Pronouns

Cases of Personal PronounsCase/exam. Use Example Condition

Nominative(subject case)

I, we, you, he, she, it, they

Subject

Predicate pronoun

We ate the pear.

Your friend is I.

Usually before the verb

“be” verb linking the subject to predicate

Objectiveme, us, you, him, her, it, them

Direct objectArrows point to DO

Indirect objectArrows point to DO

Object of a preposition

Jim saw me.

Al gave me a bat.

Al gave the bat to me.

Takes the action of verb

to whom or for whom the action is done

ends a prepositional phrase

Possessivemy, mine, our, ours, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, their, theirs

Show ownership

Is this pen yours?

Is this your pen?

Is this pen his?

Is this his pen?

Use the form ending in “s” when the object that is owned does not follow the pronoun(“his” & “its” are exceptions)

Possessive pronouns never use apostrophes.

Who or Whom

• Who is nominative.

• Who is used as the subject of a question or the subject of a subordinate clause (dependent clause).

• Whom is objective.

• Whom is used as a direct object, and indirect object, or the object of a preposition.

WhoSubject of question Subject of a subordinate

clause

Who understands pronouns?

I admire a student who studies pronouns.

WhomHint: it often helps to rewrite the sentence or the

clause

Direct object Indirect object Object of preposition

Whom did he see in the game?

He did see whom in the game.

Whom did he give the ball?

He did give whom the ball.

From whom did he get the ball?

He did get the ball from whom.

I know the person whom he met at the game.

He met whom at the game.

Janet thanked her aunt, from whom she had received a ball.

She had received a ball from whom.

Indefinite pronouns refer to people, places, or things often without specifying which ones

Singular Plural Singular or Plural

another little someone

anybody much something

anyone neither

anything nobody

each no one

either nothing

everybody one

everyone other

everything somebody

both

few

many

others

several

all

any

more

most

none

some

Includes:onesbodything

Subject/verb agreement w/ indefinite pronouns as subjects

• Pronouns that are always singular will always take a singular or “s” verb.– One of the submarines is equipped with

radar.– Everybody on the submarine was frightened

by thoughts of the attack.– Neither of the strategies seems workable.

Ignore the prepositional phrases

Subject/verb agreement w/ indefinite pronouns as subjects

• Pronouns that are always plural will always take a plural or “base” verb.– Many of the soldiers fight on the war’s front

lines.– Others work to supply them with food and

ammunition.– Several contribute as code breakers.

Ignore the prepositional phrases

Subject/verb agreement w/ indefinite pronouns as subjects

• When using pronouns that can be either singular or plural you must examine the context of the sentence

– Most of the war has been fought.

– Most of the battles have been fought.

Pay attention to the prepositional phrases

Making personal pronouns and indefinite pronouns agree

• Ignore the object of any prepositional phrases that might fall between the personal and indefinite pronoun.

• Incorrect– Neither of the EMTs has completed their training.– Put each instrument in their place.

• Correct– Neither of the EMTs has completed his or her

training.– Put each instrument in its place.

Making personal pronouns and indefinite pronouns agree for gender

• If the gender is unknown, a writer may use he or she, or him or her.– Each of the crew members checked his or her

equipment.

• If the gender is unknown, a writer may rewrite the sentence to eliminate the gender issue.– All of the crew members checked their equipment.

Agreement between pronouns and antecedents

• Pronouns must agree in both person and number.

• Number indicates singular or plural.

• Person indicates whether a pronoun refers to…– the person speaking (first person)– The person spoken to (second person)– The person, place, or thing spoken about (third)

Agreement between pronouns and antecedents

• Avoid shifts in Person.

• Incorrect:– Jim is practicing writing, a skill you need to

master if you want to do well in school.

• Correct:– Jim is practicing writing, a skill he needs to

master if he wants to do well in school.

• Singular antecedents joined by or or nor must have a singular pronoun.– Either Mary or Sue should bring her camera.– Pat and Mike brought their cameras.