7. Do not use myself as the subject. It can be used only as an emphatic or reflexive pronoun. It is correct to say, I found the book myself, and I hurt myself. But do not say, They asked my friend and myself, or Myself and my wife will go. Say, They asked my friend and me. My wife and I will go.
8. Avoid the use of pronouns when the reference to the antecedent is not clear. Better repeat the nouns or re-write the sentence. For example:
- He said to his friend that if he did not feel better soon he thought he had better go home.
Now you can interpret this in at least four different ways. No one but the speaker can ever know to whom the pronouns he refer, whether to the speaker or to his friend. Or in the sentence,
- A tried to see B in the crowd, but could not because he was so short.
Who was short, A or B? John's father died before he was born. Did John's father die before John was born or did John's father die before John's father, himself, was born? Be careful in the use of pronouns in this way.
9. Remember that I, we, he, she, they and who are always used as subject forms and also as the complement of all forms of the verb be.
10. Remember that me, him, her, them, us and whom are always object forms. Never say, They charged he and I too much. Say, They charged him and me too much. In an attempt to speak correctly and follow the niceties of English, this mistake is so often made. Always use the object form as the object of a verb or preposition.
11. When a participle is used as a noun, and a pronoun is used with it, the pronoun should always be in the possessive form. We make this mistake so frequently. For example, we say: Us going there was a mistake. We should have used the possessive form, Our going there was a mistake. I have never known of him being absent from work. We should say: I have never known of his being absent from work. Did he tell you about me joining with them? This should be, Did he tell you about my joining with them? You talking to him set him to thinking. This should be, Your talking to him set him to thinking. Watch this and wherever you have used a participle as a noun, use the pronoun in the possessive form, as you would with any other noun.
12. Watch carefully that the number of the pronoun always agrees with the number of its antecedent. If you are speaking of one person or thing use a singular pronoun. If you are speaking of more than one person or thing in your antecedent, use the plural pronoun. For example: Each man must do his own work. The soldiers fully understood their danger.