Pronouns – Part One Grade Eight

Definition Pronouns are one of the eight parts of speech. Pronouns are words that take the place of a noun. There are many types of pronouns: personal possessive compound personal intensive reflexive demonstrative relative indefinite interrogative distributive

Personal pronouns Personal pronouns take the place of people. Personal pronouns have several qualities such as: person number gender case

Personal pronoun qualities -Person Pronouns can be described by the person they exhibit. First person pronouns are the speaker in the sentence. Second person pronouns refer to the person who is spoken to. Third person pronouns refer to someone or something that is spoken about. The quality of “person” affects one’s writing. Writers must keep consistent the person in a composition. First person narratives, for example, need to consistently use pronouns such as I, we, me, my, mine, our, and ours. The pronoun “you” should never be used in an essay since an essay never talks to anyone. “You” can be used in letters or texts since they are written to someone.

Personal pronoun qualities -Person The first person pronouns are: I we me our my mine ours

Personal pronoun qualities -Person The second person pronouns are: you your yours

Personal pronoun qualities -Person The third person pronouns are: he she It they him her them his hers its their theirs

Personal pronoun qualities –number Pronouns have two numbers – singular and plural. Singular pronouns take the place of a singular noun. Remember, singular means “one.” The singular pronouns are: I, you, he, she, it, me, him, her, my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its Plural pronouns take the place of a plural noun. Remember, plural means “more than one.” we, you, they, us, them, our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs The second person pronouns – you, your, and yours – can be either singular or plural depending on what nouns or nouns they replace.

Personal pronoun qualities -gender Some pronouns refer to a specific gender. Masculine pronouns refer solely to males. The masculine pronouns are he, him, and his. Feminine pronouns refer solely to females. The feminine pronouns are she, her, and hers. Neuter pronouns have no gender. They refer to things rather than people. The neuter pronouns are it and its. Other pronouns can be assigned a gender based on the noun the pronoun replaces. For example, “them” would be feminine in this pair of sentences: The girls worked hard preparing for the game, and that helped them win.

Test yourself –person and number For each of the following personal pronouns, give its person and number. he third person, singular 2. them third person, plural 3. you second person, singular or plural 4. me first person, singular 5. our first person, plural

Personal pronoun qualities -case Pronouns are also classified by case. There are three cases of pronouns: nominative objective possessive

Personal pronoun qualities -case Nominative pronouns are also called subject pronouns. Nominative pronouns can function as the subject of the sentence or as a predicate noun. Subjects are located by first finding the verb in the sentence and then asking “Who?” or “What?” before that verb. The answer is the subject. I am a teacher. Mine is the book on the table. Predicate nouns follow a linking verb and rename the subject. Remember, the predicate noun and the subject can be interchangeable. The doctor is he. (He is the doctor.) The spectators were they. (They are the spectators. The nominative pronouns are: I, we, you, he, she, it, and they.

Personal pronoun qualities -case Objective pronouns are also called object pronouns because they function as direct objects, indirect objects, or objects of the preposition. Direct objects follow an action verb and answer the questions “Who?” or “What?” The family visited them in Philadelphia. The girls saw her in the mall. Indirect objects come in between an action verb and a direct object. They answer the questions “To whom?” or “For whom?” Mom gave her a cookie. The mail man brought them a letter. Objects of the preposition follow a preposition and answer the questions “Who?” nor “What?” The present was for him. The objective case pronouns are: me, us, you, him, her, it, and them.

Personal pronoun qualities -case Possessive pronouns are aptly named. They show ownership or possession. Sometimes possessive pronouns precede the noun they possess, and sometimes they do not. My book is on the table. The book is mine. The possessive pronouns are: my, mine, our, ours, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, their, and theirs.

Test yourself - case Identify the case of the following personal pronouns. 1. me objective 2. they nominative 3. ours possessive 4. you nominative or objective 5. him

Antecedents An antecedent is the noun that the pronoun replaces. Look at the following sentence: Mary said that Mary was interested in entering Mary’s poem in the contest. What a horrible sentence! It is very repetitive. This can be corrected by using pronouns to replace the antecedent Mary. Mary said that she was interested in entering her poem in the contest. “She” and “her” can replace the antecedent Mary to make a much better sentence!

Test Yourself-antecedents In each of the following sentences, identify the personal pronoun and its antecedent. Bob said that he would watch the game. he - Bob 2. Mary and the girls gave their best effort. their - Mary, girls 3. The student said that the book was hers. hers - student 4. On his web site, Mark posted several pictures. his - Mark

Compound personal pronouns Another type of personal pronoun is called the compound personal pronoun. Like other personal pronouns, compound personal pronouns can be explained by person, number, gender, and case. Singular compound personal pronouns end in the suffix “self.” Plural compound personal pronouns end in the suffix “selves.” There are eight compound personal pronouns: first person – myself, ourselves second person – yourself, yourselves third person – himself, herself, itself, themselves Hisself and theirselves are not words! Many people use them incorrectly!

Intensive and reflexive pronouns Compound personal pronouns are used in two different ways. When compound personal pronouns are intensive, the often follow the noun they are emphasizing. They can also come later in the sentence but not serve as an object. The goalie himself can be credited with saving the game! She wrote the essay herself. When compound personal pronouns are reflexive, they serve as an objective pronoun and function as a direct object, indirect object, or object of the preposition. They explained themselves very well. The man wrote himself a letter. She bought the gift for herself.

Test yourself – intensive and reflexive Identify the compound personal pronoun and tell if it intensive or reflexive. 1. I gave myself an A on the practice project. myself – reflexive 2. Mary saw herself in the mirror. herself – reflexive 3. Sam contributed to the drive himself. himself – intensive 4. You had yourself a good time at the amusement park. yourself – reflexive 5. The class themselves played a review game. themselves - intensive