Nouns and Pronouns

What is a noun? Common nouns are any person, place, or thing. Common nouns are not capitalized. Examples:  The city  That newspaper  A policeman

Compound Nouns A compound noun is a noun that is made up of more than one word. Compound nouns can be:  Separated - bubble bath, station wagon  Hyphenated - son-in-law, hand-me- down  Combined - shipwreck, handstand

Proper Nouns Proper nouns are the name of a special person, place, or thing. Proper nouns are capitalized. Examples  Nashville  Mrs. Anderson  LaVergne Middle School

Possessive Nouns A possessive noun is a noun that names who or what has something. Add an apostrophe and s ('s) to form the possessive of most singular nouns. Add an apostrophe (') to form the possessive of plural nouns that end with s. Add an apostrophe and s ('s) to form the possessive of plural nouns that do not end with s.

The dog's collar is too large. The word "dog's" is the possessive noun. It tells you that the noun "collar" belongs to the dog. The dog owns, or possesses the collar.

Pronouns A pronoun is a substitute for a noun. It refers to a person, place, thing, feeling, or quality but does not refer to it by its name. The critique of Plato's Republic was written from a contemporary point of view. It was an in-depth analysis of Plato's opinions about possible governmental forms

Personal Pronouns Personal pronouns refer to: 1. The person speaking 2. The person spoken to 3. The person, place, or thing spoken about.

Personal Pronoun SingularPlural First PersonI, me, my, minewe, us, our, ours Second Personyou, your, yours Third Person he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its they, them, their, theirs

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns Reflective: Refers to the subject and is necessary to the meaning of the sentence. Intensive: Emphasizes a noun or another pronoun and is unnecessary to the meaning.

Examples Example: Reflexive  Tara enjoyed HERSELF at the party.  The team prided THEMSELVES on their victory.  Intensive:  I MYSELF cooked that delicious dinner.  Did you redecorate the room YOURSELF?

Other Types of Pronouns Demonstrative: Points out a person, place, thing, or idea Interrogative: Introduces a question. Indefinite: refers to a person, place, thing, or an idea that might not be specifically named.

Possessive Pronouns Show ownership. Some are used alone; some describe a noun. The person in the blue car is (my, mine, I, me) mother.

Possessive Pronouns (My, Mine, I, Me) am ashamed of myself for being so rude to her. He is not a good friend, but he is an acquaintance of (my, mine). My parents will not allow (my, mine, I, me) to spend the night with Pam. (My, Mine, I, Me) brother sits on a stool when he plays the piano.

Pronoun Antecedent An antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers, understood by the context. Antecedents are nouns that pronouns replace.

Examples Joe ate his whole pepperoni pizza! When Angie moved, she gave her cat to the neighbors. Caring for bees can be rewarding, but it requires a certain amount of bravery.

Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, gender, and person. A singular pronoun must correspond to a singular antecedent The garbage man took away 25% more trash this holiday. He began dreaming of a green Christmas next year, one with less trash.

Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement A plural pronoun must refer to a plural antecedent. The garbage men worked hard. They wanted to go skiing in Colorado. Pronouns that refer to a male or female must refer to the correct gender. Fred drank milk before he ate dinner. Susan ate steak after she went home.