Pronoun case, reference and identifying clauses
Make pronouns and verbs agree with their actual roles, and use punctuation that preserves which people or things a clause identifies.
What you will tackle
- Use reflexive and relative pronoun forms
- Find subjects in inverted sentences and indefinite-pronoun constructions
- Distinguish identifying and supplementary clauses
- Resolve pronoun reference without changing meaning
Case follows the grammatical role
Who is a subject form; whom is an object form in formal edited usage. A reflexive pronoun such as herself refers back to the same clause's subject, as in ‘Maya taught herself’. It does not replace an ordinary object when no matching subject exists. ‘Send it to Maya and me’ needs object me, not myself.
Find the subject and intended group
In ‘There are two reasons’, the grammatical subject is reasons, not there. Everyone, each and neither used as singular indefinite subjects take singular verbs in these examples; an intervening plural phrase does not change the head. An identifying clause selects which members are meant and normally has no surrounding commas. A supplementary clause adds information about already-identified members and uses paired commas. The intended context determines the choice.
Build your notes, then practise
Work on paper before opening an explanation. Guided tasks provide a starting point; independent tasks remove the scaffolding; application tasks ask you to justify a method or interpretation in context.
Guided practice
Guided 1
Correct ‘Each of the maps show a route’ and ‘There is two reasons’. Choose ‘The researcher who/whom wrote the report’ and ‘Maya taught her/herself’ when Maya was her own teacher.
Show a starting hint
Temporarily remove phrases between the subject and verb.
Compare with the explained answer
- Each is the singular subject, giving shows; reasons is plural, giving are.
- The relative pronoun is the subject of wrote, so use who.
- The learner and subject are the same person, so use herself.
Answer / response criteria: shows; are; who; herself.
Independent practice
Independent 1
Correct ‘Send the file to Sam and myself.’ Choose ‘the colleague who/whom we consulted’. A group includes students with and without passes: punctuate ‘Students who have passes may enter’ so only pass-holders are admitted.
Compare with the explained answer
- To governs object pronouns; use ‘Sam and me’. There is no subject I for myself to refer back to.
- We is the subject of consulted, and the colleague is its object, so formal usage takes whom.
- The clause identifies the eligible subset, so do not add commas around who have passes.
Answer / response criteria: Sam and me; whom; ‘Students who have passes may enter.’
Application practice
Application 1
All three named researchers already have permits. Revise ‘The three researchers which have permits was ready. Each of them have checked their own equipment.’ Use a supplementary clause to state the already-known permit fact and preserve singular each with an inclusive pronoun.
Compare with the explained answer
- For people use who; the already-known extra fact takes paired commas: ‘The three researchers, who have permits, were ready.’
- Each takes has: ‘Each of them has checked their own equipment.’
- Singular they/their can provide inclusive reference; it does not change the singular verb required by each.
Answer / response criteria: ‘The three researchers, who have permits, were ready. Each of them has checked their own equipment.’
What can you explain now?
All three named researchers already have permits. Revise ‘The three researchers which have permits was ready. Each of them have checked their own equipment.’ Use a supplementary clause to state the already-known permit fact and preserve singular each with an inclusive pronoun.
Compare with the explanation
‘The three researchers, who have permits, were ready. Each of them has checked their own equipment.’
Explain the reasoning before comparing. This review records your self-assessment rather than an official score or mastery decision.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
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Source and review status
Coverage follows the named requirements and examples in the 2026–2027 ACT test guide and subject descriptions. That guide explicitly does not list every possible topic. The broader coded College and Career Readiness Standards are also mapped to conceptual teaching and practice; this does not calibrate a learner to a score band. The separate scientific-background context list and reading-complexity rubric have their own stated limits.
Original teaching and explained self-check practice are available. Specialist review and difficulty calibration remain pending. Essays require self-check or teacher review and are not automatically marked or awarded official scores.
Official source specification / guide