Q. Hi. My question is about the use of “you” versus “your” in a participial phrase. Which is correct: “I appreciate you helping keep the house clean” or “I appreciate your helping keep the house clean”? A little ghost from grade-school grammar tells me it is the latter, but I can’t find anything in CMOS that addresses this (although I’m sure it’s there and I’ve simply missed it).
A. Your little ghost is right: “your” is the better choice here. CMOS 7.28 discusses the possessive followed by a gerund.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Could you please give a definitive answer to the its versus it’s issue? I just came back from a writing conference, and the advice we received was contradictory to everything I was taught previously, as well as contradictory to what I can find online on college websites. Most writer’s websites that I’ve checked out are claiming that the only time its is written as it’s would be when the meaning is “it is.” What happened to possessive nouns?
A. True, this can be confusing, but possessive pronouns are an exception to the rule that possessives have apostrophes. Possessive pronouns lack apostrophes: her glove, my glove, your glove, its glove. Remembering that its is a possessive pronoun should help.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am writing a thesis for my university and use the pronoun “we” instead of “I.” For example, “From this, we can conclude that . . .” I personally think this looks more scientific than using the “I” pronoun. However, a colleague of mine states that if I am the only one writing the thesis and doing the research, I should use “I,” because otherwise readers might wonder who else wrote the document. Do you know which one is better to use in my case?
A. “We” used to be more common in scholarly writing than it is now. The British use it more than Americans do. CMOS recommends using “I,” but if the literature in your field avoids this, you should follow suit. Either way, it’s fine to use “we” when referring to something that author and readers are implicitly doing together, as in your example.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is it proper to capitalize pronouns that refer to a deity? For example, “God is willing to forgive
anyone who comes to Him.”
A. Yes, although it’s not Chicago style. Capping the pronouns can imply an expression of religious faith
on the part of the writer; lowercasing them leaves the writer’s beliefs unclear. The choice of style
should be made with sensitivity to the type of reader you are addressing. Lowercasing is more inclusive, but it might offend
in some kinds of religious literature.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I have an author who continually uses He/she in the beginning of sentences. I understand that you may make that reference in the beginning, but then must choose one gender to refer to from then on because it is daunting to the reader to continually have to read He/she. I cannot find a specific CMOS reference to justify this change. Can you assist?
A. See CMOS 5.250, under “he or she”: To avoid sexist language, many writers use this alternative phrasing (in place of the generic he). Use it sparingly—preferably after exhausting all other, less obtrusive methods of achieving gender neutrality. In any event, he or she is much preferable to he/she, s/he, (s)he, and the like.” For more advice, including nine tips for achieving gender neutrality, see 5.251–61, especially 5.255.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. When writing a proposal for my company, I typically use the pronouns “we” and
“you.” For example, “We are confident that the job can be
done in the time frame you desire.” I have a colleague who insists that I should write, “Our
company (or XYZ Inc.) is confident that the job can be done within the time frame ABC Co. desires.”
I think the repetitive naming of the companies becomes tedious to read, and it becomes confusing to refer to each company
as “the firm” or whatever. I think that after the company name is mentioned at
the onset, then referring to the respondent as “we” and the recipient company
as “you” makes for clearer communication and also sounds less lofty and distancing.
What is your opinion?
A. It sounds as though you and your colleague have different writing styles and different ideas of the level of formality that’s
best for business letters. Assuming that you write to your contacts and she writes to hers, I don’t
see why this should cause a problem for anyone. If you are representing someone other than yourself, however, then you should
ask for guidance on the tone that person wishes to project.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m having trouble with “who” vs. “that.”
I understand that, in general, “who” is used with persons, while “that”
is used for groups. However, consider the following sentence: “In this way, the novel satisfies the
demand of many social scientists who/that demand a more reflexive and critical examination of an author’s
political and social context.” Are these many social scientists a group requiring “that,”
or people requiring “who”? Thanks!
A. Although there are humanists who argue to the contrary, we regard social scientists as people and use “who.”
“Who,” like “that,” may refer to groups
of people: The same jury who convicted the embezzler acquitted his alleged accomplice.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am having trouble deciding if it is “Page and I” or “Page
and me” in “Please let Page and me know.”
A. “Me” is correct, because it’s the object of the verb “let.”
When you’re having trouble with “I” vs. “me,”
try the same sentence without the double object: Please let me know. (You wouldn’t even consider saying
“Please let I know.”) The reason “Page and me”
sounds odd is that we’ve had it hammered into our brains for so long that “Page
and I” is the correct usage when the phrase is the subject of a sentence (“Page
and I are going,” not “me and Page are going”). People seem
to have developed a fear of the “Page and me” construction. But when it’s
the object of a verb or a preposition, it’s correct: Call Page and me when you’re
ready. Give the money to Page and me.
I suppose it’s conceivable that centuries from now, as English continues to evolve, “I”
and “me” in compound subjects and objects could switch places in usage. “Me
and Page are going” and “Call Page and I when you’re ready”
are already so common, it wouldn’t surprise me.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is “this is mine and Kelly’s cat” correct? Would you please explain the rules behind this sentence. Thank you.
A. Sorry—not even close. Think about it: would we say, “This is mine cat” (if we are not Shakespeare)? Rather, we say, “This is my cat,” because the word that precedes a noun (cat) as a modifier must be an adjective, like my. (The pronoun mine, however, can serve as an adjective when it’s placed after a noun: “The cat is mine.”) And since it’s polite and grammatical to put yourself last in a list of people (a custom that dies a little more every time someone says “Me and Jughead bought us a pit bull”), the correct phrasing would be “This is Kelly’s and my cat,” or, less awkwardly, “This cat is Kelly’s and mine.”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Hello CMOS. My close friends and I have decided for numerous reasons that all of the current methods of political correctness in pronouns
are silly and, simply put, not as gender neutral as they claim to be. With that in mind we decided to import the French on as both a singular and plural gender neutral pronoun. However, it has just recently occurred to me that in this situation
what would be the protocol for the genitive case of on and constructions such as his/herself, would it be on self? Thank you CMOS.
A. Well, when on decide to create on’s own grammar, I would say on get to make up all the rules onselves, n’est-ce pas? Bonne chance!
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]