Pronouns - L1 Midterm PDF

PRONOUNS Pronouns are words (or phrases) you substitute for nouns when your reader or listener already knows which noun you’re referring to. Pronouns do a whole lot more than helping us avoid repetitiveness. They provide context, make your sentences’ meanings clearer, and...

PRONOUNS Pronouns are words (or phrases) you substitute for nouns when your reader or listener already knows which noun you’re referring to. Pronouns do a whole lot more than helping us avoid repetitiveness. They provide context, make your sentences’ meanings clearer, and shape how we perceive people and things. In English grammar, pronouns are a type of generic noun that can represent any other noun. Their job is to make communication faster and more efficient because you don’t have to repeat the same word over and over again. Some pronoun examples include: I me us you themselves who that Examples: 1. I enjoy reading books in the library. 2. They are interested in learning English. 3. Mario loves music. He downloaded more songs of his favorite. 4. We cooperate in doing our group project. 5. They came up with a wonderful idea for the dinner party. 6. I have too many homework to do. What should I do with them all? 7. Looking out the window, the weather Types of Pronouns 1. Relative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to relate one part of the sentence to another. Some examples of relative pronouns are that, which, where, when, why, what, whom and whose. 2. Possessive Pronouns are pronouns that are used to show possession. Some examples of possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, theirs and its. 3. Reflexive Pronouns are pronouns that are used to refer back to the subject in the sentence. Some examples of reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, herself, himself, oneself, itself, ourselves, themselves and yourselves. 4. Demonstrative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to point to specific objects. Some examples of demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these and those. 5. Interrogative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to ask questions. Some examples of interrogative pronouns are who, what, when, why and where. 6. Indefinite Pronouns are pronouns that do not refer to any particular person, place or thing. Some examples of indefinite pronouns are someone, somebody, somewhere, something, anyone, anybody, anywhere, anything, no one, nobody, nowhere, everyone, everybody, everywhere, everything, each, none, few, and many. 7. Personal Pronouns are simple pronouns that are used to substitute proper names. Some examples of personal pronouns are I, you, he, she, we, they, him, her, he, she, us and them. 8. Subject Pronouns are pronouns that perform the action in a sentence. Some examples of subject pronouns are I, you, we, he, she, it, they and one. 9. Object Pronouns are pronouns that receive the action in a sentence. Some examples of object pronouns are me, us, him, her and them. 10. Reciprocal Pronouns are pronouns that are used to express a mutual relationship. Some examples of reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another. 11. Intensive Pronouns are the same as reflexive pronouns, with the only difference being that you can remove the intensive pronoun from the sentence, and the sentence would still make sense. Properties of a pronoun 1. case - refers to the way that a pronoun functions in a sentence, whether nominative, objective or possessive. Nouns can be both subjects and objects, so a pronoun must be able to take the form of either. Examples: 1. In the phrase "she is a singer," “she” serves as the subject functioning in the nominative case. 2. In the phrase "the superhero carried her," the pronoun “her” is an object in the objective case. 3. Pronouns can also be in the possessive case, such as "your" in the phrase "that is your house." 2. Gender -The pronoun antecedent is the noun that the pronoun is replacing. The antecedent can be a masculine, feminine or neutral word, and it determines which pronoun should be used. Examples: 1. If the sentence states that “Jenny went to the store,” knowing that Jenny is a female, you could also write that “she went to the store.” 2. If the subject was Jerry instead, you 3. Finally, if the noun is of neutral gender, meaning that it is not clear whether the subject is male or female, substitute a word like “it” or “its.” Instead of saying that “the dog went to the store,” you could say that “it went to the store.” 3. Number - just like gender, the number property of a pronoun depends on the antecedent. Number refers to how many there are, so if there is only one, a singular pronoun should be used. Examples: 1. In the same example as gender, you might say that “he,” “she” or “it” went to the store. 2. If there is more than one, a plural pronoun will replace the noun. “They” went to the store. 4. Person - the property of person depends upon the point of view, or relationship between the speaker and the pronoun antecedent. a. First person personal pronouns, such as “I,” “me,” “mine,” “us” and “ours,” refer to the person, place or thing that is speaking. “I” went to the store. b. Second person pronouns, like “you,” “your” and “yours,” refer to the person who is being spoken to. Did “you” go to the store? c. Third person, such as “he,”  Pronoun–Antecedent Agreement An antecedent is the word that comes before (i.e., precedes) the pronoun to provide the necessary context. Johnny likes to ride a bicycle, but he has to wear an helmet. Without the antecedent Johnny, we wouldn’t know who the he is that has to wear an helmet. Jeremy reads books every morning, but he had to go to school early today. We can use the pronoun he in the latter part of this sentence because the antecedent Jeremy sufficiently introduces him. Rules of agreement: 1. Agreement in Quantity - Pronouns can replace singular nouns (one person, place, or thing) or plural nouns (two or more people, places, or things). It’s important that the pronoun that follows the antecedent agrees with the quantity of that antecedent: Johnny likes to ride a bicycle. → He likes to ride in it. Johnny and friends like to ride their bicycles. → They like to ride in them. 2. Compound subject - Antecedents can sometimes consist of two nouns joined by a conjunction, creating a compound subject that needs to be replaced with a plural pronoun: Timothy and Carlo read books every morning in the library, but they had to go to class early today. In this example, the conjunction and creates a compound subject, and the pronoun they accounts for both people in that subject.