PRONOUN

S
Pronouns
•take the place of or
stand for noun
phrases
1. The elderly man sat on
the bench until he was
asked to leave.
2. I hate to say it, but you
didn’t pass the exam.
Antecedent:
•the noun phrase replaced
by the pronouns
•the whole sentence
replaced by the pronouns
•anaphoric reference – antecedent
comes first before the pronoun
•cataphoric reference – antecedent
comes after the pronoun
•exophoric reference – antecedent
is outside the text
Exercise 1.
1. Ken bought a coat, but it doesn’t fit.
2. Although he doesn’t know it yet, John is taking
Kate to the prom.
3. Ted and Lora said that they would come to the
party.
4. I am embarrassed to say it, but you have spinach
in your teeth.
5. We found two pennies and put them in the bank.
Exercise 2.
1.It has been snowing all winter.
2.Put it in the closet.
3.It is too hot to walk.
4.It is easy to see that you’re happy.
5.It isn’t the one I asked for.
KINDS
1. Personal Pronouns
• they have both person and number
• pronouns also have gender
• English pronouns – natural gender
• Grammatical gender – Spanish and
French
• English used to have grammatical gender
• Case distinguishes personal pronouns
Exercise 3.
1. This is my book. This book is yours.
2. This is your book. ________________
3. This is his book.______________
4. This is her book.______________
5. This is its book.________________
6. This is our book.______________
7. This is their book. _________________
Problems in the usage of personal
pronouns:
•English used to have separate set of second-
person-singular pronouns
• Thou (subject); thee (object); thy (possessive)
• You all (y’all) – serves as plural in casual speech
• You guys; you people; youse
Problems in the usage of personal
pronouns:
• Absence of a gender-neutral third-person-singular
human pronoun
• 18th century grammarians suggest masculine
pronouns as they cover both sexes; however, this is
sexist for others.
• Use the plural gender-neutral pronouns (they, them,
their)
Problems in the usage of personal
pronouns:
•Distinction between subject and object
pronouns
• Noun phrases can be identified as either subject
or object based on their position in the
sentence and they don’t change their forms.
• For pronouns, the forms change depending on
their location in the sentence.
Problems in the usage of personal
pronouns:
•Distinction between subject and object
pronouns
• Use subject pronouns for subjects and object
pronouns for objects (DO,IO, and O of the prep)
• Subject pronouns are used in the subject
complement position
• John rates Peter more than I do / John rates
Peter more than he rates me. 
Exercise 4.
1.You and ____ (I, me)are sitting together.
2.___ (He, Him) and ___ (she, her) will arrive
soon.
3.Deliver this letter to ___ (him, he) and his
sister.
4.This is a story about ___ (her, she) and ___
(we, us).
5.They spotted you and ___ (I, me).
Exercise 4.
1.Who is it? It is ___ (I, me).
2.Which are my keys? Those are ___ (they,
them).
3.Are you happier than ___ (she, her)?
4.Which one is David? This is ___ (he, him).
5.You know more than ___ (we, us) about this.
2. Reflexive Pronouns
•End in –self or –selves
•Used under three conditions:
•Subject and object refer to the same
entity
•Provide contrast
•Carry the meaning of alone without
accompaniment
2. Reflexive Pronouns
•They agree in person, number, and
gender with their antecedents
•Reflexive pronoun = possessive pronoun
(short form) + self (sing)/ selves (plural)
•Glaring exceptions are himself and
themselves
Exercise 5.
1.Todd cooked dinner himself.
2.Irene saw herself as an activist.
3.The nurse gave himself an injection.
4.The island itself is calm, but the surrounding
seas are dangerous.
5.I myself prefer cats.
Exercise 5.
1.The horse injured ______.
2. Jim prides _____ on his honesty.
3.I caught ______ in a lie.
4.Those people should consider______ lucky.
5.We don’t blame _____.
3. Reciprocal Pronouns
• Similar to reflexive pronouns in that they are used
when the subject and object refer to the same entity;
the only difference is in the way the action is
distributed.
• There are only two reciprocal pronouns. Both of them
allow you to make sentences simpler. They are
especially useful when you need to express the same
general idea more than once.
• Each other
• One another
4. Demonstrative Pronouns
•Demonstrative pronouns are those that
identify or point to a thing or things and
occasionally persons.
•They can be both singular and plural and they
refer to nouns that are either nearby or far
away in time or space.
4. Demonstrative Pronouns
•First of all, there are only four demonstrative
pronouns – this, that, these, those.
This and that refer to singular nouns
and these and those identify plural nouns.
•The singular this and the plural these refer to
a person or thing near the speaker.
•The singular that and the plural those refer to
a person or thing far away from the speaker.
5. Relative Pronouns
•Used in constructions called relative clauses
(sentence that has been incorporated into
another sentence)
•When a noun phrase in the larger sentence is
repeated in the relative clause, the one in the
relative clause is changed to a relative
pronoun.
5. Relative Pronouns
•The noun phrase that the relative clause
describes is called the head of the relative
clause.
•Decide whether the head of the relative
clause is human or non human
•Human: who (subject); whom (object); whose
(possessive)
•Nonhuman: which and that
Exercise 6.
1.I met the clerk who sold you that car.
2.The dog which you trained has gone berserk.
3.Any person that agrees with you is a fool.
4.The dentist whom you recommended
accepted my insurance.
5.She is the teacher whose class you visited.
Exercise 6.
1.The dancer ___ fell will be out tomorrow.
2.We respect the people ___ you have chosen.
3.The woman ___ sold me this blouse works in
another department now.
4.I pity the person ____ they convicted.
5. Let me be the one ___ congratulates you
first.
6. Interrogative Pronouns
• Are those question words that ask about the
identity of a noun phrase
• They are very similar to the relative pronouns in
both form and principle of usage
• Human: who (subject); whom (object); whose
(possessive)
• Nonhuman: which and what
• Occur at the beginning of the sentence
Exercise 7.
1.___ did you see? (human object)
2.___ did he steal? (human possessive)
3.___ is going on? (nonhuman subject)
4.___ told you that? (human subject)
5.___ do you want? (implied choice-object)
6.___ can I trust? (human object)
7.___ is better? (implied choice-subject)
Exercise 7.
8. ___ is his problem? (nonhuman subject
complement)
9. ___ shall I say is here? (human subject)
10.___ costs more? (implied choice - subject)
7. Universal and Indefinite Pronouns
•Universal pronouns – represent all-inclusive
noun phrases: each, all, and combinations of
every with one, body, or thing.
•All – the only plural
7. Universal and Indefinite Pronouns
•Indefinite pronouns – refer to indefinite
entities and quantities and include some
and any, and the various combinations of
some, any plus one, body, thing.
•None and quantities many, several,
enough, few, less – also indefinite pronouns
Exercise 8.
1. Everyone needs love.
2. I don’t need anything.
3. Nothing pleases you.
4. Some may appreciate this.
5. Few arrived on time.
6. Do you have enough?
7. One ought to respect the law.
8. Nobody heard the news.
9. She dropped something into the river.
10.All can sing but none can dance.
End