1. Pronouns
byPatríciadeO.LucasandDavidHughes

2. A pronoun replaces a noun.
(He asked her to dance). Some
pronouns can also be
adjectives when they modify a
noun (my book, that problem).

3. The replacement noun is called
the antecedent.

4. John lost my bag when he took it.
In this sentence, he replaces John,
and it replaces my bag

5. Some pronouns can be
adjectives when they modify
nouns.

6. Wher’s my book?.
I didn’t enjoy that movie.

7. There are eight kinds of
pronouns

8. Personal Pronouns I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us,
they, them.
Possessive Pronouns My, mine, your, yours, her, hers, his, its,
our, ours, their, theirs.
Demonstrative Pronouns This, that, these, those
Interrogative Pronouns Who, whom, whose, which, what
Relative Pronouns Who, whom, whose, which, that
Indefinite Pronouns All, another, any, anyone, anybody,
anything, both, each, either, everybody,
everyone, everything, few, many, neither,
nobody, none, no one, nothing, one,
several, some, somebody, someone,
something
Reflexive Pronouns Myself, yourself, himself, itself, ourselves,
yourselves, themselves
Reciprocal Pronouns Each other, one another

9. Personal pronouns,
interrogative pronouns, and
relative pronouns change their
form to show their function in
a sentence.

10. Subject forms are for subjects
and subject complements.

11. She had a car accident. (subject)
Who called the police? (subject)
It was he. (subject complement)

12. Object forms are for objects.

13. Whom did you see at the
party? (direct object)
The teacher wrote me a long
note about my essay. (indirect
object)
A tall person sat in front of me.
(object of preposition)

14. Possessive forms show
ownership

15. Whose backpack is this?
This is my backpack. It’s mine.
We felt sorry for the student
whose backpack was missing.

16. Special tip!

17. Be consistent in your use of noun /
pronoun combinations. Don’t
change from you to he to they
without a reason. Also, don’t mix
singular and plural nouns
unnecessarily. In the following
paragraph, the writer begins with a
plural noun, atheletes, so he should
continue using plural nouns and
pronouns.

18. Olympic athletes must be strong both
physically and mentally. First of all, if you
hope to compete in na Olimpic sport,
you must train hard. An athlete in some
sports trains several hours a day, five or
six days a week, for tem or more years.
In addition to being in top shape, you
must be mentally tough. This means that
athletes are totally dedicated to their
sports, often giving up normal school,
family, and social life.

19. Special situations

20. Be careful to use correct
pronoun forms in the following
special situations.

21. After than and as

22. To decide which pronoun to
use after than or as in
comparisons, finish the
comparison in your mind.

23. My brother is taller than I (am)
I study as hard as he (studies),
but my grades aren’t as good as
his (grades are)

24. Note: People say He is taller
than me in informal
conversation. However, I is
correct and should be used in
written English.

25. Who or whom?

26. To choose between who and
whom in a question, decide
wheter the question word is a
subject or an object.

27. Direct questions

28. Who won the contest? (Who is
the subject of won)
Whom did they give the prize
to? (Whom is the object of to)

29. Indirect questions

30. I don’t know who is going to
win. (Who is the subject of
going to win)
Let’s decide whom to vote for.
(Whom is the object of for)

31. To choose between who and
whom in an adjective clause,
decide whether the relative
pronoun is a subject or an
object in its own clause.

32. The man who wrote that book
lives in London. (Who is the
subject of wrote)
The man whom she married is a
musician. (Whom is the object of
married)

33. Note: People say who instead of
whom in informal conversation.
It is acceptable in spoken English,
but whom is preferred in written
English.

34. Special tip!

35. To test for who or whom,
rewrite the question or the
adjective clause as a sentence,
replacing who or whom with
the form of he, she, or they that
sound correct.

36. (Who? whom?) ordered a pizza
with mushrooms?
He ordered a pizza with
mushrooms.
Who ordered a pizza with
mushrooms?

37. Where’s the office of the adviser (who?
whom?) we have an appointment with?
We have an appointment with him.
Where’s the office of the adviser whom
we have an appoitment with?

38. Pronoun agreement

39. A pronoun agrees in number
(singular or plural) with the
noun or nouns ir replaces, not
with the word it modifies. The
replaced noun is called an
antecedent.

40. The boy left his books in the
classroom.
The boys left their books in
the classroom.

41. A pronoun in English also
agrees in gender (masculine,
feminine, or neuter) with its
antecedent, not with the word
it modifies.

42. Linda called her son last night
and spoke to him forn an hour.
(NOT Linda called his son last
night...)

43. Pronoun agreement with
indefinite pronouns: someone,
everybody

44. Singular

45. The following indefinite
pronouns are always singular,
so any other pronoun that
refers to them must also be
singular.

46. Anyone, anybody, each,
everyone, everybody, either,
someone, somebody, neither,
no one, nobody, one

47. Examples
Neither of my brothers has his
own bedroom
Each of the students has his or
her own desk

48. In very formal English, one is used to
mean people in general. Nowadays, you
is more common.
One should be careful when buying a
used car. (very formal)
You should be careful when buying a
used car. (more common)

49. Singular or plural

50. All, nonem most and some can
be singular or plural
depending on the noun after
the word of.

51. Some of the soda lost its fizz.
Some of the trees lost their
leaves.

52. Pronoun agreement with
generic nouns: a student, an
employee

53. A generic noun represents an
entire group, so it seems plural
in meaning. However, a
singular generic noun requires
singular pronouns.

54. A student should by his or her
books before the first day of
class.
A teacher has several
responsibilities. First, he or she
should know his or her subject
well.

55. Most writers feel that using he
or she, him or her, and his or
her is not good style. There are
two ways to avoid this
problem.

56. 1) Make the sentence plural
Students should by their books
before the first day of class.

57. 2) Revise the sentence to
eliminate the pronoun.
A student should by books
before the first day of class.

58. Pronoun agreement with
collective nouns: team, class

59. In American English, a
collective noun such as band,
committee, family, team, class,
couple, crowd, and audience is
singular when the group act as
a unit and plural when the
members of the group act
individually. In British English,
collective nouns are plural.

60. The band played its biggest hit
at the end of the concert.
(acting as a unit)
The band packed up their
instruments and left. (acting
individually)

61. Pronoun agreement with
either...or and neither...nor

62. Singular subjects joined by
either...or and neither...nor take
singular pronouns, and plural
subjects take plural pronouns.

63. Either John or John’s friend
forgot his keys when he left the
party.
Neither the teachers nor the
students remembered what
they were supposed to do
during an earthquake drill.

64. Pronouns: unclear reference

65. A sentence is confusing when
there is no word that a
pronoun refers to or when a
pronoun refers to more than
one word.

66. Unclear
Charlie was upset when they failed him
or her driving test. (Who failed Charlie?)
Revised
Charlie was upset when the examiner
failed him on his driving test.

67. Make sure that every pronoun
has a specific antecedent

68. 1) Don’tuse it ortheytorefertounnamedthings
or persons.
2)Make sure thatheorshereferstoonlyone
person.
3) Don’tuse this orthattorefertoan entireidea
or action.Revisetheprecedingsentencetogive
thisandthata specific antecedent(a specific
person,place,orthing),orreplacethisandthat
withspecific words.

69. Time to Practice