment.

Modifiers drill
Scrubbing the tile grout with bleach and an old toothbrush, the
mildew stains began to fade.
Correct Usage:
As Narain scrubbed the tile grout with bleach and an old toothbrush,
the mildew stains began to fade.

Modifiers drill
Perched on the curtain rod, the parakeet watched Rocky the cat
slink behind the living room sofa.
No error

Modifiers drill
Sitting on the top shelf of the refrigerator, Desmond saw Mom’s
pristine birthday cake.
Correct Usage:
Sitting on the top shelf of the refrigerator, Mom’s pristine birthday
cake caught Desmond’s attention.

Modifiers drill
Loudly slurping the bowl of hot soup, Derrick’s impolite behavior
annoyed the other diner patrons.
Correct Usage:
As Derrick loudly slurped the bowl of hot soup, his impolite behavior
annoyed the other diner patrons.

Modifiers drill
Made popular by historian Francis Fukuyama, the rise of authoritarian
capitalism has been a blow to assumptions that liberal democracy has
proved to be the most reliable and lasting political system.
Correct Usage:
The rise of authoritarian capitalism has been a blow to assumptions,
made popular by Francis Fukuyama, that liberal democracy has proved to
be the most reliable and lasting political system.

Sentence correction drill
In each of the following questions there are sentences that form a paragraph. Identify
the sentence(s) or part(s) of sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar and
usage (including spelling, punctuation and logical consistency). Then, choose the
most appropriate option.
A. Despite the increasing number of women graduating from Indian business
schools,
B. the proportion of top managers at major Indian companies
C. who are women have not risen
D. to a comparable extent yet.
1. Only A and C
2. Only A, B and D
3. Only A and D
4. Only A and B

In each of the following questions there are sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or part(s) of sentence(s)
that is/are correct in terms of grammar and usage (including spelling, punctuation and logical consistency). Then, choose the
most appropriate option.
A. None of the angel investors who came for the event are expected to make
B. an offer to buy the stocks of the company until an
C. agreement is signed by them that includes a provision for penalties
D. if the plan was not executed to completion.
1. A and B Only
2. B, C and D Only
3. B and C only
4. B only

In each of the following questions there are sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or part(s) of sentence(s) that is/are correct
in terms of grammar and usage (including spelling, punctuation and logical consistency). Then, choose the most appropriate option.
A. In their latest press release last week,
B. the company's new management stated a plan
C. for expansion of its operations into the global software market
D. via a series of acquisitions in Asia.
1. A and B Only
2. B, C and D Only
3. B and C only
4. B only

CAT Pronoun Errors Session

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