1. Juan Gathers Guavas
One day, Juan's father sent him to get
some ripe guavas, for a number of the
neighbors had come in and he wanted to give
them something to eat.
Juan went to the guava bushes and ate all
the fruit he could hold, and then he decided to
play a joke on his father's guests instead of
giving them a feast of guavas A wasp's nest
hung nearby.
2. With some difficulty, he succeeded in
taking it down and putting it into a tight
basket that he had brought for the fruit.
He hastened home and gave the basket to
his father, and then, as he left the room
where the guests were seated, he closed
the door and fastened it.
3. As soon as Juan's father opened the
basket, the wasps flew over the room; and
when the people found the door locked, they
fought to get out of the windows. After a
while, Juan opened the door, and when he
saw the swollen faces of the people, he cried.
"What fine, rich guavas you must have
had! They have made you all so fat!"
4. Study the sentence taken from the folktale
and tell what the underlined words refer to in
the sentence. What part of speech is it?
Juan went to the guava bushes and ate all the
fruit he could hold, and then he decided to play
a joke on his father's guests instead of giving
them a feast of guavas.
6. PRONOUNS
• The words he and his are pronouns.
• Pronouns are a part of speech that take the
place of nouns or noun phrases. Nouns and
pronouns share similar uses in a sentence.
But first, review the uses of a noun in a
sentence. A noun can both be the subject of a
sentence and the object of a verb or a
preposition. Because nouns have many uses in
sentences, there are also many types of
pronouns.
7. ANTECEDENTS:
• The nouns (or words that take the place of nouns)
for which the pronouns stand are called
antecedents.
Example:
Juan went to the guava bushes and ate all the fruit
he could hold, and then he decided to play a joke on
his father's guests instead of giving them a feast of
guavas.
8. Personal pronouns also indicate who is
speaking or who is spoken to or about:
1. the person speaking or the First person;
2. the person spoken to or the Second person;
or,
3. the person, place, or thing spoken about or
the Third person.
9. • Personal pronouns can be both the subject or object
of the sentence.
• Pronouns that show ownership are then called
possessive pronouns.
Examples:
These are my guavas. These guavas are
mine.
Juan brought his basket. The bamboo
10. SUBJECT PRONOUNS POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
Person Singular Plural Singular Plural
First Person I we my, mine our, ours
Second Person you you your, yours your, yours
Third Person he, she, it they his, her, hers,
its
its, their, theirs
11. Study the pronouns and the antecedents they
refer to in the sentences. What rules can you
infer from these sentences?
Father was talking to Juan and told him to pick
guavas.
Juan gave the guests their guavas in baskets.
12. • A personal pronoun must agree with its
antecedent in number, person, and gender. The
number of a pronoun indicates if it is singular or
plural.
• A singular pronoun is used when two or more
singular antecedents are joined by or of nor.
Example:
Neither Mike nor Juan will bring his backpack.
13. • A plural pronoun is used when two or more
antecedents are joined by and.
Example:
Juan and his father are talking about their
plans in the kitchen.
14. • GENDERS indicates whether the pronoun refers to a
word that is masculine (for males), feminine (for
females), or neuter (neither males nor females).
Masculine Feminine Neuter
he, him, his she, her, hers it, its
15. • When using pronouns, you must avoid shifts in
person and gender.
Shift in
person
Juan is joining the high school band
because you will get a scholarship for it.
Correct Juan is joining the high school band
because he will get a scholarship from it.
Shift in
Gender
The dog wagged its tail because he was
happy to see me.
Correct The dog wagged its tail because it was
happy to see me.
