Which is correct?
The bring your own device (BYOD) policy is popular with employees but it really puts a strain on __ help desk jockeys.
a. us
b. we

Answer: a.

Explanation:

Let’s simplify that sentence and take another look: You wouldn’t say “The BYOD policy puts a strain on we,” right? So “us” is the correct answer.

For practice, let’s explore the chicken context: You’d say “There’s nobody here but us,” rather than “There’s nobody here but we” so “There’s nobody here but us chickens” is correct. Of course, if help desk workers or chickens are the subject, that changes things. You’d say “We help desk jockeys are not thrilled with the BYOD policy,” for example, and “We chickens would welcome a little company.”

“We” often appears in that type of construction because people who don’t have a firm grasp of pronoun use often think that the subjective pronoun ( I, she, he, they, we or whom) is more proper. The problem doesn’t tend to come up in simple sentences, like “He gave me a lecture on mobile security” but when sentences get even slightly complicated, such people tend to default to subjective pronouns. That’s called overcorrection, kids, and it’s just as wrong as any other type of error.

Here’s a quick reference on pronoun cases:

Victoria Rose offers further discussion of pronoun cases and chickens.

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a. myself and Bob
b. Bob and myself
c. neither of the above

Answer: c.

Explanation:
Site director Margaret Rouse (@WhatIsDotCom) offered this question from her voluminous inbox. Names and details have been changed to protect the guilty, but the sentence is similar. It’s awkward! Not really incorrect, but unless you have to cleave to the original sentence structure, it’s better to simplify and improve.

Here’s what Peggy suggests: “I’d like to manage the project with Bob.” That’s better — clear and straightforward.

If we were, for some reason, constrained to keep the sentence as close as possible to the original, b. would be the correct choice because that’s the correct pronoun order. (See more about pronoun order here.)

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Answer: b.

Explanation:
Whom is the correct choice for the true grammar stickler. As the object of the sentence, whom is the correct form. As the subject, it’s who.

However, I’ll go out on a limb here and suggest that it’s time to let this one go in most situations. When’s the last time you heard someone use whom in casual conversation? Formal writing is another story — there’s still a use for whom there. But for everyday use, I think it’s anachronistic. Nevertheless, if you’re going to use whom, you want to do it the right way. There’s nothing much that makes you look sillier than using a fussy, fusty word incorrectly.

@GrammarGirl Mignon Fogarty explains who versus whom in much greater detail. She also offers this example of bad grammar:

I know, it’s shocking, but the Rolling Stones were being grammatically incorrect when they belted out the song “Who Do You Love?” which I think was originally written by Bo Diddley.

Ha. One suspects that “Whom do you love?” couldn’t pack the same rock ‘n’ roll oomph as “Who do you love?”

There’s a place for whom, but that place is getting smaller all the time. IMO, it belongs in formal writing and, possibly, some rarified circles of society — but I wouldn’t know about that. Who uses whom in writing anymore, let alone in everyday speech? If you say, for example, “Whom do you wish to speak to?” (but let’s face it — someone who uses whom is more likely to say “To whom do you wish to speak?”), odds are, whoever is calling will think you are a prissy stick.

The situation is much worse if you use whom incorrectly: People who don’t recognize the error will think you’re a prissy stick and people who do recognize it will think you’re a dimwit AND a prissy stick.

My advice? Use whom correctly when you can’t avoid it — but avoid it when you can.

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“I’ve saved the folder to Dropbox and will send the link to _________.”

a. he and Charles

b. him and Charles

c. Charles and he

d. Charles and him

Answer: b.

Explanation:

Him is the correct pronoun here, because it’s the object, not the subject. To simplify, just take Charles out of the equation. Would you ever say “I’ll send the link to he”? No, I didn’t think so.

Nevertheless, this is one mistake I hear well-educated people making very frequently. Probably the same overcorrection (AKA incorrection) that makes them use I when they should use me.

The pronoun order thing? Well, that’s just a grammar rule. Pronouns — all but I and me — precede nouns in a compound subject or object. You know — when more than one person does something or has something done to them.

@GrammarGirl Mignon Fogarty covers this one here.

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Answer: b

Explanation:
Here you have it — one of only two ways you can correctly refer to yourself AS “yourself.” The other way is as added emphasis, as in “I, myself, find it almost unbearable when people refer to themselves incorrectly  by a reflexive pronoun.”

Use the old trick of taking the other person out of the equation:

I requested a copy of the report for myself. (You wouldn’t say “I requested a copy of the report for me” or “I requested a copy of the report for I,” right?)

It’s reflexive because the subject (I) is the same person as the object (myself).

It works the same way as:

I embarrassed myself.

I treated myself.

I hurt myself.

I overextended myself.

I convinced myself.

Only I can do anything to “myself,” grammatically speaking. No one else can call “myself.” Likewise, no one can do anything along with “myself.”

Although this may sound harsh, yourself is incapable of conducting any kind of business. “You” on the other hand, might make the cover of Forbes — and be grammatically correct in your interview to boot.

See more about first person pronoun errors here.

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Explanation:
As the object of a sentence, the first person singular pronoun is me. The easy way to figure out which to use is to take the other person out of the equation. (You would never say “The decision is up to I,” would you?)

As the subject of the sentence, the first person singular pronoun is I. For example: “The CFO and I will make the final decision.” (You would never say “Me will make the final decision,” would you?)

And never, never use myself in either situation. See more about why not here.

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Myself abuse is rampant online and nowhere more so than in business communications. My fond hope is that the following rant might shine a little light into the dark corners of the Internet and, perhaps, stop one person from saying myself when the right word is I or me.

As Dr. Grammar says, “In the old days when people studied traditional grammar, we could simply say, ‘The first person singular pronoun is I when it’s a subject and me when it’s an object,’ but now few people know what that means.” How true! How sad.

What you should make note of from that, whether or not you know the parts of a sentence, is that myself is NOT one of your options for the subject or object of a sentence (except in the case where the subject and object are the same individual — I’ll explain more about that later).

Here are some terribly typical examples of myself abuse:

CEO: “Both the CFO and myself are very pleased with the second quarter results.” Ugh.

When you’ve got a compound subject (more than one “doer” in a sentence), you can get an idea of how wrong myself is by taking the other person out of the equation. In this case, you’re left with: “Myself am very pleased with the second quarter results.” Now, what you have understand is that the first sentence sounds every bit as stupid as that one to people who have a grasp of this grammatical rule. And there could be some listening to you.

CEO: “The second quarter results delighted both the CFO and myself.” (Does “The second quarter results delighted myself” sound okay to you? I hope not.)

Let’s look at a couple more all-too typical examples of myself abuse:

Wrong: John or myself will be available for questions after the presentation. (Myself will be available for questions after the presentation.)

Right: John or I will be available for questions after the presentation. (I will be available for questions after the presentation.)

Wrong: Please call John or myself if you have any questions. (Please call myself if you have any questions.)

Right: Please call John or me if you have any questions. (Please call me if you have any questions.)

The most common correct use of the word myself is as a reflexive pronoun. (This is what I was talking about earlier.) That means that the subject and the object of the sentence are the same individual. Here’s an example of how that works in a sentence: I embarrass myself when I use the wrong word.

Only I can do anything to myself, grammatically speaking. Same thing for you and yourself, he and himself, she and herself. If, for example, anyone else is doing the calling in the above sentence, they have to call me – myself is not taking calls.

I, myself is a construction that some find objectionable but that is not strictly incorrect. It’s generally used to emphasize a personal preference or difference and to indicate that the preference or difference may vary from the norm.

Here’s an example:

“I, myself, would rather stick sharp objects in my eyes than hear the CEO refer to himself as ‘myself’ one more time.”

The issue with myself abuse may be mostly that people can’t stop and think which pronoun to use when they’re in the middle of speaking. However, even if you can’t quickly work it out, I suggest you choose either I or me and run with it because that will give you a 50-50 chance of being right. Don’t just default to myself — that will make you wrong 100 percent of the time.

Ivy Wigmore is Content Editor on WhatIs.com and chief grammar blogger on Writing for Business. You can follow her on Twitter @tao_of_grammar.

The CFO and ____ are very optimistic about the potential of Metro Ethernet.
a. me
b. myself
c. I

Answer: c

Explanation: I and me are first person singular pronouns. As the subject of the sentence (the “doer”), it’s I. As the object (the focus of the sentence’s action), it’s me. In neither case is myself ever correct.

See more in my guest post for Turner Ink: Abusing “myself” — Understanding the first person singular.

Widget Company has announced that ________ testing a new scheduling and tracking software application from NDS.
a. it is
b. they are

Answer: a

Explanation:
A company is a singular entity. Use a singular pronoun.

Microsoft has announced that ________ testing a new search engine called Kumo.
a. it is
b. they are

Answer: a

Explanation:
A company is a singular entity. Use a singular pronoun.