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Pronouns, Point of View, and Academic Voice

Pronouns

Pronouns cause more trouble than nouns. To master pronouns, start by noticing the word “pronoun” has “noun” embedded in it. That gives us a hint that they are related, and you already know what a noun is.

What is a Pronoun?

A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun to avoid repetition.

Here is an example of how pronouns work:

Maria threw the boomerang and it came back to her.  (“it” and “her” are pronouns)

If there were no pronouns, writing and speaking would be tedious and repetitive.  The above sentence would be written like this:

Maria threw the boomerang and the boomerang came back to Maria.

The noun that is being replaced by the pronoun is called its  antecedent.  “Maria” is the antecedent of “her” and “boomerang” is the antecedent of “it.”

Compared to nouns, there are very few pronouns.  Following is a pretty complete list.  Read through it to get familiar with the kind of words that work as pronouns.

Pronouns
all she no one they
another her nothing this
any hers one those
anyone herself our us
anybody I ours you
anything it ourselves your
both its several yours
each itself some yourself
either many somebody yourselves
everybody me someone we
everyone my something what
everything myself that which
few mine their whichever
he most theirs who
him neither them whom
himself nobody themselves whoever
his none these whomever

Pronouns can be divided into lots of different types: personal, possessive, reflexive, intensive, indefinite, demonstrative, interrogative, relative, etc. Don’t let that overwhelm you. Pronouns all have the same basic job: they replace nouns to avoid repetition.

Correcting Pronoun Errors

Pronoun errors are the second most common error in college writing (comma errors are #1), so it is worth your time to study pronouns and understand how to use them correctly.

The three most common pronoun errors are these:

  • unclear pronoun reference
  • lack of noun/pronoun agreement
  • shifts in person

Error #1: Unclear Pronoun Reference

If we don’t understand which noun the pronoun has replaced, that is called an unclear pronoun reference. For example:

Before syncing my phone with my laptop, I deleted everything on it. (What does the pronoun “it” refer to? The phone or the laptop? This is an example of an unclear pronoun reference.)

A clearer explanation would be this:

I deleted everything on my phone before syncing it with my laptop. (Now “it” clearly refers to the phone.)

Tip

People in the transgender and gender non-conforming communities often use the pronoun “they” to refer to one person. In the past, we would not say, “Mason has a new cat because they love cats.” Traditional grammar required a singular pronoun when referring to a singular noun. But respect for an individual’s identity is an important part of the evolution of language.

Don’t assume which pronoun a person uses. It is okay to politely ask people their pronoun.

Error #2: Lack of Noun/Pronoun Agreement

Pronouns must agree in number with the nouns to which they refer. If the noun is singular, the pronoun replacing it should also be singular. If the noun is plural, the pronoun replacing it should be plural. For example:

  • The parrot (singular) sat on its (singular) perch.
  • The parrots (plural) sat on their (plural) perches.

When referring to several people, it can be tempting to avoid sexist language by using both male and female pronouns rather than defaulting to male. For example:

  • Sexist: An actor must share his emotions.
  • Not sexist, but awkward: An actor must share her or his emotions.
  • A better fix: Actors must share their emotions.

Although many singular pronouns in English reflect a specific gender (he, she, him, her), most plural pronouns do not (they, them, their, we, us).

Error #3: Shifts in Person

To understand what “person” means, imagine a conversation between three people. The first person would speak using “I.” That person would talk to a second person using “you.” When they talk about a third person, they use “he,” “she” or “they.”

  • First person pronouns: I, me, mine, we, us, ours
  • Second person pronouns: you, yours
  • Third person pronouns: he, him, his, she, her, they, them, theirs, one, anyone, it, its

First, second, and third person should not be incorrectly mixed. That is called “shifts in person.” For example:

Tip

Don’t use second person (“you”) in college or business writing. It is too casual. Use first person (“I”) or third person (“she,” “he,” “them”) instead.

With our delivery service, customers can pay for their groceries when ordering or when you receive them. (“Customers” is third person, so “you,” which is second person, is a shift in person.)

Here is how the sentence should read:

With our delivery service, customers can pay when they order or when they receive the groceries.”

Three More Quick Pronoun Guidelines

  1. The words “who,” “whom,” and “whose” refer only to people. The word “which” refers to things. The word “that” can refer to people or things. Never write “I have a dog who bites.”
  2. To decide whether to use “me” or “I,” take out the other person’s name and see if the sentence sounds right: “The teacher looked at Maria and I.” sounds wrong. “The teacher looked at Maria and me.” is correct.
  3. Never put a pronoun directly after a noun. For example: “Christine she went to work earlier than usual.” Delete either the pronoun “she” or the noun “Christine.”

The above information should give you everything you need to use pronouns correctly. Study the information until you actually understand it.

Exercise 1: Pronoun Errors — Instructions

  • Correct any pronoun errors.
  • Don’t guess.
  • Refer to the information above and figure out the correct answer.
  • Select the errors you see in the activity.
  • Select the check button check your work.

Exercise 2: Identify the Pronouns — Instructions

  • The nouns are highlighted using bold text.
  • Look for any words in the sentences that are pronouns.
  • Most sentences have nouns, but some sentences will have pronouns.
  • Click to select words you think are pronouns.
  • Click on the check button check your work.

Point of View

Scholarly writing limits the use of personal pronouns. While you should first follow your professor’s instructions about allowed pronouns, here are some general guidelines:

  • Limit using first person singular unless you are writing a personal narrative or reflection paper.
  • Never use second person point of view—doing so can alienate your reader*

Overall, using third-person point-of-view is best. Feeling lost? Here is a reminder of pronouns:

Singular Pronouns Plural Pronouns
1st person: I, me, my 1st person: we, us, our ours
2nd person: you, your, y’all  2nd person: you, your, y’all
3rd person: she, her, he, his, it, its, one  3rd person: they, them, their,

The singular use of “they” is becoming more common. Refer to the standards your professor and/or the format uses.

* Yes, we use second-person point-of-view throughout this book. However, the text is not a formal work prepared for submitting to a professor or a journal. It is a teaching tool, so it is written in a more relaxed style.

Academic Voice

Assuming that your audience is a teacher of some sort, your main purpose is to demonstrate your ability to articulate knowledge and experience. When writing a research paper and other academic writing (what is called academic discourse) you’ll want to use what is called the academic voice, which is meant to sound objective, authoritative, and reasonable. While a research paper will be based on your opinion on a topic, it will be an opinion based on evidence (from your research) and one that has been argued in a rational manner in your paper.

You use the academic voice because your opinion is based on thinking; in your paper you’re revealing your thought process to your reader. Because you’ll be appealing to reason, you want to use the voice of one intellectual talking to another intellectual.

If the subject matter for your academic writing isn’t personal, as in the case of a formal research paper, you would take on a more detached, objective tone. While you may indeed feel strongly about what you’re writing about, you should maintain a professional tone, rather than a friendly or intimate one.

However, it’s important to note that even the most formal academic voice does not need to include convoluted sentence structure or abstract, stilted language, as some believe. As with all writing, you should strive to write with clarity and an active voice that avoids jargon. All readers appreciate a vigorous, lively voice.

Instead of:

The utilization of teams as a way of optimizing our capacity to meet and prioritize our goals will impact the productivity of the company.

Write:

Teams will execute the goals and enhance the company’s output.

Of course, the decision about whether you use a specialized vocabulary depends entirely on who your audience is and the purpose of the paper.

Remember

Some academic writing will require a more personal tone, such as when you are writing a formal narrative essay or perhaps an ethnography (study of a culture) essay. In general, the academic voice is a formal one, but there will be variations based on the situation.

Tips on Academic Voice

Before we get into our tips, let’s look at a paragraph from an essay on the pros and cons of telemedicine in healthcare. This essay was written with a casual voice.

Way before the pandemic happened, you could see a doctor using video chat if you couldn’t make it to a hospital. It is also true though that people are using telehealth options even more now since COVID. The pros of telemedicine are being able to access more doctors, less time in a waiting room, and also it is more convenient than going to the ER. However, telemedicine does have cons in my opinion. When you see a doctor over a telehealth platform, they can’t do a regular physical, which could mean your symptoms get overlooked. Other negatives are not everyone has a computer, and also there could be a data breach. In this essay I will explore the pros and cons of telemedicine and how to use it in the future.

Now, let’s rewrite that paragraph in the academic voice:

Telemedicine has been around since well before the COVID pandemic and has helped extend care to those who couldn’t make it to a hospital. Since the pandemic, however, the telehealth visit has become an increasingly popular choice for both patients and providers. The pros of telemedicine include greater accessibility to healthcare services, especially for those in remote areas, reduced wait times, and the convenience of avoiding costly trips to the hospital or emergency room for minor issues. Despite these advantages, however, telemedicine also has its downsides. In a telehealth visit, a practitioner cannot perform a basic physical exam, for example, and the lack of in-person observation could cause potentially serious symptoms to be overlooked. Other cons include possible technological barriers for some patients as well as concerns over privacy and data security. As the possibilities in telemedicine continue to evolve, it will be essential to weigh both the benefits and challenges to understand its proper role in the future of healthcare.

What tips did we use to find our academic voice?

Illustration of three individuals presenting or speaking formally. One man gestures confidently with an open palm, one woman speaks into a microphone with expressive hand movements, and another man holds a microphone with a composed posture, representing varied styles of academic communication and presentation.

Tip #1: Avoid using informal language.

Instead of:
Way before the pandemic happened, you could see a doctor using video chat if you couldn’t make it to a hospital.

Write:
Telemedicine has been around since well before the COVID pandemic and has helped extend care to those who couldn’t make it to a hospital.

Tip #2: Avoid using second person pronouns (“you”).

Instead of:
Way before the pandemic happened, you could see a doctor using video chat if you couldn’t make it to a hospital.

Write:
Telemedicine has been around since well before the COVID pandemic and has helped extend care to those who couldn’t make it to a hospital.

Tip #3: Use abbreviations sparingly, especially for common terms.

Instead of:
The pros of telemedicine are being able to access more doctors, less time in a waiting room, and also it is more convenient than going to the ER.

Write:
The pros of telemedicine include greater accessibility to healthcare services, especially for those in remote areas, reduced wait times, and the convenience of avoiding costly trips to the hospital or emergency room for minor issues.

Sometimes, abbreviations might be necessary if 1) a reader is more familiar with the abbreviation than the term (like RSVP), or, 2) the term being abbreviated is particularly cumbersome (we would rather write NASDAQ than National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations). Writers should use their judgement.

Tip #4: Avoid contractions.

Instead of:
When you see a doctor over a telehealth platform, they can’t do a regular physical, which could mean your symptoms get overlooked.

Write:
In a telehealth visit, a practitioner cannot perform a basic physical exam, for example, and the lack of in-person observation could cause potentially serious symptoms to be overlooked.

Tip #5: Don’t use the first person (“I”) and avoid describing what the essay will do.

Instead of:
In this essay I will explore the pros and cons of telemedicine and how to use it in the future.

Write:
As the possibilities in telemedicine continue to evolve, it will be essential to weigh both the benefits and challenges to understand its proper role in the future of healthcare.

If you are writing something less formal than a research paper, like an editorial or opinion essay, it might be okay to use the first person, while utilizing some of these other tips to make your writing sound more authoritative. Adjust your voice depending on the assignment.

However, phrases like “in this essay” are cliche and can almost always be rephrased in a way that actually shows what your argument will be.

See It in Practice

In the following video, we’ll check in on our student as she reflects on the tone of voice she’ll use in her essay. You’ll notice her struggles as she considers how she’ll keep a formal tone for an essay that requires some examples of informal language.

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Grammar and Mechanics: Advance Your Knowledge and Skills Copyright © by Teresa Gonzales is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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