2. What are pronouns?
Pronouns take the place of
nouns. The word or phrase
replaced by a pronoun is
called an antecedent.
3. A pronoun can refer to a person,
place, thing, or idea.
Here’s the Idea
4. The word that a pronoun refers
to is called its antecedent.
Ramon visited Death Valley, and he
was impressed.
Here’s the Idea
5. Personal Pronouns
Refer to people or things
ME!
Include: I, me, my, mine,
you, your, yours, he, him,
his, she, her, hers, it, its,
they, them, their, theirs, we,
us, our, ours.
6. How do I use pronouns correctly?
There are several important areas that you
must understand in order to use pronouns
correctly.
I. Pronoun Choice
II. Pronoun Consistency
III. Pronoun Reference
IV. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
8. Singular Plural
FIRST PERSON FIRST PERSON
SECOND PERSON SECOND PERSON
THIRD PERSON THIRD PERSON
I went out. We left early.
You left too. You are leaving.
He came by bus. They came by car.
Here’s the Idea
10. POSSESSIVE
OBJECT
SUBJECT
He read about Death Valley.
Julie asked him about the rocks.
Ramon bought his book.
Choose the pronoun form depending on
the pronoun’s function in the sentence.
Here’s the Idea
11. Pronouns help you talk about people concisely
when you’re telling a story.
Why It Matters
12. Write the personal pronoun in the
sentence below.
Death Valley is famous for its
strange moving boulders.
1.
Practice and Apply
13. Write the personal pronoun in the
sentence below.
The rocks slide and leave long
tracks behind them.
2.
Practice and Apply
14. Write the personal pronoun in the
sentence below.
Do you know why this happens?
3.
Practice and Apply
17. Use a singular pronoun to refer to a
singular antecedent.
One story has its setting in Egypt.
story its
Here’s the Idea
18. Use a plural pronoun to refer to a
plural antecedent.
The characters have their motives for murder.
characters their
Here’s the Idea
19. The pronoun must agree in person
with the antecedent.
Louis likes his mysteries to
have surprise endings.
Louis his
Here’s the Idea
20. The gender of the pronoun must be the
same as the gender of its antecedent.
Here’s the Idea
21. Personal pronouns have three gender forms:
• masculine he, his, him
• feminine she, her, hers
• neuter it, its
Here’s the Idea
22. The hero has to use all his
wits to solve the crime.
Agatha Christie sets many of her
stories in England.
Agatha Christie her
hero his
Here’s the Idea
23. In your writing, you will
sometimes refer to several
people or groups of people.
Correct pronoun-antecedent
agreement will help your
readers keep track of who is
who in your writing.
Why It Matters
