代词的主要功能是指代已出现的名词、词组或一个意群，因此代词的出现必有所指，而且形、数等必须与前面所代的部分相符，这是代词的改错的核心。代词错误是短文改错中出现频率较高的几类错误之一，几乎每套试题都有，主要涉及如下几种情况

　　1 . 指代错误。主要是第三人称代词指代的误用；不定代词 one 和 those 与人称代词 you 和 them 的混用及人于指物的误用等。
　　2. 关系代词的误用。主要为 that 与 which ， who 与 which ， as 与 which 的误用； what 与 that 的混用。
　　3. 形式代词 it 与 this ， that 的误用。如： find this important to preview the lesson （这里的 this 应改为形式宾语 it ）。
　　4. 不定代词的误用。主要为不定代词与指示代词 these 或人称代词的误用； someone/somebody ， everyone/everybody 被误用作复数指代； some- ， any- 集合成代词与 no- 类合成代词的混用等。

　　A knowledge of several languages is essential to

　　other majors' study because without them one 1.__________

　　can read books only in translation.

　　本句中 without them 指的是：没有几们语言的知识。这里错误地使用了 them 来指代 a knowledge of several languages ，因为其中 knowledge 是中心词，所以要把 them 改为 it .

　　例 2

　　To be frank, that is a great relief to have the task 1.__________

　　fulfilled in so short a time.

　　本句中 that 指的是“ to have the task fulfilled in so short a time ”，前者是后者的形式主语，而形式主语只能是 it ，因此必须把 that 改为 it .

　　The teacher asked them who had completed their 1.__________

　　tests to leave the room as quietly as possible.

　　这句话看似没有错误，结果也十分完整，然而，它将代词宾格 them 与指示代词 those 的用法混淆了。因为一般来说，人称代词后面应该保留有修饰成分，如果保留 them ，那么这句话则必须改为： The teacher asked them to leave the room as quietly as possible. 这不符合修改的规则，故只能将 them 改为 those ，此时 those 作为指示代词，后面可以接有从句成分。

　　Western culture tends to ignore or take it for granted 1.__________

　　the non-verbal part of conversations, defining good

　　communication as " speaking well" .

　　本句中， it 作为形式主语，一般用于结构“ take it for granted that… ”，然而本句中没有出现从句，而只有名词短语“ the non-verbal part of conversation ”作为宾语，因此不需要形式宾语，应该将 it 删去。

　　通过上述例题可以发现，英语代词虽然数量不多，但是种类却不少，且各种代词有性、数、格、人称之别，必须在平时学习多注意总结和归纳，才可以正确的把握其用法。下面通过一些练习题来加深印象。

　　练习题

　　1 First and most important is its extraordinary receptive

　　and adaptable heterogeneousness —— the ease

　　and readiness with that has taken to itself material 1.__________

　　from almost everywhere in the world and has made

　　the old elements of language its own.

　　2 In most advanced English courses, time is usually

　　set aside for conversation lessons. This can be 2.__________

　　the most difficult and most rewarding of all

　　the lessons the teacher is called upon to conduct.

　　3 They gain such mental food that few companions 3.__________

　　can supply. Even while resting from their labors

　　they are, through the books they read, equipping

　　themselves to perform those labors more inefficiently.

　　4 Before the time of Galileo, learned men believed

　　that large bodies fell more rapidly towards the earth

　　than small one, because Aristotle said so. 4.__________

　　5 But Galileo, going to the top of the Leaning Tower

　　of Pisa, let fall two unequal stones, and proved to some

　　friends, he had brought there to see his experiment, 5.__________

　　that Aristotle was in error.

　　6 Deep in the dense forest these tourists finally

　　found the place where they visited ten years ago. 6.__________

　　7 It was a beautifully decorated ancient house which 7.__________

　　door opened to the east.

　　8 What has been left was a table in one corner of

　　the living-room which two legs were broken. 8.__________

　　9 Some people think of the protection of our

　　environment as the mere protection of a few

　　animals and flowers. Actually natural conversation

　　is far from that some people imagine to be. 9.__________

　　10 It has become a question of whether man can

　　survive at all in the world in which he is creating. 10.__________