The Pronoun

But first . . . The noun

• Noun – the name of things, the labels we apply to everything we can see, touch, taste, and feel• People (the mail carrier, Emily)

• Activities (circus, playtime)

• Concepts (love, sportsmanship)

• Conditions (mess, poverty)

• Feelings (enthusiasm, headache)

Common Nouns

• All nouns that begin with a lower case letter are called common nouns• He walked the dog

• She went to the park

• The ball in the corner is red

Proper Nouns

• Proper nouns are the words that we capitalize. These words refer to specific places, groups, things, events, and people.• Turn left on Detroit Avenue.

• Her mother’s name is Sally.

• May I please have another Starburst?

Singular and Plural

• Singular = 1• Girl

• Cat

• Plural = more than 1• Computers

• Horses

The Article

• Indefinite Articles – A and An • “a” and “an” are used to refer to nouns that are not clearly specified.

• A truck, an apple

• Definite Article – The• “the” refers to a more specific, identifiable noun

• The house, the river

• If you are ever unsure if a word is a noun, try putting a, an, or the in front of it. If it works then it is an article.

The Pronoun

• Pronoun - A handy word used as a substitute for another word, usually a noun

• Without pronouns – • On the way home, Dan sat next to Dona on the bus. Dona didn’t

say much, but Dan offered Dona a stick of gum. Dan let Dona use Dan’s ipad, which was Dan’s way of saying thanks to Dona for helping Dan with Dan’s homework.

• CONFUSING?? . . . . And lame!

Now try it like this . . .

• Insert pronouns into the sentence • On the way home, Dan sat next to Dona on the bus. Dona didn’t

say much, but Dan offered her a stick of gum. He let Dona use his ipad too , which was his way of saying thanks to her for helping him with his homework.

• Much better, huh?

Personal Pronouns

• He

• She

• Him

• I

• Me

• Her

• It

• They

• Them

• We

• Us

Not as easy at it looks

• Philip is a fast runner than _____________• Me?

• I?

Grouping Pronouns

• Group 1 • I

• He

• She

• They

• We

• You

• Group 2• Me

• Him

• Her

• Them

• Us

• you

Groups

• Group 1• Subject Pronouns

• Nominative case

• Group 2• Object Pronouns

• Objective case

Subject Pronouns – Group 1

• Subject pronouns – name people, places, or things that are described in a sentence • She is weird.

• The can also name the performer of an action• It was he who turned off the lights.

Subject of the sentence and sentence pronouns

• Group 1 pronouns serve as the grammatical SUBJECT of the sentence.

• Name the subjects of the sentences:• The only students who failed the quiz were Donald and she.

• Today in class, we took a terribly difficult quiz.

Object Pronouns – Group 2

• Object pronouns are NEVER the subject of a sentence• The music carried them away. – Music is the subject, them is the

object pronoun

• He asked her to call him on his cell phone. – He is the subject, her and him are object pronouns

Object Pronouns receive the action

• Terry invited him.• Invited = verb

• Him = object of the verb

• The waiter gave her and me a menu.• Gave = verb

• Her and me = object of the verb

Pairs of personal pronouns

• Elliot asked if (he, him) and (she, her) could practice handstands.• Insert “me” in place of the pronouns

• Elliot asked if me could practice handstands.

• Me (along with him and her) come from Group 2 pronouns. This is how we know that Group 2 pronouns do not work in this sentence.

Pairing cont . . .

• Now try inserting “I” into the sentence • Elliot asked if I could practice handstands.

• I (along with he and she) belong in Group 1• So that’s how you know :

• Elliot asked if he and she could practice handstands

Pronouns in comparisons

• To find the correct pronoun in a comparison that uses than or as, complete the comparison using the verb that would naturally follow :

• Jackie runs faster than she. (runs)

• My brother has bigger hands than I. (do)

• Carol is as tough as he. (is)

• A woman such as I (am) could solve the problem.

Noun / Pronoun Combinations

• When a pronoun is side by side with a noun ( we boys, us women ), deleting the noun will usually help you pick the correct pronoun.

• ( We , Us ) seniors decided to take a day off from school.• Delete seniors

• The award was presented to ( we , us ) students by the staff.• Delete students

Pronoun “person”

• To help us keep straight who is talking about whom, our language conveniently categorizes pronouns, both singular and plural by PERSON

First-person pronouns

• First-person : refers to the speaker or writer• I

• We

• Me

• Us

• Mine

• Our(s)

Second- person pronouns

• Second-person pronouns : refer to the reader or listener both singular and plural• You

• Your

• Yours

Third-person Pronoun

• Third-person pronouns : refer to people and things written or spoken about

• He

• She

• It

• One

• They

• Him

• Hers

• Its

• Their

• Theirs

Pronouns and their antecedents

• Antecedents – the words that a pronoun refers to.

• The word antecedent means to go before in Latin.

• It gets its name from the idea that a pronoun refers to something previously mentioned in the sentence. \

• Gary walks his dog. (his refers to Gary)

• Callie takes her little sister to the park. (her refers to Callie)

Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement

•RULE : Pronouns and antecedents should agree in number and gender

Which sentences are correct?

• Everybody is sticking to their guns.

• Anybody can pass the course is they try.

• Neither teacher plans to change their rules.

• If someone tries to write an essay, they should make an outline first.

NONE OF THEM!

• Everybody (singular) is sticking to their (plural) guns.

• Anybody (singular) can pass the course is they (plural) try.

• Neither (singular) teacher plans to change their (plural) rules.

• If someone (singular) tries to write an essay, they (plural) should make an outline first.

The problem?

• Everybody, neither, everyone, nobody, somebody, someone, no one, and anyone all sound plural

• They are NOT plural. They are singular.

How to fix it?

• Everybody is sticking to his guns

• Anybody can pass this course if she tries

• Neither teacher plans to change his or her rules

• If one tries to write an essay, one should make an outline first.

Note: Some people dislike using male pronouns when referring to people who might be of either sex. They prefer the more politically correct phrase “he or she”, but because seasoned writers regard that phrase as tacky and awkward, they use gender neutral plural pronouns such as:

AWKWARD: During a college interview, a student should avoid griping about his or her high school teachers.REVISED: During a college interview, students should avoid griping about their high school teachers.

Or they might simply restructure their sentence to avoid the problem altogether

REVISED: A college interview is not a place to gripe about high school teachers.

Pronoun References

• Pronouns should refer unambiguously (very clearly) to their antecedents.

• Vague/ nonexistent references leave readers confused!

Rule #1

• Double check every pronoun you use to make sure that it doesn’t refer to more than one antecedent.

• The teacher, Ms. Taylor, told Karen that it was her responsibility to hand out the paper.

• Whose responsibility is it?

• Fix it in your notes.

Ms. Taylor told Karen that it was her responsibility as the teacher to hand out paper .

Rule #2

• Be wary of sentences that contain two or more pronoun references such as:

• Mike became a good friend of Mark’s after he helped him repair his chair.

• Whose chair needed fixed? Who fixed it?

• YOU FIX IT!

Better?

•When Mark needed to repair his chair, Mike helped him do the job. Afterward, they became good friends.

Ahhh there it is . . .

•When Mark needed to repair his chair, Mike helped him do the job. Afterward, the two became good friends.

Rule #3

•Watch out for words or phrases that may be mistaken for the antecedent . . . .

For example :

• Dave was taken fishing by his father when he was ten.

• He and father are almost right next to each other. Father may seem to the antecedent of the pronoun he. But, unless Dave’s father holds the record for being the youngest father ever . . . . This sentence needs some fixin’

Here we go . . .

• When he was ten, Dave was taken fishing by his father.

So anyway . . .

•Clear meaning depends on pronouns that refer unmistakably to particular nouns or other pronouns.

Other types of Pronouns

• Everything we have been studying is a personal pronoun

• Other types:• Possessive

• Relative

• Reflexive

• Interrogative

• Demonstrative

Possessive Pronoun

• Indicate ownership

• Answer the question, “whose?”

Possessive Pronouns

• My

• Mine

• His

• Her

• Hers

• Your

• Yours

• Ours

• Our

• Their

• Theirs

• Its

Possessive Pronouns cont . . .

• Spelled without the apostrophe

• Do not confuse “its” with “it’s”

The Gerund

• Use a possessive pronoun (my, our, your, his, her, their) before a gerund.

• Gerund – a noun that looks like a verb because it ends in –ing • They decided to take swimming instead of jogging. (swimming is

a gerund)

The Gerund

• Not all –ing words are gerunds• Thing – not a gerund

• Spring – not a gerund

• Ring – not a gerund

• Sometimes they are just verbs

The Participle

• Verbs that end in –ing are called participles

• I hope you don’t mind my intruding on your conversation.

• I hope you don’t mind me intruding on your conversation.

• Which is a gerund? Which is a participle?

Relative Pronouns

• Refer to nouns or other pronouns

• Which

• That

• Who

• Whom

• Whose

• What

For example . . .

• Those are the dishes that I washed this morning

• Those dishes, which once belonged to my mother, need to be put away.

• The store that sold used bikes went out of business.

That VS Which

• That• Use when the words that follow are essential to the

meaning of the sentence

• Which• Use when if the words that follow give information that

isn’t crucial to the meaning of the sentence

For example . . .

• That• The store that sold used bikes went out of business

• Which• That backpack, which Belinda takes to school, had

coffee spilled on it.

Who vs Whom Do you know the difference?

Who

• Use as the grammatical subject of a sentence or a pronoun

• Who (subject) ordered Pizza?

• That (subject) is the woman who (pronoun) ordered it.

Whom

• Use when following a preposition (to, with, etc) or when it functions as the object of a verb

• To (preposition) whom should this fish be given?

• The detective found (verb) the thief whom he’d been seeking.

• When deciding between who and whom ask yourself whether the pronoun is performing an action

• If so, use who

• If the pronoun is being acted upon or comes after a preposition (with, in, before, around, between, ect . . . “

• Use whom

Who, That, or Which

Who

•Use who when referring to specific people.•David, who is wearing blue, talks a lot.

That

• Use that to refer to things, animals, and people

• BUT use who to refer to a specific person• This is Colonel Powders, who fought in Afghanistan.

• Either that or who, however, may be used to more general references• Those are the pilots who flew the plane.

• Those are the pilots that flew the plane.

• Both are correct

Which

•Use which to refer to things and nonhuman creatures, but never to people•Those are the dogs which keep me up all night with their incessant barking.

Reflexive Pronouns

• Reflexive Pronouns stand out among all other pronouns because they end with self (singular form) or selves (plural) • 1st person – myself / ourselves

• 2nd person – yourself / yourselves

• 3rd person – herself, himself, itself/themselves

More reflexive pronouns

Refer to the noun or pronoun that is the grammatical subject of the sentence in which they appear:• We will be going to the city by ourselves

Reflexive pronouns cannot be the subject

•WRONG : Myself wrote every word of the paper.

•RIGHT: I wrote every word of the paper by myself.

Nor can they be object pronouns

WRONG: Mimi gave M&Ms to Margie and myself.

RIGHT: Mimi gave M&Ms to Margie and me.

Interrogative Pronouns

• Interrogative Pronouns are often called questions pronouns.

• Who

• What

• Which

• Whom

• Whose

• When

• Where

• Why

• How

Demonstrative Pronouns

• Demonstrative pronouns point like arrows• This

• These

• That

• Those

Demonstrative Pronouns (cont)

• Like other pronouns, demonstrative pronouns need to point to clear antecedents.• WRONG: Sea world provides terrible living conditions for the

animals. The orca whales are kept in compact dark spaces. The infant orcas are taken away from their mothers all too soon. This bothers me.

• Which condition does this refer to? The spaces or the infants?

• Use “these” when referring to multiple things.