Pronouns
Completion requirements
Unit 5
What Can I Learn from Realistic Fiction?
Pronouns
Never fear! Pronouns are here!
Nouns sometimes are overworked in sentences.
For example, consider the following sentence.ex. The space ship rocket booster ignition system fired.
Pronouns are a noun's secret weapon. A pronoun can simplify and reduce clutter. For example the statement above can be streamlined to the following:
ex. The ignition clicked once. It fired.
Definition
A pronoun is a noun substitute. The pronoun has the power to take the place of any other noun in a sentence. So, it is a bit of a mime, just like the cat in the image to the right.
Copy Cat
Antecedents
A pronoun refers to a specific noun, which is called its antecedent [from Latin ante (before), and cedere (go)].
Example:
Without the pronoun he, writing a clear sentence would be awkward:
-
The hockey player forgot to take his stick when the hockey player left the arena.
Using the pronoun he instead of repeating the noun is a more efficient and effective use of language:
-
The hockey player forgot to take his stick when he left the arena.
In this sentence, the antecedent to which the pronoun he refers is the hockey player.
For a pronoun to fight for the good of the sentence, the pronoun reference must be clear. The reader must know to which noun the pronoun refers or belongs.
Example:
- It can stretch like rubber. It can even regenerateitself.
The pronoun becomes clearer when the reader knows the subject is Plasticman's body.
- Plasticman's body can stretch like rubber. His arm can even regenerateitself.
Case of Pronouns
Nouns and pronouns have three cases depending on their function in a sentence:
subjective,
objective, and
possessive.
Click on the three tabs below for information on pronouns.
Subjective pronounsact as subjects in a sentence. They often come before the verb because they perform the action of the verb.
Subjective pronouns:
I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they.
- He and Jason caught the most fish at the derby.
- They are heading to the Hawaiian Islands for their vacation this year.
- We boys will be responsible for the equipment.
After linking verbs (is, are, was, were, seems, appears, becomes, could), the subjective pronoun is used.
Objective pronouns
act as objects (the receivers of the action) of a verb in a sentence.
Examples: me, you, her, him, it, us, you, them
Hint: When you have a compound object such as him and me or George and me ...
Sometimes pronouns are objects of a preposition such as between, around, at, except, and after rather than a verb. Pronouns that follow prepositions are objective pronouns.
Examples: me, you, her, him, it, us, you, them
-
The bully tripped me at lunchtime.
-
Petra saw
him
and
me at the park yesterday.
-
She gave
George and him
the address.
Hint: When you have a compound object such as him and me or George and me ...
- Remove "him and" from Petra saw him and me at the park yesterday and you quickly see that the correct word is "me ". (Petra saw me .)
- Remove "George and" from She gave George and him the address and you quickly see that the correct word is "him
". (She gave him
the address.)
Sometimes pronouns are objects of a preposition such as between, around, at, except, and after rather than a verb. Pronouns that follow prepositions are objective pronouns.
- The people around him and her spoke loudly.
- Somebody sat between Bob and me.
- Pat threw the ball at him .
- Most attendees ate dinner except them .
- I will perform after her .
Possessive pronouns such as my, our, your, her, his, its and
their show ownership and do not need apostrophes. This is different than the contraction of verbs (it is, you are)
- The SPCA appreciates your donation to the animal shelter. (Donation belongs to your.)
- The dog chewed its bone. (Bone belongs to the dog.)
- Her dog followed the girl to school. (Dog belongs to girl.)
- It's time for your dog to have its bath. (Bath belongs to dog.) (It is. The apostrophe depicts a missing letter in the verb).
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