1. Language Network
Pronouns

2. What is a Pronoun? Here’s the Idea Why It Matters Practice and Apply
Pronouns
What is a Pronoun?
Here’s the Idea
Why It Matters
Practice and Apply

3. Here’s the Idea
Pronoun
A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or another pronoun.

4. A pronoun can refer to a person, place, thing, or idea.
Here’s the Idea
A pronoun can refer to a person, place, thing, or idea.

5. The word that a pronoun refers to is called its antecedent.
Here’s the Idea
The word that a pronoun refers to is called its antecedent.
REFERS TO
Ramon visited Death Valley, and he was impressed.

6. Why It Matters
Pronouns help you talk about people concisely when you’re telling a story.

7. Find the pronoun in the sentence below.
Practice and Apply
Find the pronoun in the sentence below.
Death Valley is famous for its strange moving boulders. 1.

8. Find the pronoun in the sentence below.
Practice and Apply
Find the pronoun in the sentence below.
The rocks slide and leave long tracks behind them. 2.

9. Find the pronoun in the sentence below.
Practice and Apply
Find the pronoun in the sentence below.
Do you know why this happens? 3.

10. Pronoun Agreement Here’s the Idea Why It Matters Practice and Apply
Pronouns
Pronoun Agreement
Here’s the Idea
Why It Matters
Practice and Apply

11. Here’s the Idea
Antecedent
The antecedent is the noun or pronoun that a pronoun replaces or refers to.

12. Use a singular pronoun to refer to a singular antecedent.
Here’s the Idea
Use a singular pronoun to refer to a singular antecedent.
REFERS TO
One story has its setting in Egypt.
story
its

13. Use a plural pronoun to refer to a plural antecedent.
Here’s the Idea
Use a plural pronoun to refer to a plural antecedent.
REFERS TO
The characters have their motives for murder.
characters
their

14. Here’s the Idea
The gender of the pronoun must be the same as the gender of its antecedent.

15. Personal pronouns have three gender forms:
Here’s the Idea
Personal pronouns have three gender forms:
masculine he, his, him
feminine she, her, hers
neuter it, its

16. Agatha Christie sets many of her stories in England. her
Here’s the Idea
FEMININE
Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie sets many of her stories in England.
her
MASCULINE
The hero has to use all his wits to solve the crime.
hero
his

17. Why It Matters
In your writing, you will sometimes refer to several people or groups of people.
Correct pronoun-antecedent agreement will help your readers keep track of who is who in your writing.

18. Find the pronouns and their antecedents in these sentences.
Practice and Apply
Find the pronouns and their antecedents in these sentences.
Agatha Christie loved real-life mysteries of the past. She helped to investigate them in the Middle East. 4.

19. Find the pronouns and their antecedents in this sentence.
Practice and Apply
Find the pronouns and their antecedents in this sentence.
Agatha Christie and her husband went on many archaeological trips and found them exciting. 5.

20. Find the pronouns and their antecedents in this sentence.
Practice and Apply
Find the pronouns and their antecedents in this sentence.
A mystery writer may use exotic places and backgrounds for his or her stories. 6.

21. Find the pronouns and their antecedents in this sentence.
Practice and Apply
Find the pronouns and their antecedents in this sentence.
Christie started Murder in Mesopotamia in the desert, but she finished it in England. 7.