Nouns, Pronouns, Antecedents, and Agreement

Noun Review Noun-person, place, thing, or idea Types of nouns: Nouns that are ideas are not physically concrete Examples: happiness, bravery, love, fun, freedom, etc. Types of nouns: Common Proper Abstract Concrete Collective

Noun Review: Common and Proper Common nouns: a person, place, thing, or idea that is not specific or is named generally Proper nouns: a specifically named person, place, thing, or idea Proper nouns are capitalized That painting is in a famous museum. The Mona Lisa, a famous painting, hangs in the Louvre Museum.

Noun Review: Concrete and Abstract Concrete nouns refer to nouns that can be seen, touched, tasted, smelled, or heard. These nouns are tangible. Movie, dog, pizza, rose, trumpet, etc. Abstract nouns refer to nouns that are ideas, qualities, or characteristics. These nouns are not tangible. Honor, wisdom, self-esteem, beauty, etc.

Noun Review: Collective Nouns A collective noun names a group: Audience, batch, committee, team, family, etc. *Remember, some collective nouns are singular and some are plural depending on what is happening in the sentence!

Pronouns Pronouns are words that are used in place of nouns or other pronouns. The word that the pronoun replaces is called the antecedent. Example: Jessie turned in her report on time. There are seven kinds of pronouns: Personal Reflexive Intensive Demonstrative Interrogative Indefinite Relative

Pronouns: Find the Pronoun and Its Antecedent Jack and Jill ate pizza for their dinner. Josie, have you turned in your homework? The cop car went flying around the corner as it rocketed toward the suspect. We should throw Stuart a birthday party!

Personal Pronouns Personal pronouns are probably the ones you know best: I, me, we, us, you, yours, he, she, they, them, their, it, its, etc. Personal pronouns refer to the person speaking (I), being spoken to (you), or being spoken about (him/her).

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns A reflexive pronoun refers to the subject and is necessary to the meaning of the sentence. Tara enjoyed herself at the party. The team prided themselves on their victory. An intensive pronoun emphasizes a noun or another pronoun in the sentence and is not necessary to the sentence. The intensive pronoun can come out. I myself cooked that delicious dinner. Did you redecorate the room yourself?

Demonstrative Pronouns Demonstrative pronouns point out a specific person, place, thing or idea. This, that, these, those This is the book that I bought for my sister. These words can also be used as adjectives, so you must be careful! I bought this book for my sister. Did you order these sneakers?

Pronoun or Adjective? Is this yours? Do you want those old magazines? Please hand me that spatula. This is the car that I want to buy soon. A question like that is not silly. These students worked really hard all year.

Pronouns: Interrogative and Indefinite An interrogative pronoun asks a question. What, which, who, whom, whose Who wrote that book? What is the best play to see this weekend? An indefinite pronoun refers to a person, place, thing, or idea that is not specifically named. All, any, both, each, either, neither, many, nobody, anybody, someone, something, etc. Both of the girls were cast in the play. I would like some of that Chinese food.

Relative Pronouns A relative pronoun introduces a subordinate clause. Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, was our country’s third president. Exercise is something that many people enjoy. These pronouns are similar to interrogative pronouns, so you have to be careful. Look at how the word is being used in the sentence.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Remember subject-verb agreement? Singular subjects take singular verbs, plural subjects take plural verbs Pronoun-antecedent agreement follows the same rule. Singular antecedents require singular pronouns Mary had a test in math, so she had to study. Plural antecedents require plural pronouns The Williams family is excited for their summer vacation.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Pronouns must also agree in gender Female antecedents take female pronouns Carla left her notebook in her mother’s car. Male antecedents take male pronouns My brother ate his dinner too quickly, resulting in a stomach ache. Sometimes it is unclear if your antecedent is male or female. In that case, you must include a pronoun of both genders. Someone left his or her notebook in the desk.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Find the pronoun and its antecedent. Then, decide if the sentence is correct or not. Each of the girls has offered their ideas about the project. One of the men lost his key. No one in the school play forgot their lines. Many of the animals in the zoo refused to eat its dinner. Either Jessica or Jacob will give their speech today. Sally and Steven donated their time to the weekend fundraiser.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement For collective nouns, the pronoun should match the number (singular or plural) of the collective noun (antecedent). The cast is giving its final performance tonight. The cast are trying on their costumes. Books, songs, movies, art, organizations, countries, and cities take singular pronouns. The United Nations, which has its headquarters in New York, also has offices in Geneva and Vienna.