Improve your Writing (Pronoun Problems)

in #writing7 years ago

The double "P". Many people struggle with this one and who can blame them? Even I struggle this this as English is not my first language, but with time and effort anything is possible.


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For those of you who do not know what a pronoun is, it is something that replaces a noun. It is really important to use pronouns as it helps prevent repetition.

Here is a link that I will be using for examples and I highly suggest using this for practice and there are exercises at the bottom with answers: Link

Shift in Person

Person, is the who of the sentence, like "I, me, we, us, etc".

This is a mistake that many people make, they shift from one person to the next. If you start in first person make sure to stay in first person. Shifting between these things can make your paper sound strange.

Some writers use this for specific reasons, but for now just concentrate on getting this right until you become more comfortable with the shifts.

The General “You”

This is a word I use a lot, but it can be really effective in writing. People respond better to a direct address, but make sure you do not make them feel like you are accusing them.


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Accusatory: Once you understand the causes of obesity, you can start changing your lifestyle.
Better: Once people understand the causes of obesity, they can start changing their lifestyle.

Sexist Use of Pronouns

Many writers will use there own gender in writing, I will use he as I am a guy, this is normal. But when writing your paper avoid doing this, as some people do become offended when you use stereotypes.

A good doctor will always listen to his patients. (What about the female doctors?)
A student must apply to the nursing program if she wishes to become a nurse.(Men are also nurses.)


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Easy ways to avoid this will be to use a few vague pronouns: it, they and their are some great ones you can use.

You can even use the he or she/his or her, these can be quite useful in a more professional paper.


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Just on a little side note for self improvement. I will be doing pushups, situps and squats for the amount of $$$ (ratio;$2:1) I earn on this post and will give a short feedback every day at the end of each post. This will be split in equally between all 3. Any not done will carry onto the next day.

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they should introduce steem to schools . I am sure some students will immediately improve their english and writing skills when they see where they can use it beside daily homework.

Interesting idea, school education could use a facelift!

This is an idea I thought about last year

Since I learned English on my own, I highly appreciate this post!
It's not easy for me to write articles without any mistakes.. Still I'm doing the best I can, and I like spending my time with writing!

Keep writing, that is the secret. Reading also helps a lot.

I surely will keep on writing, and improving my grammar wherever possible.
I like reading but mostly in my own language, but you might be right and I should pick up an english book once in a while instead of a dutch one to improve more in my writing. ^^

I am resteeming it. My English skill is quite faulty. Thank you very much!

This is excellent, keep up the good work all of us who have to write outside of their original language will be grateful. Have upvoted and followed.

Im trash at writing.... i need this haha

I personally think You'r post is alright. We do like the weaker gender and hopefully there is nothing sexists in my texts ;).
Am we doing this right?

Pretty useful! Thanks

I wish you a happy day

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