Pronoun Case Review: Nominative, Objective, and Possessive. Subject or Predicate (I, you, he, she, it, we, they)

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1 Pronoun Case Review: Nominative, Objective, and Possessive Nominative: Objective: Possessive: Subject or Predicate (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) Direct Object, Indirect Object, Object of a Preposition, or Object of a Verbal (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) To show ownership (my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs) Exercises: Identify the case of the underlined pronoun and its usage. Example: The reporter told the truth about them. (objective; object of a preposition) 1. The wallet that I found on the sidewalk belongs to him. 2. The difference between you and me is that I care and you don t. 3. You are the one person in my life who cares about me. 4. My boyfriend bought a diamond bracelet and gave it to me on my birthday. 5. The movie we went to see over the weekend was terrible even though it received rave reviews from critics.

2 Lesson One: Agreement between Personal Pronouns and Antecedents in Number Concept: A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, person and gender. Use a singular pronoun with two or more singular antecedents joined by or or nor. Use a plural personal pronoun with two or more antecedents joined by and. Use a plural personal pronoun if any part of a compound antecedent joined by or or nor is plural. Examples: Either John or Ross always walks his dog at Sims Park. Neither Connie nor Betty thinks she can come to the bake sale on Saturday. If Martha and Edward want to participate, tell them to arrive at 8:30 A.M. sharp. When Rosie or her children arrive, show them their booth. Copy the following sentences. In each sentence, fill in the blank with the pronoun (or pair of pronouns) that agrees with its antecedent. Barry, Ellen, and Julie have had portfolios accepted for the show. Each Saturday, either Josh or Ted skates by on in line skates. Both Larry and Elaine like new neighborhood and new house. When Tommy and Byron arrive, tell we are in the cafeteria. Neither Julie nor her sisters want to give up place.

3 Lesson Two: Agreement in Person and Gender Concept: Few singular pronouns indicate gender (masculine, feminine, neuter). The singular pronouns he, him, his, and himself refer to masculine antecedents. The singular pronouns she, her, hers, and herself refer to feminine antecedents. The singular pronouns it, its, and itself refer to antecedents that are neuter (neither masculine nor feminine). As part of pronoun antecedent agreement, take care not to shift either person or gender. When gender is not specified, use his or her or rewrite the sentence. Example: Everyone must bring his or her lunch. Everyone must bring a lunch. Shift in Person: The Browns went to the aquarium, where you saw exotic fish. Correct The Browns went to the aquarium, where they saw exotic fish. Shift in Gender: The horse threw its head back and stood on his hind legs. Correct The horse threw its head back and stood on its hind legs. Rewrite each sentence, correcting the unnecessary shift in person or gender. They tried to study, but there was too much noise around you. Robin dries her hair in the sun, even though you could use a hair dryer. Carl took the higher path where you could see the deer. The swimming power of a shark comes from his tail. They swam to the far shore, where you could find shells.

4 Lesson Three: Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns Concept: A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, person and gender. *Use singular personal pronouns when the antecedents are singular indefinite pronouns: another, anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, little, much, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, other, somebody, someone, and something. Use plural personal pronouns when the antecedents are plural indefinite pronouns: all, any, both, few, many, others, and several. Examples: All of the members have sent their dues. Each of the women had to put her suitcase in storage. One of the men brought his antique car. Copy the following sentences. In each sentence, fill in the blank with the pronoun (or pair of pronouns) that agrees with its antecedent. Each of the girls in the family sews own clothes. Anyone who wants to sing in the chorus may sign name on the list. One of the girls has received paycheck. All of the football players have had checkups. Somebody has volunteered time to repair the fence.

5 Lesson Four: Agreement with Reflexive Pronouns Concept: A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, person, and gender. Reflexive pronouns end in -self or selves and are used correctly only when they refer to a word appearing earlier in the same sentence. When a personal pronoun refers to the subject of a sentence, always use a reflexive pronoun. Use himself and themselves instead of the incorrect forms hisself and theirselves. Incorrect: Mary treated her to an ice cream cone. Correct: Mary treated herself to an ice cream cone. Copy the following sentences. In each sentence, underline the correct pronoun in parentheses. Joan taught (her, herself) to breathe deeply when she was afraid. The bat hung (it, itself) upside down from the cave roof. He set the clock to wake (hisself, himself) up early for school. The audience keeps telling (it, itself) the scary film is only a movie. The puppies inched (theirselves, themselves) up onto the step.

6 Answers: Preview and Lessons 1 4 Lesson One Lesson Two Lesson Three 1. their 1. them 1. her 2. his 2. she 2. His or her 3. their, their 3. he 3. her 4. them 4. its 4. their 5. their 5. they 5. his or her Lesson Four Preview 1. herself 1. him (object of preposition) 2. itself 2. you (object of preposition); you (subject) 3. himself 3. you (subject) 4. itself 4. me (object of preposition) 5. themselves 5. it (subject)