Thanks it-ogo, it seems I got that all wrong! I'll be sure to know my nouns from my adjectives before I post next time. Back to my "English Grammar for Dummies" book... When I looked up 'тихоня' in google translate, it said 'demure', which is an adjective. I should be used to seeking another translation by now, I need to get used to using proper dictionaries.

"1) Particle -то has nothing to do with animate/inanimate." That's okay. What I meant was that because it didn't have'кто' in it I thought it could be used to refer to something inanimate. But your points 3 and 4 make the truth clear for me.

Richard B