Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
PRONOUNS
LANGUAGE
Example
John is a young boy. John is only three years old.
John is a young boy. He is only three years old.
Subjective
(doer)
Objective
(receiver)
Possessive
(owner)
me
my/mine
you
you
your/yours
he
him
his
she
her
her/hers
it
it
its
we
us
our/ours
you
you
your/yours
they
them
their/theirs
Always check that your meaning is clear when you use pronouns.
Example
Jack told Andrew that his father had met with an accident.
It is unclear whose father has had an accident. Punctuation and direct speech would make
the meaning clear.
6
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This is clearer:
Jack told Andrew, Your father has met with an accident, or
Jack told Andrew, My father has met with an accident.
Sometimes
using pronouns
can make your
meaning unclear.
Person
Singular
Plural
First
myself
ourselves
Second
yourself
yourselves
Third
himself
herself
itself
themselves
Examples
I myself saw him push her out of line.
We shall plan our holiday trip ourselves.
You must clean up your room yourself.
You must provide the backpacks yourselves.
My brother blamed me, but he did it himself.
They had to carry their luggage themselves.
The girl insisted she wanted to go by herself.
The watch itself was of little value.
Note: These same words can also act as reflexive pronouns when the subject of the verb
(the doer) is also the object (the receiver) of the verb.
Examples
He shot himself.
I hurt myself.
Interrogative pronouns ask questions. They interrogate.
For people, use who, whom, whose.
Examples
Who is knocking? (subjective)
Whom did you meet in Bali? (objective)
Whose book is this? (possessive)
For things use what.
Example
What was that noise?
LANGUAGE
Emphatic pronouns are used to emphasise the involvement of the person or thing named by
the subjective (doer) pronoun.
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Unit 2 Pronouns
Example
Which of you did that?
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Test yourself
Subjective
Doer
you
he
she
it
we
you
they
Objective
Receiver
me
you
him
her
it
us
me
them
! Select personal pronouns from the table above to fill the gaps.
a
LANGUAGE
Writing challenge
Write a description of a party. Make sure you include a variety of pronouns in your story. When you
have completed your description, underline all the pronouns. Example: We had masses of balloons.
They were all the colours of the rainbow.
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Extend yourself
Pronouns can also show ownership. These are called possessive pronouns.
(Refer to the table of pronouns at the start of this unit.)
Examples
That is my book. That book is mine.
That is our house. That house is ours.
# Change these sentences as directed. (Refer to the table on page 6 if you are unsure.)
Example: Change He rides his bicycle (third person singular) to first person plural.
Answer: We ride our bicycles.
a
They always remember to bring their sports clothes. (Change to third person singular.
Note: This can be either he or she.)
___________________________________________________________________________
LANGUAGE
___________________________________________________________________________
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Writing challenge
Write a short story about a scary adventure. Underline subjective pronouns in one colour, objective in
another, possessive in a third colour and emphatic in a fourth colour.
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Unit 2 Pronouns
$ Write three sentences that show emphatic pronouns acting as reflexive pronouns.
Example: They taught themselves how to ski.
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UNIT 2
PRONOUNS
He (subject)
made (verb)
it (object)
LANGUAGE
Objective pronouns
Possessive pronouns
Emphatic pronouns
Doer of action
Receiver of action
Owner
Emphasise
Singular
Plural
ourselves, yourselves,
themselves
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For people
For things
Subjective
Objective
which, that
Possessive
whose
whose, of which
Examples
Subjective
The man who robbed you is called Johnson.
The car, which/that I hired, broke down.
Objective
The girls, whom he praised, were delighted.
The woman, from whom I bought it, seemed honest.
The window, that/which was broken by a stone, has been
repaired.
Possessive
People whose goods have been stolen can call the police.
Animals whose owners do not look after them suffer.
A special case is what. What = the thing (or things) that. What can be
either a subjective or objective pronoun.
Examples
The things that we saw astonished us = What we saw astonished
us (subjective)
When she sees the damage that you have done she will be furious = When she sees what
you have done she will be furious (objective)
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
Demonstrative pronouns are used to point out some person or thing (that may have been named
earlier in speech or writing). They are often used in answers to questions.
Demonstrative pronouns include this, that, these, those, one, ones, none, some and such
when these words are used to replace a noun or nouns, but the same words may act as
adjectives when used with nouns. Such is more often used as an adjective than a pronoun in
writing.
Examples
This is my pen.
LANGUAGE
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Unit 2 Pronouns
In this example, this is pointing out and is a demonstrative pronoun. But this conveys the
meaning this pen. In This pen is my pen, the word this is acting as an adjective describing pen.
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Test yourself
! Insert the correct pronouns in the gaps. (Some have been done for you.)
For my eighth birthday ___________ father promised me a bicycle, but ___________ mother
said that I could only have ____________ if _____________ behaved myself. However, on the
afternoon of ___________ birthday, __________ accidentally broke several plates. They were
Mums favourites and ____________ said, Just wait until ____________ father comes home.
___________ friends cheered ___________ up when __________ suggested that __________
would forgive __________ as __________ wasnt as if __________ had done __________ on
purpose. Soon __________ went home and tried to make __________ as useful as possible,
hoping that Mum would not tell ____________ father. When Dad arrived, ___________ said,
LANGUAGE
10
___________ had accidents, too. ___________ hugged __________ and went out to the car.
From the boot ____________ pulled out a bright red bicycle. ____________ could not believe
___________ was really ___________.
" Fill in the correct emphatic pronouns. The first one has been done for you.
a
The wizard, who tricked the boy, was able to change his appearance.
The cat, which caught the bird, was always stalking prey.
The woman, whose children broke our window, was very angry.
When the football coach learns what you have done, he will punish you.
Writing challenge
Your cat has caught a mouse and brought it inside.
Describe what happens using as many pronouns as you can.
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