Pronouns

“My English”By Julia Alverez

There are 3 kinds of PRONOUNS:

•Personal

•Possessive

•Reflectivemyself

Give the book to me.

That is my book.

That book is mine.

I bought the

book myself.

A PERSONAL PRONOUN is…

A word that stands for a noun, or…A word that takes the place of a noun.For example,

All of my cousins came to Florida to visit.

The whole class finished our homework.

My mother drove me to

school.

They came to Florida to visit.

We finished our homework.

She drove me to school.

There are 2 types of PERSONAL PRONOUNS

1st person

2nd person

3rd person

Personal Pronouns Singular:

I, mePlural: we, us

Singular:youPlural:you

Singular:him, her, itPlural:them, they

A POSSESSIVE PRONOUN is…

A word that shows possession for a noun, or…For example,

The whole class finished our homework.

My mother drove me to school in her

car.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

1st person

2nd person

3rd person

PossessivePronouns Singular:

my, minePlural: our, ours

Singular:your, yoursPlural:your, yours

Singular:his, her, itsPlural:theirs

A REFLEXIVE PRONOUN is…

A word that ends in –self or -selvesIs used to reflect back upon the subject.

The whole class finished our

homework all by ourselves.

My mother drove me to school

herself.

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

1st person

2nd person

3rd person

PossessivePronouns Singular:

myselfPlural: ourselves

Singular:yourselfPlural:yourselves

Singular:himself, herself, itselfPlural:themselves

Schoolhouse Rock

EXAMPLE #1from “My English”

Why my parents didn’t first educate

us in our native language by enrolling

us in a Dominican school, I don’t

know. (p. 116)

Read the following sentence from “My English,” by Julia Alvarez. Identify the pronouns and how they are used in the sentence.

EXAMPLE #1from “My English”

Why my parents didn’t first educate

us in our native language by enrolling

us in a Dominican school, I don’t

know. (p. 116)

MY= personal pronoun,

singular- shows possession

US= personal pronoun, plural- shows

possession

OUR= personal pronoun, plural-

shows possession

EXAMPLE #2from “My English”

Sister Maria stood at the chalkboard. Her

chalk was always snapping in two because

she wrote with such energy, her whole

habit shaking with the swing of her arm…

(p. 120)

Read the following sentence from “My English,” by Julia Alvarez. Identify the pronouns and how they are used in the sentence.

EXAMPLE #2from “My English”

Sister Maria stood at the chalkboard. Her

chalk was always snapping in two because

she wrote with such energy, her whole

habit shaking with the swing of her arm…

(p. 120)

HER= personal pronoun,

singular- shows possessionSHE= personal

pronoun, singular- tells

who is doing the action

EXAMPLE #3from “My English”

…a grain of salt could symbolize both

the human brain and a condiment for

human nonsense. And, it could be

itself, too: a grain of salt to flavor a

bland plate of American food.

Read the following sentence from “My English,” by Julia Alvarez. Identify the reflexive pronouns and how they are used in the sentence.

EXAMPLE #3from “My English”

…a grain of salt could symbolize both

the human brain and a condiment for

human nonsense. And, it could be

itself, too: a grain of salt to flavor a

bland plate of American food.

ITSELF= reflexive pronoun, singular- refers back to the subject, which is

“salt”

Student Practice:

1. Soon, Julia began to learn more English, at the Carol Morgan School.

2. Why my parents didn’t first educate us in our native language by enrolling us in a Dominican school, I don’t know.

3. Besides all these versions of Spanish, every once in a while another strange tongue emerged from Papi’s mouth or Mami’s lips.

Read the following sentences from “My English,” by Julia Alvarez. Replace the underlined nouns with an appropriate pronoun.

NOTE for personal writing:

Using pronouns exclusively or excessively may create confusion for the reader.Avoiding the use of pronouns becomes repetitive.Pronouns must use the correct number and person.

On Your Own:

Julia could make no sense of this “harder Spanish.”So, Julia tried by other means to find out what was going on.Julia knew Mami’s face by heart.When the little lines on the corners of Mami’s eyes crinkled, Mami was amused.When Mami’s nostrils flared and she bit her lips, Mami was trying hard not to laugh.

Read the following sentences from “My English,” by Julia Alvarez. Rewrite them using the appropriate pronouns, and combine them to create a well-constructed and interesting paragraph.

On Your Own:

I could make no sense of this “harder

Spanish,” and so, I tried by other means to find out

what was going on. I knew my mother’s face by

heart. When the little lines on the corners of her

eyes crinkled, she was amused. When her nostrils

flared and she bit her lips, she was trying hard not

to laugh. (p. 115)

Take a look at how Julia Alvarez wrote this paragraph. Do you like it? Why or why not? What might you change?