Pronouns

Learning Objectives

In this section, you will learn how to: 

• Define pronoun and describe what it means for a pronoun to be ambiguous
• Describe how pronouns must agree with their antecedents
• Apply the Kaplan Method for Sentence Correction to sentences that may have ambiguous pronouns or pronoun-antecedent agreement errors

Pronoun errors are one of the most common Sentence Correction issues on the GMAT. Luckily, the GMAT doesn’t test every kind of pronoun error. Common errors fall into two categories: reference and agreement. 

Pronoun Reference

Pronoun reference errors mean that a given pronoun does not refer to—or stand for—a specific noun or pronoun in the sentence (its antecedent). The pronouns that cause the most trouble on the GMAT are it, its, they, their, them, who, whom, which, and that. Be aware that these are pronouns and therefore need antecedents. 

A common pattern is to use which or that to refer to an action that is not represented in the sentence as a noun. Take this sentence, for example: The executive spoke eloquently at the annual meeting, which won him much praise. The author means to say that the executive’s eloquent speech earned praise, but what the author has actually said is that the annual meeting won the executive praise. Just because what the author means to say is obvious does not mean the author has actually said that. 

Another reference error to be on the alert for is the use of which or that to refer to a person. People are represented by who or whom. Here’s an example: The journalist that/who spoke at the symposium answered many questions after her speech. The correct pronoun is who.

Pronoun Agreement

For pronoun agreement errors, it’s a question of numbers: perhaps a pronoun that refers to a singular noun is not in singular form, or a pronoun that refers to a plural noun is not in plural form.

As usual, the GMAT presents camouflaged examples of these two mistakes. Whenever you see a pronoun in the underlined portion of a sentence, look out for the following:

• Pronouns, such as it and they, that are often misused on the GMAT (and in everyday life)
• Pronouns that don’t agree in number with their antecedents

Pronoun Reference and Agreement Exercise

Answers follow this exercise.

Correct the following common pronoun reference and agreement errors.

1. Beatrix Potter’s stories depict animals in an unsentimental and humorous manner, and she illustrated them with delicate watercolor paintings.
2. There is no known cure for certain forms of hepatitis; they hope, though, that a cure will be found soon.
3. If the partners cannot resolve their differences, the courts may have to do it.
4. In order to boost their name recognition, the Green Party sent canvassers to a busy shopping mall.
5. It is now recognized that the dangers of nuclear war are much graver than that of conventional warfare.
6. One of the men complained about the noise in the hallway, and they don’t want to identify themselves.

Pronoun Reference and Agreement Exercise: Answers

1. “She” is clearly intended to refer to Beatrix Potter, but notice that the proper noun Beatrix Potter doesn’t appear anywhere in this sentence; a pronoun cannot refer to a modifier, even a possessive modifier such as “Beatrix Potter’s.” There’s a second problem as well: it’s not clear whether the “them” that are illustrated are the stories or the animals. Here’s a rewrite that solves all the problems: Beatrix Potter not only wrote stories that depicted animals in an unsentimental and humorous manner, but also illustrated each story with delicate watercolor paintings.
2. It’s unclear what “they” refers to. The only plural noun is “forms,” but it can’t be the “forms of hepatitis” that are hoping for a cure. It must be scientists or some other group of people: scientists hope to find a cure soon.
3. “It” is the unclear pronoun here. There’s no singular noun in the sentence for “it” to refer to. The main clause should read: . . . the courts may have to do so.
4. A pronoun or possessive should match the form of the noun it refers to. Use its and not “their” in place of the Green Party, because party, like audience, is a singular noun that stands for a collective group: In order to boost its name recognition, the Green Party . . .
5. “Dangers” is plural, so the pronoun “that” should be plural as well: . . . than those of conventional warfare.
6. The antecedent of “they” and “themselves” is “[o]ne,” so the pronouns do not agree in number or gender with their antecedent. Because the gender of “[o]ne” is male (“[o]ne of the men”), the pronouns should be changed to he and himself, and the verb “don’t” should be changed to the singular doesn’t.

Applying the Kaplan Method: Pronouns

Now let’s use the Kaplan Method on a Sentence Correction question dealing with pronouns:

1. Despite the platform of the opposition party supporting the measure, they keep voting against campaign finance reform in Congress.
   1. the platform of the opposition party supporting the measure, they keep
   2. the opposition party’s platform supporting the measure, they keep
   3. the opposition party’s platform which supports the measure, it keeps
   4. support of the measure being in the opposition party’s platform, it keeps
   5. the opposition party’s platform supporting the measure, party members keep

Step 1: Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors

Pattern Recognition and Attention to the Right Detail are essential to spotting pronoun issues in Sentence Correction. Here, you should be paying attention to the word “they” in the underlined portion of the sentence. Colloquially, it’s common to use “they” as a nebulous pronoun with no clear antecedent. On the GMAT, though, such usage is always wrong. In this sentence, it isn’t clear who “they” refers to, so you know that’s an issue that needs to be fixed by the correct answer.

Step 2: Scan and Group the Answer Choices

The beginnings of the answer choices don’t yield much in the way of splits, but the ends definitely do: (A) and (B) end with “they,” (C) and (D) end with “it,” and (E) dispenses with pronouns entirely. You have a 2-2-1 split.

Step 3: Eliminate Choices Until Only One Remains

The pronoun use here is wrong, because the sentence does not contain an antecedent plural noun to which “they” could refer. So (A) and (B) are incorrect. (C) and (D) contain the singular pronoun “it”—but once again, the pronoun reference is confusing and wrong. It’s not the party platform that keeps voting against the measure, as these choices imply. Both (C) and (D) can be eliminated. Only (E), which avoids faulty pronoun reference and makes it clear that “party members” keep voting against the measure, makes sense and is the correct answer.

Takeaways: Pronouns

• A pronoun is a word that stands for a noun.
• A pronoun must refer unambiguously to a specific noun, known as its antecedent.
• A pronoun must agree in number and gender with the noun it replaces.
• When you see a pronoun underlined in the original sentence, focus on that pronoun and determine whether it is being used correctly.
• The pronouns that cause the most trouble on the GMAT are it, they, its, their, them, which, and that.
• Never use they to refer to a third-person singular noun on the GMAT, even if you don’t know or don’t want to specify gender.

Practice Set: Pronouns

8. Although her X-ray photographs had laid the foundation for describing the structure of DNA, Rosalind Franklin, an accomplished chemist, did not receive the Nobel prize when it was awarded for this achievement in 1962.
   1. had laid the foundation for describing the structure of DNA, Rosalind Franklin, an accomplished chemist, did not receive the Nobel prize when it was awarded for this achievement
   2. had laid the foundation for its description, the structure of DNA did not result in accomplished chemist Rosalind Franklin receiving the Nobel prize awarded for it
   3. of the structure of DNA had laid the foundation for their description, the accomplished chemist Rosalind Franklin was not awarded the Nobel prize for this achievement
   4. were the foundation for describing the structure of DNA, the Nobel prize was not awarded to accomplished chemist Rosalind Franklin for it
   5. were an achievement by Rosalind Franklin, an accomplished chemist, it did not receive the Nobel prize for laying the foundation for describing the structure of DNA
9. Film critics often cite the example of Nicolas Cage’s winning the Academy Award for Best Actor as a reason that an actor should not automatically be classified as elite if they win an Academy Award. 
   1. an actor should not automatically be classified as elite if they win an Academy Award
   2. an actor automatically classified as elite because they won an Academy Award should not always be classified as such 
      
   3. actors automatically classified as elite because they won an Academy Award should not always be classified as such
   4. actors should not automatically be classified as elite if they win an Academy Award
   5. actors should not be classified as automatically elite if they win an Academy Award
10. As one step in their plan to engender greater goodwill in the community, the town council organized a series of public meetings when residents could air grievances about the opacity of decision making, a tendency to award contracts to cronies, and their failure to follow through on promised reforms.
    1. As one step in their plan to engender greater goodwill in the community, the town council organized a series of public meetings when residents could air grievances about the opacity of decision making, a tendency to award contracts to cronies, and their failure to follow through on promised reforms.
    2. As one step in its plan to engender greater goodwill in the community, the town council organized a series of public meetings at which residents could air grievances about the opacity of decision making, a tendency to award contracts to cronies, and a failure to follow through on promised reforms.
    3. As one step in its plan to engender greater goodwill in the community, the town council organized a series of public meetings at which residents could air grievances about the opacity of decision making, tendency to award contracts to cronies, and failing to follow through on promised reforms.
    4. As one step in its plan to engender greater goodwill in the community, a series of public meetings was organized by the town council so that residents could air grievances about the opacity of decision making, a tendency to award contracts to cronies, and a failure to follow through on promised reforms.
    5. The town council, as one step in their plan to engender greater goodwill in the community, organized a series of public meetings for residents at which they could air grievances about their opacity of decision making, tendency to award contracts to cronies, and failure to follow through on promised reforms.

Advanced Practice Set: Pronouns

11. The visiting lecturer presented some lesser-known facts about snowflakes: for example, they are not white, they have exactly six sides, they do not all have a unique pattern, and they—along with ice—constitutes about 75 percent of Earth’s freshwater.
    1. they are not white, they have exactly six sides, they do not all have a unique pattern, and they—along with ice—constitutes
    2. it is not white, all snowflakes have exactly six sides, not all snowflakes have a unique pattern, and snow—along with ice—constitute
    3. it is not white, it has exactly six sides, not all of it has a unique pattern, and it—along with ice—constitutes
    4. they are not white, all have exactly six sides, not all have a unique pattern, and they—along with ice—constitute
    5. they are not white, all has exactly six sides, not all has a unique pattern, and it—along with ice—constitutes
12. The defense attorneys wanted to interview the jurors following the guilty verdict, but a gag order issued by the judge prohibited them from discussing the trial even after it had concluded. 
    1. them from discussing the trial even after it had concluded
    2. the jurors from discussing the trial even after it is concluded
    3. them from discussing the trial even after it is concluded
    4. the jurors from discussing the trial even after it had concluded
    5. the jurors to discuss the trial even after it had concluded 
13. One often referenced online dictionary’s definition of nut as “a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel” indicates that it does not include almonds, cashews, peanuts, pistachios, or walnuts.
    1. it does not include almonds, cashews, peanuts, pistachios, or walnuts
       
    2. almonds, cashews, peanuts, pistachios, and walnuts are not examples of nuts
    3. almonds, cashews, peanuts, pistachios, and walnuts are not included as examples of them
       
    4. almonds, cashews, peanuts, pistachios, and walnuts are not included
       
    5. they do not include almonds, cashews, peanuts, pistachios, or walnuts