I truly believe the pronoun is the most powerful of the eight parts of speech in the English language. For whatever reason, there’s nothing I believe the human ear hears more than a substitute of a certain object, person or groups of people. Here are four cases where I believe pronouns are key:
Meeting a fairly new friend
‘We should catch a concert sometime.’ Vs. ‘I love live music. I always catch Coldplay every time they make in town.’
The ‘We’ lets the new friend know you see them hanging out in the near future. It’s an open-invite. Pretty cool that that recent acquaintance now views you as someone to call to hang out with on the weekends. Although, the incorrect phrase may be used if you don’t share a common taste of music as many of my good friends would rather die than go to a Zac Brown Band or Keith Urban concert…and that’s okay.
Team Activities
‘We are going to crush this team.’ Vs. ‘I’ll handle these guys. They’ve got nothing on me.’
The ollll ‘There’s no I in team’ phrase is so cheesy, but ohhh so true. In the above scenario, whoever else was on board no longer feels you view them as included. Therefore, chances of them giving it 110% when they step up to the plate are now slim to none. ‘We’ ‘Us’ keeps everyone involved, inspired and cheering for the same shared goal. ‘Me’ ‘Mine’ ‘My’ does not.
The Political Conversation
‘Well if Our Government…’ Vs. ‘Well if your government…’
Whether your talking about the failing postal industry or the latest GOP debate, once you turn ‘our’ to ‘your’ that not only puts everyone on the defensive, but usually draws the line between red vs. blue. Want to keep the casual dinner conversation from getting heated? Stick to ‘our’. Hell, want to stir the pot? Go with ‘your’. It’s your call.
The date
‘What are you going to have for dinner?’ Vs. ’She’ll have the duck.’
With the latter, the dates over. 1. Duck is gamey. 2. ‘He‘ assumed what you’ll be eating for dinner. Check, please!
If you need a good refresher on pronouns, there’s nothing I loved better growing up than Grammar Rock. ‘They love us and we love them and what’s our is theirs and that’s how it is with friends.’ God, who knew Grammar Rock could get it so right.
