Pronouns

1
Pronouns

• presented by
• Emanuel Hughley Jr.
• Professor of English and Journalism
• Cuyahoga Community College
• Eastern Campus

2
What is a pronoun?

• A word that takes the place of a noun in a
  sentence.
• A noun is similar to an actor or actress in a
  movie.
• A pronoun is a stunt double or stand-in actor.

3
What is a pronoun?

• A pronoun is a part of speech that also answers
  the question of who? or what?
• In a sentence, the word a pronoun refers to is
  called that words antecedent.

4
Kinds of pronouns

• Personal
• Demonstrative
• Indefinite
• Interrogative
• Relative
• Intensive/reflexive
• Reciprocal

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Pronoun agreement

• A pronoun must agree with the number of its
  antecedent.
• Singular antecedents require singular pronouns.
• The car lost its license plate.
• Plural antecedents require plural pronouns.
• Two cars lost their license plates

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Pronoun agreement

• Pronouns must have the same gender of its
  antecedent.
• A masculine antecedent requires masculine
  pronoun.
• Bob sold his car to his neighbor
• A feminine antecedent requires a feminine
  pronoun.
• Alice lost her purse.
• A neutral antecedent requires a neutral pronoun.
• He lives in a green house. Its address is 1420
  Elm St.

7
Point of view

• Pronouns change form according to the point of
  view of the person to which they refer.
• First person
• Second person
• Third person

8
Point of view

• When a message is communicated, at least two
  persons are involved.
• The author or messenger.
• The audience.

9
Point of view

• The author or messenger is the first person.
• The audience is the second person.

10
Point of view

• When a message is about the author or messenger,
  the point of view of the message is that of the
  first person.

11
Point of view

• When a message is about the audience, the point
  of view of the message is that of the second
  person.

12
Point of view

• When a message is communicated about somebody
  other than the messenger or audience, a third
  person is involved.

13
Point of view

• The point of view of a message about someone
  other than the author or audience is that of the
  third person.

14
Pronoun case

• Personal pronouns refer to specific persons,
  places or things.

15
Pronoun case

• They change form based on their role as subject,
  object or possessive in a sentence.
• This form is called the pronouns case.

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Pronoun case

• Subject case are used for pronouns that are
  subjects of a sentences.
• Singular
• First person I
• Second person you
• Third person he/she/it
• Plural
• First person we
• Second person you (all)
• Third person they

17
Pronoun case

• Object case are used for pronouns that are object
  of verbs or prepositions.
• Singular
• First person me
• Second person you
• Third person him/her/it
• Plural
• First person us
• Second person you
• Third person them

18
Pronoun case

• Possessive case are used for pronouns that show
  ownership.
• Singular
• First person my/mine
• Second person your/yours
• Third person his/her/hers/its
• Plural
• First person our/ours
• Second person your/yours
• Third person their/theirs
• Interrogative/Relative
• whose

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• Note possessive pronouns have no apostrophe.
• Its possessive
• Its it is or it has

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Demonstrative pronouns

• Point to the nouns they replace or refer to.
• This
• That
• These
• Those
• Use this and these for something near.
• Use that and those for things that are away.

21
Indefinite pronouns

• Nonspecific person or thing.
• Singular indefinite pronouns
• Anything, everything, nothing, something
• Anyone, everyone, none, no one, someone
• Anybody, everybody, nobody, somebody
• Any, another, each, every, either, neither

22
Plural indefinite pronouns

• All
• Usually plural
• All of the students have finished the assignment.
• Sometimes singular
• All of the class has finished the assignment.
• Both
• Always plural
• Both refers to two entities.
• Many
• Always plural

23
Plural indefinite pronouns

• Few
• Always plural
• Several
• Always plural
• Refers to three or to ten entities
• Some
• Can be singular
• Some of the office furniture is dirty.
• Can be plural
• Some of the desks drawers are missing.

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Interrogative pronouns

• Start questions.
• Who/Whoever? Who/Whoever wrote this essay ?
• Which/ Whichever?
• Whom/Whomever? To whom are you speaking?
• Whose? Whose coat is this?
• What/Whatever? What/Whatever do you mean?

25
Relative pronouns

• Relate group of words to nouns or other pronouns.
• Often introduce noun or adjective clauses.

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Relative pronouns

• Some relative pronouns refer to people.
• Who (subject case)
• Whom (object case)
• Whoever (subject case)
• Whomever (object case)
• Whose (possessive case)
• The man who lives next door to me is a policeman.

27
Relative pronouns

• Some relative pronouns refer to things.
• that
• Introduces essential clauses
• Most cars that require the fewest repairs have
  the highest resale value.
• which
• what
• Whatever

28
Reflexive pronouns

• Consist of a personal pronoun plus -self or
  -selves.
• Singular
• First person myself
• Second person yourself
• Third person himself/herself/itself
• Plural
• First person ourselves
• Second person yourselves
• Third person themselves

29
Reflexive pronouns

• Identifies the receiver of an action as identical
  to the doer of the actions.
• Peter rewarded himself with a day off.

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Reflexive pronouns

• Improper use of reflexive pronouns
• Incorrect A lady such as yourself would never be
  caught in a place like that.
• Correct A lady like you would never be caught in
  a place like that.

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Intensive pronouns

• Emphasizes a noun.
• Joan designed the house herself.
• Follows same rules and format as reflexive
  pronouns.

32
Reciprocal pronouns

• Refers to part of a compound subject.
• Pete and Jack read each others essays.