1. Personal – Subject, Object, and Possessive Reflexive and Intensive

2.  A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or another pronoun.  Like a noun, a pronoun can refer to a person, place, thing, or idea.  The word that personal pronoun refers to is called its antecedent.

3.  Pronouns such as we, I, he, them, and it are called personal pronouns.  Personal pronouns change form to reflect person, number, and case.

4.  Personal pronouns have different forms for first person, second person, and third person.  Pronouns can be singular or plural in number. SingularPlural First Person:I went out.We left early. Second Person:You left too.You are all leaving. Third Person:He came by bus.They came by car.

5.  Personal pronouns can change their forms, or cases, depending on how they are used in a sentence. Each pronoun has three cases: subject, object, and possessive. Subject:He just started middle school. Object:Scott met him on the first day. Possessive:Now Scott is his best friend.

6.  Notice how personal pronouns change according to their person, number, and case. SubjectObjectPossessive Singular First Person Second Person Third Person I you he, she, it me you him, her, it my, mine your, yours his, her, hers, its Plural First Person Second Person Third Person we you they us you them our, ours your, yours their, theirs

7.  A subject pronoun is used as the subject of a sentence or as a predicate pronoun after a linking verb.  *We will not test on predicate pronouns. SingularPlural Iwe you he, she, itthey

8.  Use the subject case of a pronoun when the pronoun is the subject of a sentence. Remember, a pronoun can be part of a compound subject.  Friends often play on opposing teams. They compete hard against each other. (They replaces noun subject Friends.)  Charlene and I play on different teams.  We stay friends no matter what.

9.  Object pronouns are personal pronouns used as direct objects or as indirect objects. SingularPlural meus you Him, her, itthem

10.  Direct Object: receives the action of a verb and answers the question whom or what?  Do you like them too? (Like what? Them)  Indirect Object: tells to whom or what an action is performed.  People gave him a hero’s welcome. (Gave a hero’s welcome to whom? Him)  **Note: always use the object pronoun after the preposition between. The books were divided between Mike and me. (Not between Mike and I)

11.  Possessive pronouns are personal pronouns used to show ownership or relationship. SingularPlural my, mineour, ours your, yours her, hers, his, itstheir, theirs

12.  The possessive pronouns my, your, her, his, our, and their come before nouns.  Some of my best friends live in other countries  All our correspondence is by e-mail.  Even their old computers are online now.

13.  The possessive pronouns mine, ours, your, his, hers, and theirs can stand alone in a sentence.  The blue mouse pad is theirs. Ours is red.  Is that video game yours? Mine is broken.  Is his any good? Or should we play hers?

14.  Some possessive pronouns sound like contractions (its/it’s, your/you’re, their/they’re). Because these pairs sound alike, writers often confuse possessive pronouns and contractions.  Remember, possessive pronouns never use an apostrophe. Contractions always use an apostrophe.

15.  Pronouns that end in –self or –selves are either reflexive or intensive pronouns.  Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns  Myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

16.  A reflexive pronoun refers to the subject and directs the action of the verb back to the subject. It “reflects” the subject.  The winners considered themselves lucky. ▪ Themselves reflects winners  When you drop reflexive pronoun from the sentence, the sentence no longer makes sense.

17.  An intensive pronoun emphasizes the noun or pronoun in the same sentence.  The players themselves designed their uniforms. ▪ Themselves emphasizes players  When you drop the intensive pronoun from the sentence, the sentence still makes sense.

18.  Hisself and theirselves are not words!  They may look like words. You may have a habit of using them. However, these are NOT words!  Use himself and themselves instead