playing football, but as it is written it means something quite different. The sentence should be," Mr. Harvey did not approve of John's playing football."

Pronouns, Case. The personal pronouns I, he, she, we, they, and the conjunctive pronoun who have different forms to indicate case, and hence mistakes are often made in their use. Such sentences are commonly heard as, "You and me are invited," "He called for you and I," "It is me.” By analyzing these sentences the mistakes will be made apparent. The way to avoid these and similar errors is to consider which case of the pronoun is required, and then use the correct form for that case.

The nominative form who is often incorrectly used for the objective whom, as in " I do not know who you refer to," "He is the man who I met." In the first example who is the object of the preposition to, and should have the objective form whom. If one is careful in such cases as this to avoid ending the sentence with a preposition, the wrong form will not be used, as one would never say to who. In the second example who is used as the object of the verb meant, and therefore should have the objective form whom. Great care must be exercised in the use of the different forms of these pronouns.

A pronoun immediately preceding an infinitive in -ing should have the possessive form. For example, " Father will not consent to my going," not, "Father will not consent to me going."

Agreement of Pronoun with Antecedent. A pronoun must be of the same number, gender, and person as its antecedent. The antecedent of a pronoun is the substantive for which it is used. Violations of the agreement of pro

nouns with their antecedents are so common that special attention must be given to the subject.

Number. When the antecedent is singular in number, the pronoun that refers to it must be singular also. When the antecedent is plural in number, the pronoun that refers to it must be plural.

One will succeed if one strives. [Not: If they strive.]
Each of the men does his best. [Not: Do their best.]
All do not follow the convictions of their consciences.
Both said they found the task pleasant.

Gender and Person. One is not so likely to fail to preserve the agreement between a pronoun and its antecedent in gender and person as in number, but occasional mistakes are made. Always be careful to use the same gender and person of a pronoun as that of the antecedent to which it refers.

One cannot always give his reason for his actions.
Every one said he would do his best.

Not one of them brought his lunch.

-The same pro

Antecedent should be Unmistakable. noun form should not be used to refer to more than one antecedent, unless it can be so placed that no uncertainty will exist as to what is its antecedent. "The Indian of majestic bearing, whom the poet loved to picture, is gone; and his meek descendant now bends his knee before the white man, who by his superior strength drove his father from his ancient hunting ground." In this sentence the same pronoun (his) is used to refer to three different antecedents, and it requires some effort to determine to which of these it refers in each case. The antecedent should be unmistakable, and then only such pronouns should be used as will leave no doubt as to what they refer.

Position of Pronouns. - A pronoun should be placed as near as possible to its antecedent, or the sentence must be so constructed that there can be no doubt regarding the antecedent of each pronoun. Unless this direction is carefully followed, much confusion is likely to result; for when several substantives come between a pronoun and its antecedent, it is often difficult to determine to which one of them the pronoun refers, and thus the meaning of a sentence may be uncertain.

"When Benjamin Franklin first came to Philadelphia he was seen by his future wife eating a loaf of bread as he walked along the street, which he held in his hand."

In this sentence which refers to bread, but as it is placed it seems to refer to street. The clause, "As he walked along the street," should not have been placed between the pronoun which and its antecedent bread.

"Either" and "Neither." Either and neither should not be used for any one and no one. Either and neither are used when two persons or things are meant, any one and no one when more than two persons or things are meant. Say, "You may have either of the two apples," and "You may have any one of the three apples." Neither of my two sisters is here," and, "Not one of your many friends will desert you."

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Necessary Pronouns. Necessary pronouns are often omitted in conversation and sometimes in writing as well, as in the following:

You need not trouble

Mrs. Jones and

about it.

daughter have just arrived to-day. Having gone this far am going farther.

Necessary pronouns should not be omitted. This is an error common in business letters, but it cannot be excused

even on the ground of brevity. Do not write, "Yours received yesterday," "In reply would say," "Books received, thanks, will remit as soon as bill is received," but write in full what you wish to say.

Unnecessary Pronouns. - Unnecessary pronouns should not be inserted, as, "John (he) told me of the accident;" "Arnold, who was the hero of Saratoga, (he) afterward turned traitor."

Supply the proper pronouns in the following:

-

3. I supposed that John was older than Mary, but he says he is younger than

4. Tell me of

winning the race.

5. Henry has invited you and

6. One is not always conscious of

to dinner.

faults.

7. The little leaf was frightened when it found falling, but the wind bore

gently to the earth.

8. I have just received a letter from the boy met on the train.

9. Both of the travelers were exhausted, and seemed able to go no farther.

10. Every one of the pupils had written

themes.

I

of

11. John said saw the bird fly to the apple tree with

13. The nest of the humming bird is of a delicate nature, outer parts are of light gray lichen and carefully placed on the tree that

are so

seem a part of the

thought,

14. I had quite made up my mind that the mutineers, after repulse of the morning, had nothing nearer hearts than to up anchor and away to sea; this, would be a fine thing to prevent, and now that had seen how had left watchmen unprovided with might be done with little risk.

a boat,

thought

K

Verbs, Number. - A verb must agree with its subject in person and number. With the exception of the verb be, which has the different forms, am, is, was, are, were, to indicate person and number, the third person, singular number, of the present tense is the only case in which verbs change their form to indicate person. To the third person, singular, present tense, s is added as, runs, thinks. There are several classes in which the agreement in number between subject-noun or pronoun and verb is frequently violated, and these require special attention.

1. Each, everybody, every one, either, and neither should be followed by verbs of the singular number.

Each comes with his lessons prepared. [Not: come.] Every one of the relatives was present. [Not: were.] Each watches the other, neither dares to advance. [Not: dare.]

If either of the forts is taken, the battle will be lost. [Not: are.]

Has either of you seen my hat? [Not: have.]

2. When a collective noun is singular in sense and refers to a collection of persons or things as a whole, it should be followed by a singular verb, but when it is plural in sense and refers to the separate individuals in a collection it is followed by a plural verb.

The committee has a difficult question to settle. (Singular idea.)

The committee are divided in their opinions. (Plural sense.)

The mob was roused to fury.

The mob scatter in all directions, muttering revenge.

3. When the subject consists of singular substantives connected by or or nor, it is followed by a singular verb, but when connected by and a plural verb is used.