Can I use knowledge of language and its conventions for writing?

 A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Pronouns must have clear antecedents.  Examples: I, me, my, mine, you, our, we, myself, them, they, etc.  An antecedent is the word that a pronoun refers to or replaces. You must have pronoun-antecedent agreement in number, gender, and case.  Example: My friends and I were in a restaurant, and they/we were eating lunch.

 In your notes, write the correct pronoun for the blank in each sentence AND write the correct antecedent for the pronoun. You do not have to write the entire sentence.  1. We heard this man behind us, and _____ had the greatest voice.  2. Christa and Peter thought ______ might know him.  3. Mr. Edmunds was surprised to see us at the table behind ______.  4. He admitted that he was too full for his dessert and offered ______ to all of us.  5. Christa was the only one still hungry, so Peter and I gave it all to ______.

 Personal Pronouns—can be used to stand for the person speaking, the person spoken to, or the person spoken about.  First person pronouns refer to the speaker (I, me) or include the speaker (we, us). THESE PRONOUNS ARE THOSE YOU DO NOT INCLUDE IN FORMAL WRITING!!!  Second person pronouns refer to the person being spoken to (you). THESE PRONOUNS ARE ALSO THOSE YOU DO NOT INCLUDE IN FORMAL WRITING!!!  Third person pronouns refer to the person, place, or thing being spoken about (he, him, she, her, it, they, them). THESE PRONOUNS ARE GREAT TO INCLUDE IN FORMAL WRITING!!!

 Write the personal pronoun in each following sentence. Out beside the personal pronoun you wrote, write 1 if it is a first person pronoun, 2 if it is second person, or 3 if it is third person. You do not have to write the entire sentence.  1. Do you know who Thomas Edison was?  2. I think Edison was a brilliant inventor and scientist.  3. We have light, which we use day and night, thanks to Edison’s invention of the incandescent light bulb.  4. Edison always works on inventions that made people’s lives easier for them.  5. He worked in a laboratory in Menlo Park.  6. It is in New Jersey near Edison’s home in West Orange.  7. In Edison’s invention factory in Menlo Park, many coworkers aided and admired him.  8. They knew how brilliant Edison was and witnessed the man’s many inventions over the years.

 A compound personal pronoun ends in –self or –selves. A compound personal pronoun usually refers back to the subject of the sentence. That subject, the antecedent, is a noun or a personal pronoun.  Example: I bought myself a trivia book of amazing facts.

 Write the compound personal pronoun in the sentences below AND the correct antecedent. You do not have to write the entire sentence.  1. Did you know that people share themselves with other organisms?  2. I myself was shocked to learn this information.  3. Just the thought itself of bacteria and mites living on my body was horrible to me.  4. Jill, can you imagine mites, which resemble spiders, crawling on yourself?  5. The mites themselves are minuscule and are actually helpful because they eat your dead skin.