Post on 26-Dec-2015
What is a Pronoun?
• Pronoun- word that is used in place of a _______ or another pronoun.– A pronoun can refer to person, place, thing, or
idea. – The word that a pronoun refers to is called its
_______ .– Ex. Ramon visited Death Valley, and he was
impressed.• ‘he’ is referring to ‘Ramon’• Ramon is the antecedent
Personal Pronouns
• Pronouns such as we, I, he, them, and it are called personal pronouns. – Personal pronouns have a variety of forms to
indicate different persons, numbers, and _______ .
– Person and Number: There are first person, second person, and third person personal pronouns, each having both _______ and plural forms.
Person and Number
Singular Plural
I went out. We left early.
You left too. You are leaving.
He came by bus. They came by car.
Personal Pronouns
• _______ - each personal pronoun has three cases: subject, object and possessive. – Which form to use depends on the pronoun’s
_______ in a sentence.– Subject: He read about Death Valley.– Object: Julie asked him about the rocks.– _______ : Ramon brought his book.
Personal Pronouns
Subject Object Possessive
SingularFirst PersonSecond PersonThird Person
Iyouhe, she, it
MeYouHim, her, it
My, mineYour, yoursHis, her, hers, its
PluralFirst PersonSecond PersonThird Person
WeYouThey
Us YouThem
Our, oursYour, yoursTheir, theirs
1-5’sWrite the personal pronouns in each sentence
1. Death Valley is famous for its strange moving boulders.
2. They are found in a dry lake bed called Racetrack Playa.
3. The rocks slide on their own, leaving long tracks behind them.
4. Can you think of an explanation for this curious event?
5. Investigators offer two major theories for us to consider.
• Objective- to understand subject pronouns and how they are used.
• What you need to know-pronouns can be used as subjects of the sentence
Subject Pronouns
• _______ Pronoun- is used as a subject in a sentence or as a predicate pronoun after a _______ verb
Singular Plural
I We
You You
He, she, it they
Subject Pronouns
• Pronouns as Subjects– Use a subject pronoun when the pronoun is a
_______ or part of a _______ subject.– Ex. The Hope diamond has a fascinating history. It
has been bad luck for many owners. You and he think the diamond is cursed.• ‘It’, referring to ‘The Hope diamond’, is the subject of
the sentence.
Subject Pronouns
• _______ Pronouns– A _______ pronoun follows a linking verb and
identifies the verb’s subject. Use the subject case for predicate pronouns.• The owner was he.• ‘he’ being the predicate noun, identifies the subject
and ‘owner’ is the subject
Subject Pronouns
• The buyers are you and she.– ‘you and she’ are the predicate pronouns
identifying the subject ‘buyers’– Remember common linking verbs: be, is, am, are,
was, were, been, has been, have been, can be, will be, could be, and should be
Practice and ApplyWrite the correct pronoun form to complete each sentence
1. The diamond detectives were Carla and (I, me).2. According to legend the huge blue diamond has
had many owners, and (they, them) all came to a bad end.
3. (He, him) is said to have been killed in India by wild dogs.
4. His son and (he, him) died tragically soon afterward.
5. “Hope diamond experts” are (us, we)!
• Objective-to know and understand how object pronouns are used
• What you need to know- how to determine which pronoun to use with the object of the sentence
Object Pronouns
• _______ Pronouns– An _______ pronoun is used as direct object, an
indirect object, or an object of a preposition.
Singular Plural
Me Us
You You
Him, her, it them
Object Pronouns
• _______ Object– The pronoun receives the action of a verb and
answers the question _______ or what.• Ex. The mysterious death of King Tut fascinates me.• ‘fascinates’ is the verb, ‘death’ is our subject and ‘me’ is
our direct object
Object Pronouns
• _______ Objects– The pronoun tells to whom or what or for whom
or what an action is performed.– Ex. Chuck lent me a video on the topic.• ‘lent’ is our verb, ‘Chuck’ is our subject, ‘video’ is our
direct object and ‘me’ is out indirect object.
Object Pronouns
• Object of a _______ – The pronoun follows a preposition (such as to,
from, for, against, by, or about)– Ex. I can tell the story to you and him.– ‘tell’ is our verb, ‘I’ is our subject, ‘story’ is our
direct object, ‘to you and him’ is our preposition and ‘you’ and ‘him’ is our object of the preposition
Practice and Applychoose the pronoun and identify them as subject or object
1. King Tutankhamen was only about nine years old when the priests crowned (he, him) as the new pharaoh.
2. (He, Him) and his wife were not in power long before the young pharaoh died.
3. (I, Me) saw a video showing x-ray pictures of Tut’s skull.
4. (They, Them) revealed that someone had struck Tut on the back of the head.
5. It occurred to (I, me) that only someone the king knew could get so close to (he, him)
Possessive Pronouns
• A _______ pronoun is a personal pronoun used to show ownership or relationship.
Singular Plural
My, mine Our, ours
Your, yours Your, yours
Her, hers, his, its Their theirs
Possessive Pronouns
• The _______ pronouns my, your, her, his, its, our, and their come before nouns.
• Ex. The Chinese museum kept its amazing secret for years.
• ‘its’ is showing ownership to ‘secret’• No one saw the mummies in their colorful
clothes.• ‘their’ is showing ownership to ‘clothes’
Possessive Pronouns
• The _______ pronouns mine, yours, hers, his ours and theirs can stand alone in a sentence.
• Ex. The secret was theirs. Now the secret is ours.
Practice and ApplyChoose the pronoun or contraction to complete each sentence.
1. Imagine (your, you’re) visiting museum in Urumqi, in the desert of northwest China.
2. In one room, you find remarkable mummies in (their, they’re) cases.
3. The leggings, shirts, and cloaks on the mummies look as colorful as (your, you’re) clothes today.
4. This experience really happened to Professor Mair and his tour group on (their, they’re) trip to China in 1987.
5. The mummies are about 3,000 years old and (they’re, their) European, not Chinese!
Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
• A pronoun that ends in self or selves is either a _______ or an _______ pronoun.
Myself Yourself Herself, himself, itself
Ourselves Yourselves themselves
Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
• _______ pronouns- a reflexive pronoun refers to the subject and directs the action of the verb back to the subject.– Reflexive pronouns are necessary to the meaning of
a sentence.– Ex. Houdini called himself a master escape artist.– Ex. Lynne dedicated herself to learning Houdini’s
secrets.– If you remove the reflexive pronoun the sentence
doesn’t make sense.
Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
• _______ Pronoun- an intensive pronoun emphasizes a noun or another pronoun in the same sentence.– Intensive pronouns are not necessary to the
meaning of a sentence.– Ex. You yourself have seen magic shows on TV.– Ex. I myself like to perform magic tricks.– If you remove the intensive pronoun the sentence
still makes sense.
Practice and ApplyWrite the reflexive or intensive pronoun in each sentence. Then label it reflexive or
intensive.
1. During the 1920’s, Harry Houdini labeled himself “the most daring escape artist in the world.”
2. His name itself makes people think of magic.3. In one famous trick, Houdini freed himself from a
tank that was filled to the top with water and securely locked.
4. He also called himself “the handcuff king” and said no handcuffs in the world could hold him.
5. The police officers themselves were amazed at Houdini.
Interrogatives and Demonstratives
• _______ Pronouns- an interrogative pronoun is used to introduce a question.– Ex. Who made up this riddle?– Which riddle are you talking about?
Interrogatives and Demonstratives
Interrogative Pronoun Use
Who, whom Refers to people
What Refers to things
Which Refers to people or things
Whose Indicates ownership or relationship
Interrogatives and Demonstratives
• Using Who and Whom• Who is always used as a _______ or a _______
pronoun.– Ex. Subject: Who knows the answer to the riddle?– Ex. Predicate: Your favorite comedian is who?
Interrogatives and Demonstratives
• Using Who and Whom• Whom is always used as an _______ .– Ex. Direct Object: Whom did you tell?– Ex. Indirect Object: You gave whom the answer?– Ex. Object of the Preposition: To whom did you
give my name?– I.E. Don’t confuse whose with who’s. Whose is a
pronoun. Who’s is a contraction that means who is or who has.
Demonstrative Pronouns
• _______ Pronoun- A demonstrative pronoun points out a person, place, thing, or idea.– The demonstrative pronouns-this, that, these, and
those-are used alone in a sentence.
Singular Plural
This These
That Those
Pronoun Agreement
• The _______ is the noun or pronoun that a pronoun replaces or refers to. – The antecedent and the pronoun can be in the
same sentence or in different sentences.• Ex. Louis writes his own detective stories.• Ex. Agatha Christie writes mysteries. Her stories are
famous.• Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in
number, person, and gender.
Pronoun Agreement
• Agreement in _______ • Use a singular pronoun to refer to a singular
antecedent.– Ex. One story has its setting in Egypt.
• Use a _______ pronoun to refer to a plural antecedent.– Ex. The characters have their motives for murder.
Pronoun Agreement
• Agreement in _______ • The pronoun must agree in person with the
antecedent.– Ex. Louis likes his mysteries to have surprise
endings.– Ex. You want a story to grab your attention.
Pronoun Agreement
• Agreement in _______ • The gender of a pronoun must be the same as
the gender of its antecedent.– Ex. Agatha Christie sets many of her stories in
England.– Ex. The hero has to use all his wits to solve the
crime.
Practice and ApplyWrite the pronouns and their antecedents in the these sentences.
1. Agatha Christie loved real-life mysteries of the past. She helped to investigate them in the Middle East.
2. Max Mallowan was an English Archaeologist. He was married to Christie for 45 years.
3. The couple went on many archaeological trips and found them exciting and a real source of inspiration.
4. The story takes place at an archaeological dig. One of its main characters is Dr. Leidner.
5. When Mrs. Leidner is murdered, the detective Hercule Poirot must catch her killer.
Indefinite-Pronoun Agreement
• Here’s the Idea• An _______ pronoun does not refer to a
specific person, place, thing, or idea.– Indefinite pronouns often do not have
antecedents.– Ex. Something unusual is going on in Loch Ness.– Ex. Has anyone photographed the Loch Ness
monster?
Indefinite-Pronoun Agreement
• Some _______ pronouns are always singular, some are always _______ , and some can be either singular or plural.
Singular Plural Singular or PluralAnother Neither Anybody NobodyAnyone No oneAnything NothingEach OneEither SomebodyEverybody SomeoneEveryone SomethingEverything
Bothfew many several
AllAnyMostNoneSome
Indefinite-Pronoun Agreement
• Use a _______ _______ pronoun to refer to a singular indefinite pronoun.– Ex. Everyone took his or her camera to the lake.– (Everyone could be masculine or feminine)– Ex. One dropped his camera in the water by
mistake.
Indefinite-Pronoun Agreement
• Plural _______ Pronouns– Use a plural personal pronoun to refer to a plural
indefinite pronoun.– Ex. Several reported their sightings of the monster.– Ex. Many could not believe their own eyes!
Indefinite-Pronoun Agreement
• Singular or Plural _______ Pronouns– Some indefinite pronouns can be singular or
plural. • The phrase that follows the indefinite pronoun will
often tell you whether the pronoun is singular or plural.
Ex. Most of the monster story has its origin in fantasy.
Most of the monster stories have their origins in fantasy.
Why it matters
• Keep your facts and ideas clear. Make sure that all pronouns agree in number with their indefinite antecedents.
• Ex. Not everyone has made up their minds about the existence of the Loch Ness monster. A few have his or her own theory.
• Change: their minds = his or her mind, his or her = their, and theory = theories
Practice and ApplyChoose the pronoun that agrees with indefinite pronoun antecedent.
1. All of the tourists want (his or her, their) own monster stories to tell.
2. None of tourists have (his or her, their) questions answered.
3. Many display (his or her, their) very blurry photographs.
4. Each has presented (his or her, their) theory about Nessie.
Pronoun Problems
• We and Us with _______ – The pronoun we or us is sometimes followed by a
noun that identifies the pronoun (we students, us students)
– Use we when the pronoun is a subject or a predicate pronoun. Use us when the pronoun is an object.
– Ex. We owners don’t always understand our pets.– Ex. Dogs and cats often surprise us owners.
Pronoun Problems
• Choosing We or Us• Dogs think of (us, we) humans as their leaders.1. Drop the identifying noun from the sentence.• Dogs think of (us, we) as their leaders.2. Decide whether the sentence calls for a subject
pronoun or an object pronoun. This sentence calls for the pronoun that is the object of the preposition of.
• Dogs think of us as their leaders.3. Use the correct pronoun with the noun.• Dogs think of us humans as their leaders.
Pronoun Problems
• Unclear Reference• Be sure that each personal pronoun refers clearly
to only one person, place, or thing.– If there is any chance your reader will be confused
about whom or what you are talking about, use a noun instead of a pronoun.
– Confusing: Tony and Fred want to become veterinarians. He now works at an animal shelter.
– Clear: Tony and Fred want to become veterinarians. Fred now works at an animal shelter.