Pronouns

Subject Pronouns A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. A subject pronoun takes the place of a noun that is the subject of the sentence. To find the subject of the sentence, use the pronoun Who? or What? and place it before the verb in the sentence.

Subject Pronouns Subject Pronouns Singular Plural I we you you he, she, it they

Subject Pronouns Examples: Sally has gone to the movies. (Who? + has gone) She has gone to the movies. The bus is late again this morning. (What? + is) It is late again this morning. Joe and I are going to the game Friday night. (Who? + are going) We are going to the game Friday night.

Subject Pronouns Subject pronouns are also used when they come after a linking verb. Examples: The guy in the picture is I. The best student in class is she. Volunteers for the cooking contest are they. The happiest person in the room was he.

Object Pronouns Object pronouns take the place of an noun that comes after the verb or after prepositions such as to, for, with, in, or at. Examples: Mr. Jones saw Sally. Mr. Jones saw her. The letter is for Jim. The letter is for him. To find the object after the verb, find the verb and as Whom? or What? after the verb.

Object Pronouns Examples: Mr. Smith told John. (told + whom? He told him. The officer warned Sue. (warned + whom? He warned her. Mom took Ellen and me. (took + whom?) Mom took us. The coach selected Bill and Tom. (selected + whom? The coach selected them.

Object Pronouns Object Pronouns Singular Plural me us you you he, she, it them Note: There can be more than one object pronoun in a sentence.

Object Pronouns Examples: The package is for Sally and Jim. The package is for her and him. Mom waited for Jack and Jill. Mom waited for him and her. The extra work helped the girls and Tom and me. The extra work helped them and us.

Using I and Me I is a subject pronoun; it comes before the verb. Me is an object pronoun; it comes after the verb. When I or me appears with another noun or pronoun, say the sentence using only I or me to help identify which one you should use.

Using I and Me Our principal gave Joe and (I, me) the award. Examples: Our principal gave Joe and (I, me) the award. Kate and (I, me) always ride our bikes together. Will you be able to go with Pat and (I, me)? The new student gave the letter to Shirley and (I, me). My mother and (I, me) came to visit you yesterday. Note: Always name yourself last when I or me appears with a noun or another pronoun.

Possessive Pronouns A possessive pronoun shows ownership. It takes the place of a possessive noun. Possessive nouns are easily recognized because they have an apostrophe. Possessive pronouns have different forms.

Possessive Pronouns Used with Nouns Possessive Pronouns appearing with nouns: Singular Plural my our your your his, her, its their

Possessive Pronouns Used with Nouns Examples: I left my book in my locker. Clean up your room. He has lost his wallet. The dog hurt its paw. Our class took a field trip yesterday. Your uniform is pretty. They could not find their map of the city.

Possessive Pronouns That Stand Alone If a possessive pronoun is not used with a noun, it can stand by itself. If the possessive pronoun stands by itself, it has a different form than those possessives that are used with nouns. With the exception of first person, all other stand alone pronouns end with the letter s.

Stand Alone Possessive Pronouns Possessive Pronouns that stand alone: Singular Plural mine ours yours yours his, hers, its theirs

Stand Alone Possessive Pronouns Examples: That package is mine. My room is cleaner than yours. That sweater is his. Those shoes are hers. This book has one of its pages missing. The tools on the ground are ours. All these letters are theirs.

Contractions with Pronouns A contraction joins two words together. In a contraction some letters are omitted. When you omit letters, you must use an apostrophe. Some contractions occur with the pronoun and the verbs am, are, is, will, would, have, has, and had.

Contractions with Pronouns Pronoun/Verb Contraction I am I’m he is he’s it is it’s you are you’re they are they’re I will/shall I’ll you will you’ll we would we’d

More Contractions with Pronouns Subject/Verb Contraction I have I’ve He has he’s It has it’s You have you’ve They have they’ve I had I’d You had you’d We had we’d

Summary of Contractions with Pronouns Contractions are a shortened form of two words joined together. When contractions are used, an apostrophe must be used to indicate that some letters have been omitted. Some contractions will look alike (he is/he has = he’s and we had/we would = we’d) Its is a possessive pronoun; it’s is a contraction for it is and it has. Don’t confuse its and it’s; they are not the same.

Double Subjects Every sentence must have a subject. If the sentence doesn’t have a subject, it is a sentence fragment. Occasionally people want to use a double subject. It is always a noun and a pronoun that refers to the name. Such double subjects should be avoided.

Double Subjects To correct these double subjects, use either the noun or the pronoun, but not both. Example: My mother she is a good cook. My mom and dad they are traveling to Europe this summer. My dog it wants a big bone from the butcher.

Using We and Us with Nouns Sometimes the pronouns we and us are used with nouns. Example: (We, Us) guys will basketball this afternoon. The principal wants (we, us) students to go the auditorium. Hint: To figure out which form is correct, drop the noun and use only the pronoun. Remember that we is a subject pronoun and us is an object pronoun.

Homophones Homophones are words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings Some Homophones for four know no hear here to too hour our to/too two Note: make sure that you understand the difference and choose the correct homophone.