Chicago Style Workout 8: Personal Pronouns

Ready for some heavy lifting?

This month’s workout, “Personal Pronouns,” centers on paragraphs 5.39–48 in CMOS 17. Advanced editors might tackle the questions cold; learners can study that section of the Manual before answering the questions.

Remember: The workouts are all about Chicago! If you’re an expert in MLA, AP, or New York Times style, you might be surprised to find that your instincts don’t quite match Chicago’s. That doesn’t mean that your answer is necessarily “wrong”—it just means it isn’t Chicago style.

(Subscribers to The Chicago Manual of Style Online may click through to the linked sections of the Manual. We also offer a 30-day free trial of CMOS Online.)

[Editor’s update: This quiz has now been updated to refer and link to the 17th edition.]

Chicago Style Workout 8: Personal Pronouns

Note: The first five questions are true/false statements based on the guidelines at CMOS 5.38–46; the last five ask you to judge whether the grammar is correct.

1. Although the second-person pronoun you is both singular and plural, it always takes a plural verb, even if only a single person or thing is addressed.
a.
b.
2. Only the third-person singular pronouns may directly express gender.
a.
b.
3. All pronouns express both number and gender.
a.
b.
4. If a prepositional phrase contains more than one personal-pronoun object, then all the objects must be in the objective case {Will you send an invitation to him and me?}.
a.
b.
5. A pronoun serving as the complement of a linking verb should be in the nominative case {It was she who asked for a meeting.}.
a.
b.
6. Rupert and she have decided to start up a start-up.
a.
b.
7. My sister looks more like him than she looks like me.
a.
b.
8. Whoever left their coat on the bus can pick it up in the office.
a.
b.
9. This argument is strictly between her and me.
a.
b.
10. Taylor and he worked on this for six months before handing it over to Sergei, Barb, and I.
a.
b.

 

Photo: Coronado, Calif. (June 22, 2003), Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) students. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Eric S. Logsdon, 030622-N-3953L-106.

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