I Am So Proud of Myself! Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns 8 th Grade English Pronoun Unit

You Tell Me… What have YOU learned this unit?

Today… We are going to learn about reflexive: And Intensive: Pronouns!

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns are simple to find. Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns are formed by adding –self or –selves to certain personal and possessive pronouns! Ah…I smell a chart on the next slide…

The Chart Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns SINGULAR Myself Yourself Himself, herself, itself PLURAL Ourselves Yourselves Themselves Sometimes hisself is mistakenly used for himself and theirselves for themselves. Avoid using hisself and theirselves as they are NOT WORDS!

Reflexive Pronouns A reflexive pronoun refers to a noun or another pronoun and indicates that the person or thing is involved. HUH?

Let’s try this… A reflexive pronoun is like a reflexive noun. It reflects the action back on the person or thing. Ex. The woman bought herself a piece of cheese. The word herself reflects over the word bought.

Reflexive Pronouns Most often, in a reflexive pronoun case, the noun is reflected in the pronoun. The verb acts like a mirror, the pronoun is the mirror reflection of the noun. Ex. The girls asked themselves “What would Ms. Deckard do?

Find the Reflexive Pronoun 1.My sister Emmy never pictured herself playing team sports. 2.The players have to get themselves in step with the team. 3.One player can’t win a match all by himself or herself. 4.Olympic soccer player Mia Hamm said: “Don’t worry about how well you play; just enjoy yourself. 5.Tema players think of others besides themselves.

Reflexive Pronouns Remember, if you drop the reflexive pronoun, you change the meaning of the sentence. –The winners considered themselves lucky. The winners considered lucky. Huh?

Intensive Pronouns An intensive pronoun is a pronoun that adds emphasis to a noun or pronoun already named. It adds POWER!

Intensive Pronouns Intensive pronouns are usually able to spot because they almost always follow the word being made more powerful. Ex. – Ms. Deckard herself never wrote a paper for another person. –I myself have never read any of Ms. Deckard’s work.

Find the Intensive Pronoun 1.Now Emmy herself admits that her best friends are her soccer teammates. 2.Pro athletes themselves encourage young people to join teams. 3.I myself didn’t try out for a team until I was Team players themselves need to think of others, too.

Remember… Notice that when you drop the intensive pronoun, the sentence still makes sense. –I myself keep saying “We’ll win!” –I keep saying “We’ll win!” Says the same thing!

NEVER DO THIS… Reflexive and intensive pronouns have special uses. –They should NEVER be used as the subject of a sentence. –They should NEVER be used as the object of a verb or a preposition. That means don’t use them in the nominative or objective case!

NOT THIS… Ex. –Evan and I read “The Idiot’s Guide to Acting.” (NOT EVAN AND MYSELF) –It pleased Evan and me. (NOT EVAN AND MYSELF) –It didn’t please Ryan Pierce or her. (NOT RYAN PIERCE AND HERSELF!)

Try it yourself! 1.You should occupy yourselves by reading one of Edgar Allan Poe’s tales. 2.His first three books of poetry were themselves not successful. 3.Poe did not think himself a writer of inferior material. 4.Poe himself had a high opinion of his abilities. 5.One of his first tales was superb; the tale itself won a $100 prize. 6.One of the contest judges himself gave Poe a job as a magazine editor.

Remember: A reflexive pronoun is like a reflexive noun; it reflects the action back on the person or thing. An intensive pronoun is a pronoun that adds emphasis to a noun or pronoun already named; it adds power to the noun.

Our list… A pronoun is like a stunt double in a movie. It is the stand in for the regular noun. When a noun is about to wear itself out in a sentence, a pronoun can hop in! A pronoun is a word that takes the place of one or more nouns and the words that describe those nouns. (Or, it is a word that stands in for a noun!) Pronouns that are used to refer to people or things are called personal pronouns. Personal pronouns are singular or plural. Some personal pronouns are used as the subjects of sentences. Some personal pronouns are used as the objects of verbs (direct objects!) or prepositions!

Our list… The antecedent is the noun that the pronoun takes the place of or stands for. The pronoun almost always refers to the noun closest to it. If you put pronouns in odd places, it’s hard to tell what the antecedent is. Subject pronouns are used in the nominative case, even if it is a compound subject. Object pronouns are used in the objective case, even if it is a compound object. Pronouns are polite; I/me is always last. Me is objective; I is nominative…remember when to use each! Be careful when to use the word you. Make sure to use the right case when you have an incomplete comparison.

Our list… A possessive pronoun is a pronoun in the possessive case. A possessive pronoun takes the place of a possessive noun. Don’t confuse the possessive noun its with the word it’s. An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that does not specifically name its antecedent. It is general.

I smell a test coming up!