Pronouns

1. Pronouns

2. Subject Pronouns • A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. • A subject pronoun takes the place of a noun that is the subject of the sentence. • To find the subject of the sentence, use the pronoun Who? or What? and place it before the verb in the sentence.

3. Subject Pronouns • Subject Pronouns • SingularPlural • I we • you you • he, she, it they

4. Subject Pronouns • Examples: • Sally has gone to the movies. (Who? + has gone) • She has gone to the movies. • The bus is late again this morning. (What? + is) • It is late again this morning. • Joe and I are going to the game Friday night. (Who? + are going) • We are going to the game Friday night.

5. Subject Pronouns • Subject pronouns are also used when they come after a linking verb. • Examples: • The guy in the picture is I. • The best student in class is she. • Volunteers for the cooking contest are they. • The happiest person in the room was he.

6. Object Pronouns • Object pronouns take the place of an noun that comes after the verb or after prepositions such as to, for, with, in, or at. • Examples: • Mr. Jones saw Sally. Mr. Jones saw her. • The letter is for Jim. The letter is for him. • To find the object after the verb, find the verb and as Whom? or What? after the verb.

7. Object Pronouns • Examples: • Mr. Smith told John. (told + whom? • He told him. • The officer warned Sue. (warned + whom? He warned her. • Mom took Ellen and me. (took + whom?) • Mom took us. • The coach selected Bill and Tom. (selected + whom? • The coach selected them.

8. Object Pronouns • Object Pronouns • SingularPlural • me us • you you • he, she, it them • Note: There can be more than one object pronoun in a sentence.

9. Object Pronouns • Examples: • The package is for Sally and Jim. • The package is for her and him. • Mom waited for Jack and Jill. • Mom waited for him and her. • The extra work helped the girls and Tom and me. • The extra work helped them and us.

10. Using I and Me • I is a subject pronoun; it comes before the verb. • Me is an object pronoun; it comes after the verb. • When I or me appears with another noun or pronoun, say the sentence using only I or me to help identify which one you should use.

11. Using I and Me • Examples: • Our principal gave Joe and (I, me) the award. • Kate and (I, me) always ride our bikes together. • Will you be able to go with Pat and (I, me)? • The new student gave the letter to Shirley and (I, me). • My mother and (I, me) came to visit you yesterday. • Note: Always name yourself last when I or me appears with a noun or another pronoun.

12. Possessive Pronouns • A possessive pronoun shows ownership. • It takes the place of a possessive noun. • Possessive nouns are easily recognized because they have an apostrophe. • Possessive pronouns have different forms.

13. Possessive Pronouns Used with Nouns • Possessive Pronouns appearing with nouns: • SingularPlural • my our • your your • his, her, its their

14. Possessive Pronouns Used with Nouns • Examples: • I left my book in my locker. • Clean up your room. • He has lost his wallet. • The dog hurt its paw. • Our class took a field trip yesterday. • Your uniform is pretty. • They could not find their map of the city.

15. Possessive Pronouns That Stand Alone • If a possessive pronoun is not used with a noun, it can stand by itself. • If the possessive pronoun stands by itself, it has a different form than those possessives that are used with nouns. • With the exception of first person, all other stand alone pronouns end with the letter s.

16. Stand Alone Possessive Pronouns • Possessive Pronouns that stand alone: • Singular Plural • mine ours • yours yours • his, hers, its theirs

17. Stand Alone Possessive Pronouns • Examples: • That package is mine. • My room is cleaner than yours. • That sweater is his. • Those shoes are hers. • This book has one of its pages missing. • The tools on the ground are ours. • All these letters are theirs.

18. Contractions with Pronouns • A contraction joins two words together. • In a contraction some letters are omitted. • When you omit letters, you must use an apostrophe. • Some contractions occur with the pronoun and the verbs am, are, is, will, would,have, has, and had.

19. Contractions with Pronouns • Pronoun/VerbContraction • I am I’m • he is he’s • it is it’s • you are you’re • they are they’re • I will/shall I’ll • you will you’ll • we would we’d

20. More Contractions with Pronouns • Subject/VerbContraction • I have I’ve • He has he’s • It has it’s • You have you’ve • They have they’ve • I had I’d • You had you’d • We had we’d

21. Summary of Contractions with Pronouns • Contractions are a shortened form of two words joined together. • When contractions are used, an apostrophe must be used to indicate that some letters have been omitted. • Some contractions will look alike (he is/he has = he’s and we had/we would = we’d) • Its is a possessive pronoun; it’s is a contraction for it is and it has. • Don’t confuse its and it’s; they are not the same.

22. Double Subjects • Every sentence must have a subject. • If the sentence doesn’t have a subject, it is a sentence fragment. • Occasionally people want to use a double subject. • It is always a noun and a pronoun that refers to the name. • Such double subjects should be avoided.

23. Double Subjects • To correct these double subjects, use either the noun or the pronoun, but not both. • Example: • My mother she is a good cook. • My mom and dad they are traveling to Europe this summer. • My dog it wants a big bone from the butcher.

24. Using We and Us with Nouns • Sometimes the pronouns we and us are used with nouns. • Example: • (We, Us) guys will basketball this afternoon. • The principal wants (we, us) students to go the auditorium. • Hint: To figure out which form is correct, drop the noun and use only the pronoun. • Remember that we is a subject pronoun and us is an object pronoun.

25. Homophones • Homophones are words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings • Some Homophones • for four know no • hear here to too • hour our to/too two • Note: make sure that you understand the difference and choose the correct homophone.