| There are occasions when you do not need to use a pronoun at all, although people often do anyway. The sentence A writer who draws on personal experience for _____ material should not be surprised if the reviewers seize on that fact is actually complete as it stands and needs no pronoun. It is good policy to try sentences like these without the pronoun to see how they sound. | 1 |
| In other situations the indefinite or definite article will serve nicely. Thus you can complete sentences like A child who develops this sort of rash on _____ hands should probably be kept at home for a couple of days and Every student handed in _____ assignment with the definite article the. And you can use the indefinite article a or an in sentences like A parent who feels _____ child has been treated unfairly should bring the matter up with the principal and Every student handed in _____ assignment. In such cases these solutions are perfectly acceptable, but it may not always be idiomatic to replace a pronoun with an article. | 2 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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