PRONOUNS

In grammar, a pronoun is defined as a word or phrase that may be substituted for a noun or noun phrase.

Without pronouns, we’d have to keep on repeating nouns, and that would make our speech and writing repetitive, not to mention cumbersome. Most pronouns are very short words. Examples include:

§  He

§  She

§  They

§  It

§  We

TYPES OF PRONOUNS

Ø Indefinite pronouns – those referring to one or more unspecified objects, beings, or places

Ø Personal pronouns – those associated with a certain person, thing, or group; all except you have distinct forms that indicate singular or plural number

Ø Reflexive pronouns – those preceded by the adverb, adjective, pronoun, or noun to which they refer, and ending in –self or –selves

Ø Demonstrative pronouns – those used to point to something specific within a sentence

Ø Possessive pronouns – those designating possession or ownership

Ø Relative pronouns – those which refer to nouns mentioned previously, acting to introduce an adjective (relative) clause

Ø Interrogative pronouns – those which introduce a question

Ø Reciprocal pronouns – those expressing mutual actions or relationship; i.e. one another

Ø Intensive pronouns – those ending in –self or –selves and that serve to emphasize their antecedents

PRONOUN RULES

Ø Subject pronouns may be used to begin sentences. For example: We did a great job.

Ø Subject pronouns may also be used to rename the subject. For example: It was she who decided we should go to Hawaii.

Ø Indefinite pronouns don’t have antecedents. They are capable of standing on their own. For example: No one likes the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard.

Ø Object pronouns are used as direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions. These include: you, me, him, her, us, them, and it. For example: David talked to her about the mistake.

Ø Possessive pronouns show ownership. They do not need apostrophes. For example: The cat washed its whiskers.

More Examples

Ø We are going on vacation.

Ø Don’t tell me that you can’t go with us.

Ø Anybody who says it won’t be fun has no clue what they are talking about.

Ø These are terribly steep stairs.

Ø We ran into each other at the mall.

Exercise

Ø I’m not sure which is worse: rain or snow.

Ø It is one of the nicest Italian restaurants in town.

Ø Richard stared at himself in the mirror.

Ø The laundry isn’t going to do itself.

Ø Someone spilled orange juice all over the countertop!

The following exercises will help you gain greater understanding about how pronouns work. Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.

1. This is __________ speaking.

a.      John

b.     He

c.      He john

d.     Am

2. Greg is as smart as __________ is.

a.      I

b.     me

c.      she

d.     we

3. The dog chewed on __________ favorite toy.

a.      it’s

b.     it is

c.      its’

d.     its

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

A demonstrative pronoun is a pronoun that is used to point to something specific within a sentence. These pronouns can indicate items in space or time, and they can be either singular or plural.

When used to represent a thing or things, demonstrative pronouns can be either near or far in distance or time:

Ø Near in time or distance: this, these

Ø Far in time or distance: that, those

RULES IN USING DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

Ø Demonstrative pronouns always identify nouns, whether those nouns are named specifically or not.

Ø For example: “I can’t believe this.” We have no idea what “this” is, but it’s definitely something the writer cannot believe. It exists, even though we don’t know what it is.

Ø Demonstrative pronouns are usually used to describe animals, places, or things, however they can be used to describe people when the person is identified.

Example:This sounds like Mary singing.

Examples

Ø This was my mother’s ring.

Ø That looks like the car I used to drive.

Ø These are nice shoes, but they look uncomfortable.

Ø Those look like riper than the apples on my tree.

Ø Such was her command over the English language.

Ø None of these answers are correct.

Ø Neither of the horses can be ridden.

Exercises

1.     ____________ was such an interesting experience.

 

That

These

Those

Such


2.     Are ___________ your shoes?

That

Them

Those

This

 

3.     You’ll have to get your own pen. ______________ is mine.

That

Those

Such

This

 

4.     Because of their bad behavior, ____________ of the children were given allowances.

None

That

Those

Them

 

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

A relative pronoun is one which is used to refer to nouns mentioned previously, whether they are people, places, things, animals, or ideas. Relative pronouns can be used to join two sentences.

There are only a few relative pronouns in the English language. The most common are which, that, whose, whoever, whomever, who, and whom. In some situations, the words what, when, and where can also function as relative pronouns.

 

EXAMPLES

Ø The cyclist who won the race trained hard.

Ø The pants that I bought yesterday are already stained.

Ø The four team leaders, whomever the committee selects, will be at tomorrow’s meeting.

Ø Spaghetti, which we eat at least twice a week, is one of my family’s favorite meals.

Ø Where did you buy the dress that you wore last week?

EXERCISES

1.     The festival, ______________ lasted all day, ended  with a banquet.

That

Who

Which

What

 

2.     I am looking for someone __________ can watch my dog while I go on vacation.

Which

Who

Whom

Whoever

 

3.     The police needed details _____________ could help identify the robber.

Who

Whatever

That

What

 

4.     I’d like to take you to a café _______________ serves excellent coffee.

What

Whatever

Which

Whichever

 

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

A reflexive pronoun is a type of pronoun that is preceded by the adverb, adjective, pronoun, or noun to which it refers, so long as that antecedent is located within the same clause.

Examples

Ø I was in a hurry, so I washed the car myself.

Ø You’re going to have to drive yourself to school today.

Ø He wanted to impress her, so he baked a cake himself.

Ø Jennifer does chores herself because she doesn’t trust others to do them right.

Ø That car is in a class all by itself.

 

1.     Each morning, I brush my teeth and stare at ______________ in the mirror.

Himself

Herself

Myself

Itself

 

2.     Dad and I painted the trailer _______________.

 

Myself

Himself

Itself

Ourselves

 

3.     Dad and I painted the trailer _______________.

Myself

Himself

Itself

Ourselves

 

4.     Paul copies his friend’s homework instead of doing it _______________.

Itself

Himself

Myself

Yourself

 

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

A possessive pronoun is used to avoid repeating information that has already been made clear. These useful pronouns make sentences less confusing, as you’ll see when you read the following sentences containing examples of possessive pronouns

 

EXAMPLES

 

Ø This is my cat, not your cat. (Sounds repetitive)

Ø This cat is mine, not yours.


Ø I didn’t have my book so Jenny lent me her book. (Sounds repetitive)

Ø I didn’t have my book, so Jenny lent me hers.

 

Ø Your car is a lot faster than my car. (Sounds repetitive)

Ø Your car is a lot faster than mine.

 

EXERCISES

1.     The mother cat and __________ kittens napped in the sunshine.

His

Your

Hers

Her

 

2.     I like cream cheese on _________ bagels.

 

My

Mine

Your

Our

 

3.     ________ grandfather used to take us fishing.

 

Mine

My

Our

Ours

 

4.     Elaine bought ________ dress at the mall.

 

Yours

Mine

Her

Hers

 

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

(SUBJECT PRONOUNS AND OBJECT PROUNOUNS)

 

A personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated primarily with a particular person, in the grammatical sense.

 

When discussing “person” in terms of the grammatical, the following rules apply:

 

§  First person, as in “I”

§  Second person, as in “you”

§  Third person, as in “It, he, she”

 

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

PERSON

SINGULAR

PLURAL

 

Subject

Object

Subject

Object

First

I

Me

We

Us

Second

You

You

You

You

Third

He

She

It

Him

Her

It

They

Them

 

In the following examples, personal pronouns are italicized.

Ø You need to stop lying to me.

Ø We would love for you to join us.

Ø Come look at my cat! He has climbed to the top of that tree.

 

1.     __________ often reads until late at night.

He

Alan

Mary

They

 

2.     __________ is running up and down the stairs.

The cat

She

My brother

You

 

3.     We enjoy the roses so much. __________ really liven up the garden.

They

Its

Someone

Flowers

 

4.     Melissa isn’t an architect; __________ is an engineer.

 

He

They

It

She

 

OBJECT PRONOUNS

An object pronoun is a type of personal pronoun that is normally used as a grammatical object, either as the direct or indirect object of a verb, or as the object of a preposition. These pronouns always take the objective case, whether they are indirect object pronouns or direct object pronouns.

The seven basic pronouns take on different forms when used as object pronouns rather than as subject pronouns:

 

Ø I becomes Me

Ø You becomes You (this rule applies for singular and plural use)

Ø He becomes Him

Ø She becomes Her

Ø It becomes It

Ø We becomes Us

Ø They becomes Them

 

Examples

Bob took her to work Monday.

Will you please tell them to come in?

He told you a lie about where he was Saturday.

Our grandparents gave us candy and our teeth are just fine.

 

Exercise

 

1.     Mary wants to talk to __________ about your homework.

Him

Her

You

Them

 

2.     The plate shattered when John dropped __________ on the floor.

Him

Her

Them

It

 

3.     Be careful; he lied to __________ before and he may do it again.

Us

It

We

They

 

4.     Where are Jill and Cherie? Didn’t you invite __________?

Us

Them

They

Her

 

SUBJECT PRONOUNS

What is a Subject Pronoun?

A subject pronoun is exactly what it sounds like: a pronoun that takes the place of a noun as the subject of a sentence. Remember, a sentence’s subject is the person or thing that performs the action of a verb. When you take an even closer look, you’ll see that a subject pronoun is used as the subject of a verb, while an object pronoun is usually used as a grammatical object.

 

EXAMPLES

Ø We gave them a head start in the race.

Ø You told Jerry that his score was among the best; that made him feel better.

Ø She lost weight by cutting out junk food.

Ø They drank water from a spring that ran right out of the mountainside.

 

EXERCISES

 

1.     __________ kicked the ball so hard that his shoe came off.

She

They

He

It

 

2.     __________ prefer hiking to movies.

She

He

We

It

 

3.     You can have ice cream after __________ finish your dinner.

We

You

It

She

 

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

Indefinite pronouns are those referring to one or more unspecified objects, beings, or places. They are called “indefinite” simply because they do not indicate the exact object, being, or place to which they refer.

 

EXAMPLES

 

Ø Many are called, but few are chosen.

Ø Somebody ate my sandwich!

Ø Everyone says she is beautiful inside and out.

Ø No one wants to hear about my health problems.

Ø Either choice has its advantages.

 

EXERCISES

 

1.     __________________ is making my computer act up.

Anyone

Something

Each

Everyone

 

2.     Does _______________ know what’s happening tonight?

Anybody

Anyone

Someone

A, B, and C

 

3.     ____________ happens for a reason.

Anybody

Everything

Some

Somebody

 

RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS

A reciprocal pronoun is a pronoun which is used to indicate that two or more people are carrying out or have carried out an action of some type, with both receiving the benefits or consequences of that action simultaneously. Any time something is done or given in return, reciprocal pronouns are used. The same is true any time mutual action is expressed.

There are only two reciprocal pronouns. Both of them allow you to make sentences simpler. They are especially useful when you need to express the same general idea more than once.

Ø Each other

Ø One another

EXAMPLES

Ø Maria and Juan gave each other gold rings on their wedding day.

Ø The students congratulated one another after giving practice speeches.

There are only two reciprocal pronouns. Both of them allow you to make sentences simpler. They are especially useful when you need to express the same general idea more than once.

Ø Each other

Ø One another

EXAMPLES

Ø Maria and Juan gave each other gold rings on their wedding day.

Ø The students congratulated one another after giving practice speeches.

INTENSIVE PRONOUN

An intensive pronoun is almost identical to a reflexive pronoun. It is defined as a pronoun that ends in self or selves and places emphasis on its antecedent by referring back to another noun or pronoun used earlier in the sentence. For this reason, intensive pronouns are sometimes called emphatic pronouns.

REFLEXIVE VS INTENSIVE

You can tell the difference between a reflexive pronoun and an intensive pronoun easily: Intensive pronouns aren’t essential to a sentence’s basic meaning

EXAMPLE

REFLEXIVE

Jim made himself coffee.

Without the reflexive pronoun himself, it would be impossible for the reader to know who Jim made coffee for.

INTENSIVE

Jim made coffee for the king himself.

Here, himself refers to the king rather than to Jim. The reader is meant to be impressed that Jim made coffee for the king.

Ø Jesse wondered aloud whether he himself was the only one seeing what was happening.

Ø Maria knew that she herself could make a positive impact on the world, if only she put her mind to it.

Ø You yourself can easily transform your body: All it takes is a proper diet and plenty of exercise.

 

EXERCISES

1.     We built a garden shed by ______________.

Ø Myself

Ø Ourselves

Ø Themselves

Ø Himself

2.     I’m a little nervous about walking by _____________ after dark.

Ø Myself

Ø Ourselves

Ø Themselves

Ø Herself

3.     The twins are growing up fast; they’re already walking by _____________.

Ø Myself

Ø Ourselves

Ø Himself

Ø Themselves


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