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Hong KongPronoun case, reference, shifts and antecedents
Four of the twelve conventions skills on subtest 826 are about pronouns: agreement with the antecedent, inappropriate pronoun shifts, clear reference, and case forms. That is a third of the largest competency on the subtest, and more skills than the rule gives to punctuation.
Count them in the rule and the ratio is startling. Punctuation gets one skill. Capitalization gets one. Pronouns get four.
4. Determine and select agreement between pronoun and antecedent. 5. Determine and select inappropriate pronoun shifts. 6. Determine and select clear pronoun references. 7. Determine and select pronoun case forms (e.g., subjective, objective, possessive).
Section 82, Knowledge of standard English conventions, incorporated into Rule 6A-4.0021, F.A.C.
Case: the substitution test
Subjective pronouns do the verb: I, he, she, we, they, who. Objective pronouns receive it: me, him, her, us, them, whom. Possessive pronouns own: my, his, her, our, their, whose.
Two situations cause almost all the errors, and both are solved by deleting words.
| Problem | The test | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Compound subject or object | Delete the other person | "between you and I" becomes "between I", so it is me |
| Who or whom | Answer the clause with he or him | "he arrived" gives who; "we chose him" gives whom |
| Comparison with than or as | Finish the sentence | "taller than I [am]", not "than me" |
The who and whom test is worth practicing because it works every time and it is quick. Rearrange the clause into a plain statement, substitute he or him, and take the pronoun that ends in the same letter: he goes with who, him goes with whom.
Reference: the pronoun has to point at something
Three failures, and the exam uses all three.
- Ambiguous: "When Maria met Elena, she was late." Which one was late?
- Vague this, that, which or it pointing at a whole preceding clause rather than a noun: "The budget was cut, which upset everyone."
- Missing antecedent entirely: "In the report it says enrollment fell." There is no noun for it.
The correct answer usually replaces the pronoun with the noun. That looks clumsy and it is still right. Clarity beats elegance in a conventions question.
Which sentence uses pronouns correctly?
- The principal asked Ms. Ruiz and I to review the schedule.
- Each of the teachers submitted their lesson plans on Monday.
- The district gave the award to whoever had raised the most funds.
- When the committee met the parents, they were unprepared.
Agreement with the antecedent
A pronoun matches its antecedent in number and person. The trap is the indefinite pronoun: each, every, anyone, someone, nobody are singular, and singular they is common in speech and still marked wrong in a standard-conventions question.
That is a real tension and it is worth naming rather than pretending it is not there. Singular they has been standard in professional writing for years. This exam tests American standard written English conventions as the rule defines them, and on a multiple-choice item where "his or her" is one of the options, take it.
Inappropriate shifts
Pick a person and stay in it. "If a student wants an extension, you should ask early" shifts from third person to second for no reason. The fix is one word: they should ask, or he or she should ask, matching whatever the rest of the passage uses.
What to do with four skills and a tight clock
Case is mechanical and you can make it automatic in an hour with the deletion test. Reference is a reading skill and it takes longer, but it also transfers to the Reading subtest, so the time is not wasted.
If you have one evening, spend it on case. It is the largest block of pure marks on this competency that responds to a single technique.
Common questions
How many pronoun skills are on the FTCE English Language Skills subtest?
Four of the twelve under Knowledge of standard English conventions: agreement with the antecedent, inappropriate pronoun shifts, clear pronoun references, and pronoun case forms. That is more skills than the rule assigns to punctuation, spelling or capitalization.
How do I decide between who and whom?
Rearrange the clause into a statement and substitute he or him. If he fits, use who. If him fits, use whom. The two words that end in the same letter go together, which makes the test easy to recall under time pressure.
Is singular they accepted on the FTCE?
Treat it as wrong in a standard-conventions item. The subtest tests American standard written English as the rule defines it, and where "his or her" appears as an option against singular they with a singular antecedent, the paired form is the safer answer.
What is a vague pronoun reference?
A pronoun that points at a whole clause or at nothing rather than at a specific noun. "The budget was cut, which upset everyone" uses which for the entire situation. The corrected version usually names the noun even when that reads more heavily.