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Adapted from The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1774; trans. Boylan 1854)
Wilhelm, what is the world to our hearts without love. What is a magic-lantern without light? You have but too kindle the flame within, and the brightest figures shine on the white wall; and, were love only to show us fleeting shadows, we are yet happy, when, like mere children, we behold it, and are transported with the splendid phantoms. I have not been able to see Charlotte today. I was prevented by company from which I could not disengage myself. What was to be done? I sent my servant to her house, that I might at least see somebody today whom had been near her. Oh, the impatience with which I waited for his return! Oh, the joy with which I welcomed him. I should certainly have caught him in my arms and kissed him, if I had not been ashamed.
It is said that the Bonona stone, when placed in the sun, attracts its rays and for a time appears luminous in the dark. So was it with me and this servant. The idea that Charlotte's eyes had dwelt on his countenance, his cheek, his very apparel, endeared it all inestimably to me so that, at that moment, I would not have parted from him for a thousand crowns. His presence made me so happy! Beware of laughing at me, Wilhelm. Can that be a delusion which makes us happy?
Which of the following is the best form of the underlined selection, "that I might at least see somebody today whom had been near her"?
As written, the error in the selection is its misuse of the relative pronoun "whom." "Whom" is used when you are designating an object. A simple example is the use of a prepositional phrase: "to whom I gave . . ." In our selection, the relative pronoun is describing a person who would have at least been near Charlotte. It is the servant—the "who"—that is near. Therefore, in the relative clause, "who" designates the subject of the verb, thus requiring "who," _not "_whom."
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Adapted from The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1774; trans. Boylan 1854)
Wilhelm, what is the world to our hearts without love. What is a magic-lantern without light? You have but too kindle the flame within, and the brightest figures shine on the white wall; and, were love only to show us fleeting shadows, we are yet happy, when, like mere children, we behold it, and are transported with the splendid phantoms. I have not been able to see Charlotte today. I was prevented by company from which I could not disengage myself. What was to be done? I sent my servant to her house, that I might at least see somebody today whom had been near her. Oh, the impatience with which I waited for his return! Oh, the joy with which I welcomed him. I should certainly have caught him in my arms and kissed him, if I had not been ashamed.
It is said that the Bonona stone, when placed in the sun, attracts its rays and for a time appears luminous in the dark. So was it with me and this servant. The idea that Charlotte's eyes had dwelt on his countenance, his cheek, his very apparel, endeared it all inestimably to me so that, at that moment, I would not have parted from him for a thousand crowns. His presence made me so happy! Beware of laughing at me, Wilhelm. Can that be a delusion which makes us happy?
Which of the following is the best form of the underlined selection, "with me and this servant"?
There are two things to note for this question. First, the appropriate personal pronoun to use is "me"—even though you might be tempted to use "I." If you are confused, remove everything else and keep only the preposition and the pronoun. You would never say "with I." Instead, you would say, "with me." Keep "me." The only thing that needs to change is the order. Generally speaking, you should place the first-person pronoun last when referring to yourself in a group. Therefore the better for is "this servant and me" not "me and this servant."
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Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
Ellen cannot complete the daily sales reports as quickly or efficiently as me.
The sentence is an ellipsis ("as I can") and thus requires the subject pronoun "I"
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The witness turned and pointed a shaky finger at the person that had fired the gun into the air.
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
"Who"is used for people. "That" and "which" are used for things. In addition, "person that fired" changes the tense of the verb "fired," and introduces confusion into the sentence.
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"Our Family Trip to Hawaii" by Jennifer Mings (2013)
Last summer, my mother, sister, brother, and me took a trip to Honolulu, Hawaii. We were excited to see everything, and couldn’t wait to arrive. After our lengthy plane ride, we stepped off of the plane in a daze. There was two flight attendants who immediately greeted us, putting flower wreaths around our necks. We then met up with our tour guide; and he told us that we would be going straight to Pearl Harbor.
On our way to Pearl Harbor, there was a largely immense amount of traffic, something that aggravated my mother. Luckily, the tour guide was a native of the island, and he was able to calm my mother down.
When we finally arrived at Pearl Harbor, there was many tourists and natives of different nationalities. The first thing we did when we arrived was watching a movie about the history of Pearl Harbor, which included the story of the USS Arizona. During the movie, everyone had been excited to see the USS Arizona Memorial and wanted to get on the boat. After, we all got on a boat and we were driven to the USS Arizona Memorial. It was an amazing, beautiful, gorgeous, and great experience for everyone.
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
The comma placement is correct in the passage, but “me” must be changed to “I” in order for the sentence to be grammatically correct.
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Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
I run more than him, so I should beat him in the race.
The first clause compares the pronouns “I” and “him,” which are in different cases. To properly compare them, you must match “I” with “he.” Another way to remember this rule is that the clause has colloquially dropped the verb “does.” When added back in, this would correctly read as “I run more than he does.”
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Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
When Margaret got back from the business meeting, she excitedly told me whom she had sat next to: the company’s CEO.
In this case, it is necessary to use “whom” instead of “who.” An easy way to remember which to use is to rearrange the sentence to see if you can replace the noun in question with either “he” or “him.” If you can do so, you should use "whom," not "who." Here, the rearranged sentence might read: “Margaret excitedly told me about the CEO and about how she had sat next to him,” which indicates the usage of “whom” (and “he” would correlate with using “who.”)
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Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
Every Thursday night, Eric, Alex, and me get together to see a movie.
The comma usage is correct but “me” must be changed to “I” in order for the sentence to be grammatically correct. A good way to break this down is to use just the last two nouns to see what sounds right (“Alex and me get together” vs. “Alex and I get together”).
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As the class entered the museum, Ms. Johnson noticed that two of her students had fallen behind the group. After all of the tickets had been secured, she approached the two girls, saying: “what on Earth is causing you to go so slow?” The taller girl, whose name was Ashley, was the first to respond:
“Veronica and I were just discussing something very private. Nobody can hear what her and I are discussing.”
“Well, Ashley, I think that our tour guide, Dr. Mitchell, will be offended by your behavior. You and Veronica should find separate places in the group and you should pay attention to him and me.”
The two girls reluctantly joined the rest of the class. Ms. Johnson looked to see if another student was out of their place, but everything seemed to be in order. The tour guide, Dr. Mitchell, introduced himself to the class:
“Hello everyone! My name is Dr. Mitchell. I’m so glad that you have all come to the Museum of Natural History today; I think you’ll really enjoy our exhibits, which have been curated with the utmost care. The museum has three distinct types of exhibitions. Permanent exhibitions, temporary exhibitions, and space shows. The permanent exhibition and the space show is always available for viewing, but the temporary exhibition changes seasonally.“
Having finished his introduction, the permanent exhibition was the first thing that Dr. Mitchell showed to the class.
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
Veronica and Ashley are the subjects doing the discussing, so we must use a pronoun that functions as a subject, not an object. These pronouns are I, you, she, he, we, and they. In this case, the correct answer is "she and I."
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As the class entered the museum, Ms. Johnson noticed that two of her students had fallen behind the group. After all of the tickets had been secured, she approached the two girls, saying: “what on Earth is causing you to go so slow?” The taller girl, whose name was Ashley, was the first to respond:
“Veronica and I were just discussing something very private. Nobody can hear what her and I are discussing.”
“Well, Ashley, I think that our tour guide, Dr. Mitchell, will be offended by your behavior. You and Veronica should find separate places in the group and you should pay attention to him and me.”
The two girls reluctantly joined the rest of the class. Ms. Johnson looked to see if another student was out of their place, but everything seemed to be in order. The tour guide, Dr. Mitchell, introduced himself to the class:
“Hello everyone! My name is Dr. Mitchell. I’m so glad that you have all come to the Museum of Natural History today; I think you’ll really enjoy our exhibits, which have been curated with the utmost care. The museum has three distinct types of exhibitions. Permanent exhibitions, temporary exhibitions, and space shows. The permanent exhibition and the space show is always available for viewing, but the temporary exhibition changes seasonally.“
Having finished his introduction, the permanent exhibition was the first thing that Dr. Mitchell showed to the class.
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
In the phrase "pay attention to __________," the blank represents the place where we need to insert two pronouns. Because the blank follows a preposition ("to"), the blank is the object of the preposition. This means that we need to use one of the following pronouns: me, you, her, him, them, us (rather than "I," "you," "she," "he," etc.).
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Between you and I, we could not send you to that private high school because the tuition was so expensive.
After the preposition "between," one uses the objects pronouns "you" and "me."
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Me and the general always took a stroll in the morning.
The underlined portion is an incorrect usage of "me." A good rule of thumb, and the best way to find the answer, is to see which pronoun is appropriate alone, "me" or "I." "The general and I" is the correct answer.
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She and him have been bitter enemies since they were children in Little League.
The use of the pronoun "him" is incorrect in the sentence, as it used as the subject, but can only be used as the object of the sentence. The pronoun needs to be changed to "he," but otherwise the sentence is absolutely correct. Therefore, the correct answer choice is "She and he have been."
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
She and him do not dance under any circumstances.
Using "she and him" is always incorrect, as "she" is a subject and "him" is an object. The best way to fix this is to use "they" and its correct verb usage, "do not."
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The newspaper was delivered every morning to him and I.
The underlined portion of the sentence is the object, and both words need to be in the objective form. "Him" is objective, but "I" should only be used as a subject. The correct answer is "to me and him."
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Me and you have never seen eye to eye on any issue.
The problem with the sentence is in the two pronouns underlined. The correct usage of the first person pronoun as an object is "I," not "me." Additionally, "you" should come before "I."
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices repeats the underlined portion as it is written.
Me and him were just coming up the hill when we saw it.
Both "me" and "him" are objective pronouns, and as such can only be used as objects; however, in this sentence, they are the subjects. The proper subject forms are "he" and "I," and should be used accordingly. The correct answer is "He and I were."
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Rounding the corner, the pedestrian quickly saw the entirety of the cities skyline.
The underlined portion of the sentence has an issue with the word "cities." The word is actually used as a possessive, instead of the plural form that is written in the sentence. The appropriate form is "of the city's skyline."
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Our dad's detailed lectures were rarely understood by my brother and I.
The key issue in the underlined portion of the sentence is the use of the first person pronoun, "I." "I" is the subjective form, but is used as an object in the sentence. Thus, it needs to be changed to the object form "me," making "for me and my brother" the correct answer choice.
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Me and my best friend always went down to the river on Saturdays in the summer.
The use of "me" as a subject in a sentence is always incorrect. As a subject, "I" is the correct first person singular pronoun, and should always be the final subject when more than one is mentioned; therefore, "My best friend and I" is the correct answer choice.
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