It’s Time We Talked About Them
Now, some might say I’m a stickler when it comes to the liberal use of pronouns. And, I’ll concede that perhaps the moniker is earned. The topic of pronouns is appropriate to Mother’s Day as my mother was ever vigilant regarding our grammar. In my defense, I’m less a proponent of the conservative use of pronouns and more an advocate for clear communication.
In a world where our exchanges are often stripped of non-verbals, emotional tone, and, in some cases, semi-silent letters (e.g. thx, tho, thru), it’s never been more important to avail ourselves to the remaining tools and rules of effective discourse.
Pronouns, like other short cuts, are born of familiarity and convenience. (See, a stickler might’ve said laziness.) If you’re a child of the 70s, you may remember Schoolhouse Rock and Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla. The animation very effectively highlighted the benefits of pronouns for simplifying communications.
Before venturing further, it might help to have a proper definition.
A pronoun is defined by Dictionary.com as “any member of a small class of words that are used as replacements or substitutes for nouns and noun phrases, and that have very general reference, as I, you, he, this, who, what. Pronouns are sometimes formally distinguished from nouns by the existence of special objective forms, as him for he or me for I, and by nonoccurrence with an article or adjective.”
One difference between using pronouns in speech versus in writing is that when speaking, it is easier for the antecedent to get lost in the shuffle. (Word nerd alert: the antecedent is the word the pronoun is replacing.) The key is to mindfully balance the use of nouns and pronouns to keep your communications both clear and concise.
Regardless of our method of learning, whether it is listening to mom, watching cartoons, or earning an advanced degree, the goal is to not confound the meaning of words through our word choice. After all, what more could a mother ask for? Or is it…for what more could a mother ask? Ugh.
We’ll tackle dangling prepositions next year. Happy Mother’s Day!
