and 'them'?

( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Tue 5 Apr 2011, 21:40, 1 reply)

"Them" is a personal pronoun and is the plural of "it".

Example: (singular)
A. Do you like your car?
B. Yes, I like it.

"It" is used as a pronoun and negates saying "my car" and over a series of questions stops you sounding like some kind of spaz parrot.

Example: (plural)
A. Do you like chips?
B. Yes, I adore them.

As an article, "chips" are plural so the pronoun agreement is made. "Them chips" is a bit like a double-negative in terms of pronouns. If you used "it" then you would have:

A. Do you like chips?
B. No, never watched it.
A. "It"? I mean the cut, fried potatoes and not the TV show.
B. Silly me! I never realised how important context is. As for delightfully crispy chips from the chippy, I adore them.

Hopefully this helps. The way English is taught in this country is awful. I only learned and understood proper grammar when I studied German.
(ThatNiceMan thought he was being funny, Tue 5 Apr 2011, 22:24, closed)

This is one thing that annoys me greatly.
I have often wondered why grammar is not taught in English schools anymore; it happens in most of Europe and facilitates learning of foreign languages, something I think we should do more of nationally.
(ConanTroutman thought we would free the vulture, Wed 6 Apr 2011, 10:36, closed)

This is absolutely true,
I learnt more about grammar when I learnt French than I ever gleaned during all of my schooldays.
( Tab Hunter Make this useless process end and so, begin again, Wed 6 Apr 2011, 12:03, closed)

Completely agree
I only learnt English grammar when I trained to be a TEFL teacher. I don't recall having any formal grammar lessons at school. Infact, I think my GCSE in the subject is specifically English Literature.

(goes off to loft to hunt down GCSE certificates)
(mcgriffto, Wed 6 Apr 2011, 14:15, closed)