Confusion Buster: "We" and "They" Substitution



Like many of students who have encountered the pronouns “we” and “they”, I also get confused in substituting nouns with these plural pronouns —  especially in sentences where I thought I was included with the ones being referred to. Like for example the nouns “youth”, “students” or “children” (when I was still a student) used with another noun like:

1. The government leaders and the youth are expected to join the Recycling Summit.

I was assuming before that being a “youth” too when I was in highschool or college, I was among those who are being talked about that is why I get confused whether to change the compound subject to “they” or “we”.




It should be:
They are expected to join the Recycling Summit.


2.  The teacher and her students have agreed to represent the University in the upcoming “Investigatory Project” Competition.

It should be:
They have agreed to represent the University in the upcoming “Investigatory Project” Competition.

Again, in this sentence I thought that I belong to the “students” being talked about in this sentence.

One thing to remember is that when the compound subject is anything but with the pronoun “I” – use “THEY”.  Contrary to these examples below:

The Chairman and I are expected to join the Recycling Summit.

It should be:
We are expected to join the Recycling Summit.

My teacher and I have agreed to represent the University in the upcoming Investigatory Project Competition.

It should be:
We have agreed to represent the University in the upcoming Investigatory Project Competition.


In those examples above, the correct form would be “WE”. The hint is the use of the pronoun “I” in the sentence.

Do not forget when the pronoun “I” is not in the compound subject, no matter how close the noun refers to you – it has to be “THEY”


When you see the pronoun “I” along with another noun in a compound subject, that is just the time that “WE” must be chosen to replace the compound subject.

I hope  this bit of knowledge has helped you. Thanks for reading and have a great day! If it had helped you, re-share this post on your favorite social sites, pin it or tweet it.  Thanks  for  that :)

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Family, Daily Living & Style by Angelita Galiza-Madera is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.