Grammar

Yangtze

Suggest improvements for the highlighted problem area: Liyao told Lu that she should explain how the Yangtze River can be both a lake and a dam. At Lake Poyanghu during the winter, the river comprises small streams on a broad lake bed. In the summer, high waters fill the reservoir and curb the inflow of tributaries like a dam. Liyao also described how she tried to visit a friend which had called for help from the other side of the lake. It was summer and they always warn you about the high waters. While rowing across Lake Poyanghu, Liyao became exhausted and decided, with great regret, to return home. It was too far across. Answer: - Pronouns: Who, Which, and That - Another common problem people have with pronoun reference is the proper choice of the words: who, which, and that. In our opening paragraph, we find an example: Liyao also described how she tried to visit a friend which had called for help from the other side of the lake. To decide on the proper pronoun to use, we should consider the conventions: relative pronoun refers to who people or animals with names that animals or things, anonymous persons, people treated collectively (or: beginning an essential clause) which things or animals (or: beginning a non-essential clause) Because our sentence speaks of a friend, who is assumed to be a person, the proper pronoun is who: Liyao also described how she tried to visit a friend who had called for help from the other side of the lake. If these conventions seem difficult to remember, try memorizing a silly mnemonic, such as: It was Lu who knew about a cat that sat in a ditch which seemed to go, "Meyew!"

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