demonstrative-pronouns

Why doesn’t possessive “his” have distinct forms like “her” vs. “hers”?

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I’m trying to understand why there is a difference between the possessive determiner and pronoun for the female gender (her vs hers) but not for the male gender (his is used for both). “This will be discussed with him and his parents will be informed” and “This will be discussed with her and her parents … Read more

“Which” or “what” or … when referring to a main clause?

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There are many answered questions that address the usage of “which” and “what” on this site—many of them marked as duplicates—and there is even a specific tag for this topic. But I could not find any answer for the following question: Should I use “which” or “what” or something else if I want to express … Read more

Is there any such thing as noun pronoun proximity?

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I have read of Concord (or noun-verb agreement) and was wondering if, is as I have been told, there is a similar grammar rule for noun-pronoun agreement/proximity. When there’s a sentence where two nouns are given and a pronoun used, to which noun will the pronoun be assigned? Carol visited Mary. Mary is the lady … Read more

Can “What” or “Which” be used as demonstrative pronouns?

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Can what or which be used as demonstrative pronouns (this, that, those)? Instead of What colors are you using to paint the waterfall and how are you using those colors? is the following also grammatically correct? How are you using what colors to paint the waterfall? Instead of What information are marketers trying to convey … Read more

Using ‘I’ with ‘who’ in a sentence. Is this grammatically correct?

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I am not sure whether the following sentence is grammatically correct. Could someone please guide me on this? Is there a better alternative? I am the new CEO of this company who has taken over from Josh. Thanks! Answer “Who” is a pronoun for the subject, and “I” is the subject of this sentence, so … Read more

The all too frequent conundrum involving “who” and “whom”

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Sir Reginald Wingate, a British general, is said to have described the Bedouin as “an untrained rabble, most of whom have never fired a rifle.” Should it not have been “who” instead of “whom” in that sentence fragment? Google search for “most of who have” returns about 2,70,00,000 results. While a similar search for “most … Read more

Is “Who art” correct?

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I came across these lines in a hymn: Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,Which wert and art, and ever more shalt be. I noticed that “wert”, “art”, and “shalt” were used with the subject “which” in the last line instead of which “thou.” At first I thought this was just a grammatical mistake on … Read more