Pronoun Problems

Pronoun Problems

By Jessica Tomaselli

Who, which, and that are not interchangeable.

​The relative pronouns who, which, and that should each refer to specific types of nouns.

Using Who

Use who when you refer to people, famous animals, or named pets. Read these examples:

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Lenore, who refused a dish of ice cream, had to sit through fifteen minutes of yums and ooohs as we consumed ours.

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My little brother most resembles the Looney Tunes character Taz, who cannot sit still for more than a few seconds.

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Our bulldog Ricky, who has his own social media accounts, enjoys surfing and skateboarding.

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Who, which, and that are not interchangeable.

Using Which

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Use which for inanimate objects and unnamed animals. It also adds unessential information to the sentence.

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We dug into the tasty potato salad, which Jesse had begrudgingly prepared for the picnic.

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Lenore's dish of ice cream, which melted in the hot sun, attracted the attention of flies.

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Our parrot, which my roommate rescued from the apartment roof, can say hello in three languages.

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Who, which, and that are not interchangeable.

Using That

​Use that to refer to anything unnamed (though who is traditional and preferred for people). In differentiating from which, it is used to add essential meaning to the sentence.

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The alligator that the hunters caught was twelve feet long.

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The boat that brought the alligator to shore almost capsized from the weight of the beast.

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Multiple Choice

The ice cream flavor _ I like the best is chocolate carmel crunch.

• that

• which

• who

Multiple Choice

The student _ writes without grammatical mistakes impresses me.

• that

• which

• who

Multiple Choice

The car I ordered, _ is being built February 7, should come in the beginning of next month.

• that

• which

• who

Common Problems to Avoid

​Pronouns this, that, and which need single, clear antecedents

​After sending a break-up text message to his girlfriend Skyler, Jesse forgot to wash his hands before he mixed old mayonnaise into the potato salad with a dirty spoon. That was disgusting!

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What one thing was disgusting? That can refer to the text message to Skyler, the dirty hands, or the poor choice of ingredients and tools. A reader cannot be sure what exactly you have pronounced disgusting.

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To fix the problem, replace the that with a clear, specific noun.

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Multiple Choice

Which of these sentences is WRONG?

• After sending a break-up text, Jesse mixed old mayonnaise into potato salad. His food was disgusting!

• After sending a break up text, Jesse mixed old mayonnaise into potato salad. That was disgusting!

Common Problems to Avoid

Missing referents

​The pronoun's referent must actually appear (indefinite pronouns such as someone and everyone are an exception). They and it commonly appear without proper antecedents, as in the following examples:

On the news it said Chairman Arafat died of natural causes.

At the bed and breakfast, they don't allow pets.

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The missing referent of the first sentence may be news or reporter. The missing referent of the second sentence might be managers or owners. One of these words should appear in the sentence, or the sentence should be revised to eliminate the orphan pronoun.

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Multiple Choice

Which of these sentences is WRONG?

• On the news, the reporter said Chairman Arafat died of natural causes.

• On the news it said that Chairman Arafat died of natural causes.

• The news was that Chairman Arafat died of natural causes; NBC reported it first.

Multiple Choice

Which of these sentences is WRONG?

• At the bed and breakfast they don't allow pets.

• The owners of the bed and breakfast told us they don't allow pets.

• At the bed and breakfast, the owners don't allow pets.

Common Problems to Avoid

You

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You may use the pronoun you without a referent only if you are actually referring to your reader (as we just did); you may not use it to refer to people in general. For formal writing, avoid you and substitute one (it's gender-neutral, by the way):

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One never knows what one can expect of dogs and cats on vacation.

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Don't overuse one–it tends to sound stuffy in American English. If by you you mean people in general, choose another word: people, society, everyone, most Americans.

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Multiple Choice

Which of these sentences is WRONG?

• You never know what to expect

• One never knows what to expect.