KINDS OF PRONOUNS IDENTIFYING PRONOUNS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS FRANCIS ALEXANDER The What & Why of Pronouns A pronoun is a word that replaces or refers to a noun Used to avoid repetition Antecedent= is the noun that the pronoun replaces or refers to ( ante, before; cedo, go) EXAMPLE: Juan is my cousin. He (Juan) is in your English class. Juan = antecedent. He = pronoun. 7 KINDS OF PRONOUNS 1. PERSONAL = refers to persons, (he, she, us) 2. REFLEXIVE = refers back to the subject (himself) 3. INTENSIVE = emphasizes the subject (myself) 4. DEMONSTRATIVE = points to with gesture (that) 5. INDEFINITE = has no definite antecedent (someone, all, some, many) 6. INTERROGATIVE = question words, who 7. RELATIVE = relates 2 sentences (which) PERSONAL PRONOUNS have SINGULAR 1 st person I, me, my 2 nd person you, you, your 3 rd person he, him, his she, her, her it, it, its PLURAL 1 st person we, us, our 2 nd person you, you, your 3 rd person they, them, their PERSONAL PRONOUNS HAVE GENDER MASCULINE He Him, his himself FEMININE She Her,hers herself NEUTRAL It, its PERSONAL PRONOUNS also have SUBJECTIVE CASE: Are used in place of subjects and predicate nominatives in sentences 1 st person I or we 2 nd person you 3 rd person he, she, it them OBJECTIVE CASE PROUNOUNS; Are used in place of words in the objective case in sentences 1 st person us 2 nd person you 3 rd person them PRONOUNS MUST AGREE IN NUMBER, GENDER, AND CASE WRONG She (Molly) could not get (Mollys) HIS car to start. (Disagreement in gender) John and ME went to the store. (error in case) One of the girls left their sweater there. (disagreement in number) RIGHT She (Molly) could not get (Mollys) HER car to start. John and I went to the store. One of the girls left her sweater there. REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS--reflect back to the subject of a sentence. I saw myself in the mirror. Kim wrote a note to herself. Dick shot himself on the foot. They served themselves last. INTENSIVE PRONOUN An intensive pronoun emphasizes its antecedent. I myself saw him. She herself organized the concert. The president himself has denied the rumor. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS POINT OUT SPECIFIC PERSONS / THINGS I hate this. Did Megan give you that? She wants these. Will you be using those? INDEFINITE PRONOUNS Some like it hot. None wants it cold. All are happy. All are equal, but some are more equal than others. But here, these are used as Indefinite adjectives: Some people like it cold. All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal. PROBLEMS WITH PRONOUNS Everyone and Everybody are always SINGULAR!! MOST, SOME, MUCH AND OTHER PRONOUNS LIKE THESE DEPEND ON THE ANTECEDENT TO DETERMINE NUMBER AND AGREEMENT: FOR EXAMPLE: SOME OF THE BUTTER IS LEFT. SOME OF THE GIRLS ARE STILL HERE. PROBLEMS WITH PRONOUNS AMBIGUOUS (unclear) REFERENCE The story was exciting, but they didn't explain what happened at the end. William was very angry with Jonathan, but no one knew what he had said. The catalog says that you must pay all fees by May. I saw the ad in the paper, but now I can't find it. If they do not do something about Syria, we may find ourselves in a war. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS PRONOUNS USED TO INTRODUCE QUESTIONS: What is the answer to the last question? Whose book is this? Who are you? Whom did you send to the store? Who, Whom, Whose, What, When, Where, RELATIVE PRONOUNS ARE RELATIVE PRONOUN RELATES TO A PRECEDING WORD (ANTECEDENT) AND JOINS TO IT A DEPENDENT CLAUSE 2 JOBS: A PRONOUN + A CONNECTOR She is a woman. She runs for mayor. She is the woman, who runs for mayor. You saw the house. It is historical landmark. The house that you saw is a historical landmark. Summary 7 KINDS OF PRONOUNS PERSONAL = REFERS TO PERSONS REFLEXIVE = ACTION BACK TO SUBJECT INTENSIVE = EMPHASIZES ACTION DEMONSTRATIVE = POINTS WITH A GESTURE INDEFINITE = UNSURE SOME OR FEW INTERROGATIVE = QUESTION WORDS RELATIVE = JOINS SENTENCES