1. Pronouns Chapter 8

2. Pronouns - Basics A pronoun is used in place of a noun. The noun it refers to is called an antecedent. I read a book. It was good. “It” refers to the antecedent “book” Mary went to the store and she bought ice cream. “she” refers to the antecedent “Mary”

3. Pronouns - Basics A singular pronoun is used to refer to a singular noun. I read a book. It was good. We use the singular pronoun “it” because the noun it refers to (book) is singular.

4. Pronouns - Basics A plural pronoun is used to refer to a plural noun. I read some books. They were good. We use the plural pronoun “they” because it refers back to a plural noun (books).

5. Pronouns - Basics Sometimes the antecedent is understood, so it is not stated. I like tea. Do you like tea, too? The pronoun “I” refers to the speaker and “you” refers to the person the speaker is referring to.

6. Practice Complete Exercise 3 – p. 137

7. Subject and Object Pronouns Subject pronouns are used as subjects of sentences. John has a new car. He drives to work. Object pronouns are used as objects of verbs or objects of prepositions. John works in my office. I know him very well. I talk to him every day.

8. Possessive Pronouns Possessive pronouns stand on their own – They are not followed immediately by a noun; they stand alone: That book is hers. Yours is over there. Possessive pronouns DO NOT take apostrophes: That book is her’s. (bad) Your’s is over there. (bad)

9. Possessive Adjectives Possessive adjectives are followed immediately by a noun; they DO NOT stand alone: Her book is there. Your book is over here. A bird uses its wings to fly. Its = possessive adjective It’s = It is/it has

10. Practice Complete Exercises 5, 6, 8, and 9 – p. 137-139

11. Personal Pronouns: Generic/Indefinite A student walked into the room. SHE was looking for the teacher. (We know the student was female; A student is not generic) A student should always do his assignments. (A student is generic). In these situations, the masculine pronoun was traditionally used to refer to the generic noun; however, some people began taking exception to this believing it was sexist. As a result, it has become common to see HIS OR HER or HIS/HER to include both the masculine and feminine. A student should always do his or her homework. A teacher should always do his/her grading swiftly.

12. Personal Pronouns: Generic/Indefinite Problems/confusion with choosing masculine or feminine pronouns for generic nouns can be avoided by making the generic noun plural. The pronoun, as a result, will also be plural: Students should always do their homework. Teachers should always grade their papers swiftly. What you should try to avoid doing is using a plural pronoun for a singular generic noun (although it has become very common to see this, and most teachers of subjects other than English would probably not even consider this to be a mistake) A student should always do their work. A teacher should always grade their papers swiftly.

13. Indefinite Pronouns When using an indefinite pronoun (everyone/anyone/nobody/etc.), the use of a singular pronoun is correct: Somebody left HIS book on the desk. Everyone has left HIS OR HER book on the desk. More indefinite pronouns are listed on p. 140.

14. Practice Complete Exercise 12 – p. 140

15. Impersonal Pronouns ONE (as a pronoun) means any person/people in general. FORMAL: One should always be polite. How does one get to the Galleria?

16. Impersonal Pronouns You (as a pronoun) can also mean any person/people in general. INFORMAL: You should always be polite. How do you get to the Galleria?

17. Impersonal Pronouns THEY (as a pronoun) is used in spoken or very informal English to mean “people in general” or “an unidentified group of people” Iowa is an agricultural state. They grow a lot of corn. Classes start too early. They should change the schedule. THEY is not referring to any noun (antecedent) in a previous clause or sentence. Often the antecedent is implied: THEY in above sentence 1 = farmers in Iowa. THEY in above sentence 2 = the school’s administration

18. Practice Complete Exercise 23

19. Forms of OTHER Forms of other are used as either adjectives or pronouns: AdjectivePronoun SingularAnother book is…Another is…. PluralOther books are…Others are… SingularThe other book is…The other is… PluralThe other books are…The others are… ANOTHER is always singular ‘s’ added only for plural pronounn

20. Forms of OTHER ANOTHER = one more in addition to or different from the one(s) already mentioned. The students in class come from many places. One student is from Mexico. ANOTHER student is from Brazil. ANOTHER is from Japan. OTHER/OTHERS (without “the”) = several more in addition to or different from the one(s) already mentioned. The student in class come from many places. Some students come from Mexico. OTHER students are from Brazil. OTHERS are from Japan.

21. Forms of OTHER THE OTHER/THE OTHERS = all that remains from a set number; the rest of a specific group: I have three books. One is mine. The other books are yours. I have three books. One is mine. The others are yours. ANOTHER is used as an adjective with expressions of time, money, and distance – even if they contain plural nouns. ANOTHER means “additional” in these expressions: I will be here for another three years. I need another five dollars. We drove another ten miles.

22. Practice Complete Exercises 26, 27, and 28 – p. 149-150

23. Common Expressions with OTHER EACH OTHER and ONE ANOTHER indicate a reciprocal relationship: Mike and I write to each other every week. We write to one another every week. EVERY OTHER means “skip one” or “alternate”: Please write on every other line. Take one pill every other day. THE OTHER is used with time expressions to indicate the recent past (informal): I saw him just the other day = recently.

24. Common Expressions with OTHER ONE AFTER ANOTHER/ONE AFTER THE OTHER = indicate separate actions that happened very close in time: The ducklings followed their mother one after the other. I had tests one after another in all of my classes on Thursday. OTHER THAN is usually used after a negative to mean “except”: No one knows my secret other than Rosa. Other than Rick, no one got a perfect score on the test. IN OTHER WORDS is a transition that indicates an explanation in simpler terms: Fruits and vegetables are full of vitamins and minerals. In other words, they are very good for you.

25. Practice Complete Exercises 32 and 34 – p. 153-154 Complete Chapter Review Packet