Focus!

Pronouns are small but powerful words that often trip us up. This month’s Chicago style workout, “Grammar, Part 3,” centers on paragraphs 5.27–37 in CMOS 17, which cover the definitions and uses of pronouns.

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Note: Style guides and dictionaries sometimes disagree. These questions are designed to test knowledge of The Chicago Manual of Style.

[Editor’s note: This quiz relies on and links to the 17th edition of CMOS.]

Chicago Style Workout 32: Grammar, Part 3

1. A pronoun typically refers to an antecedent—that is, an earlier noun, pronoun, phrase, or clause in the same or in a previous sentence. An antecedent may be explicit or understood.

True

False

2. Possessives should not serve as antecedents of pronouns used in the nominative or objective case {not Mr. Blain’s background qualified him for the job, but Mr. Blain had a background that qualified him for the job}.

True

False

3. Some pronouns (such as the first-person pronouns I, we, me, and us) do not require antecedents.

True

False

4. In colloquial usage, they often appears without an antecedent {they say she’s a good golfer}, though skeptical listeners and readers may want to know who “they” are.

True

False

5. The second-person pronoun (you) indicates person only: it is no longer capable of showing singular or plural, since the form is the same for both in Modern English.

True

False

6. A collective noun requires a singular pronoun {the audience showed its appreciation} {the audience rushed back to its seats}.

True

False

7. When two or more singular antecedents are connected by and and modified by each, every, or no, the pronoun referring to the antecedents is singular {every college and university encourages its students to succeed}.

True

False

8. When two or more singular antecedents are connected by or, nor, either–or, or neither–nor, they are treated separately and referred to by a singular pronoun {neither the orange nor the peach smells as sweet as it should}.

True

False

9. The pronoun used in an appositive construction is determined by the function (subject or object) of the words with which it is in apposition {we three—Bruce, Felipe, and I—traveled to Augusta} {she asked us—Barbara, Sarah, and me—to move our cars}.

True

False

10. The objective case governs personal pronouns used as direct objects of verbs, indirect objects of verbs, or objects of prepositions {the test would be simple for you or me} {read this and tell Laura and me what you think}.

True

False

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Photo: Vinqui, Wing Nam Ng and Meng Yuan Guan (Women’s Doubles at the 2011 World Table Tennis Championships in Rotterdam).

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