0. PRONOUNS

1. What is a Pronoun?
Subject Pronouns
Object Pronouns
Possessive Pronouns
Reflective and Intensive Pronouns
Interrogatives and Demonstratives
Pronoun Agreement
Indefinite-Pronoun Agreement
Pronoun Problems
More Pronoun Problems

2. WHAT IS A PRONOUN?

3. Raymond visited Death Valley, and he was impressed.
Pronouns
A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun. A pronoun can refer to a person, place, thing, or idea. The word that a pronoun refers to is called the antecedent.
Raymond visited Death Valley, and he was impressed.
Refers to

4. Personal pronouns
Pronouns such as we, I, he, them, and it are called personal pronouns. Personal pronouns have a variety of forms to indicate different persons, numbers, and cases.

5. Person and Number
These are first-person, second-person and third-person personal pronouns, each having both singular and plural forms.
Singular
Plural
I went out.
We left early.
You left too.
You are leaving.
He came by bus.
They came by car.

6. Case
Each personal pronoun has three cases: subject, object, and possessive. Which form to use depends on the pronouns function in a sentence.
Subject: He read about Death Valley.
Object: Julie asked him about the rocks.
Possessive: Ramon brought his book.

7. Identify the personal pronouns in each sentence...
Death Valley is famous for its strange moving boulders.
They are found in a dry lake bed called Racetrack Playa.
The rocks slide on their own, leaving long tracks behind them.
Can you think of an explanation for this curious event?
Investigators offer two major theories for us to consider.

8. Identify the personal pronouns in each sentence...
One geologist thinks that when floodwater freezes, an ice sheet can form under a rock and help it slide.
Other scientists disagree with his theory.
They believe that the wind alone can move the rocks.
Some scientists have hedged their bets, telling us that both theories could be true.
We still don’t know for sure how the rocks move.

9. SUBJECT PRONOUNS

10. Subject Pronouns A subject pronoun is used as a subject in a sentence.
Singular
Plural I We
You
He, she, it
They

11. You and he thought the movie was scary.
Pronouns as Subjects
Use a subject pronoun when the pronoun is a subject or part of a compound subject.
You and he thought the movie was scary.
He and I ate popcorn.

12. OBJECT PRONOUNS

13. Predicate Pronouns
A predicate pronoun follows a linking verb and identifies the verb’s subject. Use the subject case for predicate pronouns.
The owner was he.
identifies
subject
Predicate Pronoun

14. Object Pronouns
An object pronoun is used as a direct object, an indirect object, or an object of a preposition.
Singular
Plural Me Us
You
Him, her, it
Them

15. The mysterious death of king Tut fascinates me.
Direct Object
The pronoun receives the action of a verb and answers the question whom or what.
The mysterious death of king Tut fascinates me.
Direct Object

16. Chu lent me a video on the topic.
Indirect Object
The pronoun tells to whom or what or for whom or what an action is performed.
Chu lent me a video on the topic. to
Indirect
Object
Direct
Object

17. Object of a Preposition
The pronoun follows a preposition (such as to, from, for, against, by, or about).
We will save the video for you.
preposition
Object of a
preposition

18. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

19. Possessive Pronouns
A possessive pronoun is a personal pronoun used to show ownership or relationship.
Singular
Plural
My, mine
Our, ours
Your, yours
Her, hers, his, its
Their, theirs
The Chinese museum kept its amazing secret for years.
No one saw the mummies in their colorful clothes.
Then Professor Mair and his tour group arrived.

20. REFLEXIVE AND INTENSIVE PRONOUNS

21. Houdini called himself a master escape artist.
Reflexive Pronouns
A reflexive pronoun refers to the subject and directs the action of the verb back to the subject. Reflexive pronouns are necessary to the meaning of a sentence.
Houdini called himself a master escape artist.
reflects

22. You yourselves have seen magic shows on TV.
Intensive Pronouns
An intensive pronoun emphasizes a noun or another pronoun in the same sentence. Intensive pronouns are not necessary to the meaning of a sentence.
You yourselves have seen magic shows on TV.

23. INTERROGATIVES AND DEMONSTRATIVES

24. Interrogative Pronouns
An interrogative pronoun is used to introduce a question.
Who made up this riddle?
Interrogative Pronoun
Use
Who, whom
Refers to people
What
Refers to things
Which
Refers to people or things
Whose
Indicates ownership or relationship

25. Using Who and Whom Who is always used a subject or predicate pronoun.
Who knows the answer to the riddle?
Your favorite comedian is who?
Whom is always used as an object.
Whom did you tell?
To whom did you give my name?

26. Demonstrative Pronouns
A demonstrative pronoun points out a person, place, thing, or idea. This, that, these, and those.
Singular
Plural
This is the game that we created.
These are the rules.
That is the spinner.
Those are the playing pieces.

27. PRONOUN AGREEMENT

28. Pronoun Agreement
The antecedent is the noun or pronoun that a pronoun replaces or refers to. The antecedent and the pronoun can be in the same sentence or in a different sentences.
Louis writes his own detective stories.
Agatha Christie writes mysteries. Her stories are famous.
Refers to
Replaces

29. Agreement in Numbers
Use a singular pronoun to refer to a singular antecedent.
One story has its setting in Egypt.
Use a plural pronoun to refer to a plural antecedent.
The characters have their motives for murder.

30. Agreement in Person
The pronoun must agree in person with the antecedent.
Louis likes his mysteries to have surprise endings.
You want a story to grab your attention.
3rd person
2nd person

31. INDEFINITE-PRONOUN AGREEMENT

32. Indefinite-Pronoun Agreement
An indefinite pronoun does not refer to a specific person, place, thing, or idea.
Something unusual is going on in Loch Ness.
Has anyone photographed the Loch Ness monster?

33. Some indefinite pronouns are always singular, some are always plural, and some can be either singular or plural.
Singular
Plural
Singluar or Plural
Another
Anybody
Anyone
Anything
Each
Either
Everybody
Everyone
Everything
Neither
Nobody
No one
Nothing
One
Somebody
Someone
Something
Both
Few
Many
Several
All
Any
Most
None
some

34. Singular Indefinite Pronouns
Use a singular personal pronoun to refer to a singular indefinite pronoun.
Everyone took his or her camera to the lake.
One dropped his camera in the water.
Refers to
Refers to

35. Plural Indefinite Pronouns
Use a plural personal pronoun to refer to a plural indefinite pronoun.
Several reported their sightings of the monster.
Many could not believe their own eyes!
Refers to
Refers to

36. Singular or Plural Indefinite Pronouns
Some indefinite pronouns can be singular or plural. The phrase that follows the indefinite pronoun will often tell you whether the pronoun is singular or plural.
Most of the monster story has its origin in fantasy.
Most of the monster stories have their origins in fantasy.
Singular indefinite pronoun
Singular personal pronoun
plural personal pronoun
plural indefinite pronoun

37. PRONOUN PROBLEMS

38. Pronoun Problems – “We” and “Us”
The pronoun we or us is sometimes followed by a noun that identifies the pronoun. Use we when the pronoun is a subject or a predicate pronoun. Use us when the pronoun is an object.
We owners don’t always understand our pets.
Dogs and cats often surprise us owners.
subject
object

39. Unclear Reference
Be sure that each personal pronoun refers clearly to only one person, place, or thing.
Confusing: Tony and Fred want to become veterinarians. He now works at an animal shelter (who works? Tony or Fred?)
Clear: Tony and Fred want to become veterinarians. Fred now works at an animal shelter.

40. MORE PRONOUN PROBLEMS

41. Pronoun Problems – Pronouns in Compounds
Use the subject pronoun I, she, he, we, and they in a compound subject with a predicate noun or pronoun.
Kathy and he decided to research a mystery.
The research team was Jim and I.

42. Pronoun Problems – Problems in Compounds
Use the object pronouns me, her, him, us, and them in a compound object.
Samantha asked Jim and me about the movie.
Kathy loaned our report to Mac and her.

43. Intervening Phrases
Sometimes words and phrases come between a subject and a pronoun that refers to it. Don’t be confused by those words in between, Mentally cross out the phrase to figure out agreement.
Jim, like the others, brought his map. (His agrees with Jim, not with others.)
Five planes from a Navy airfield lost their way in the Bermuda triangle. (Their agrees with planes, not with airfield.)