Do you find it difficult, particularly when writing, to determine when to use English pronouns or the identified subject they are referring to? (Perhaps you can more easily indicate WHO you are talking about through your voice, simply by your body language or an obvious context).
As I have mentioned before, writing English is quite DIFFERENT from speaking, given that you cannot presume the reader will have enough contextual details to guess what you are communicating.
When pronouns are used correctly; they prevent repetition and at the same time indicate more complex interactions between people.
Take a look at how Elizabeth Gaskell used SUBJECT PRONOUNS and POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES in this passage from her heart-warming novel, Wives and Daughters:
📙 ‘The child began to cry, and the housemaids looked at each other [in dismay with] much sympathy. Just then, they heard Mrs Kirkpatrick’s step along the passages, approaching. She was singing some little Italian air in a low musical voice, coming to her bedroom to dress for dinner. One housemaid said to the other, with a knowing look, ‘Best leave it to her;’ and they passed on to their work in the other rooms.’
– Elizabeth Gaskell, Wives and Daughters (1866), Chapter II
Consider the times when a specified subject is implicated:
‘The child began to cry, and the housemaids looked at each other [in dismay with] much sympathy. Just then, [the housemaids] heard Mrs Kirkpatrick’s step along the passages, [Mrs Kirkpatrick’s footsteps were] approaching. [Mrs Kirkpatrick] was singing some little Italian air in a low musical voice, [Mrs Kirkpatrick was] coming to her bedroom to dress for dinner. One housemaid said to the other, with a knowing look, ‘Best leave [the child] to [Mrs Kirkpatrick];’ and [the housemaids] passed on to their work in the other rooms.’
✍️ Join me in the next post for advice on how to use such pronouns correctly in your own writing.
