Pronouns and Antecedents What is a pronoun o

Pronouns and Antecedents

What is a pronoun? o You would probably never say, “Michael said Michael lost Michael’s watch. ” o Once you had clearly identified Michael as the person you were talking about, repeating the noun Michael would sound awkward. o Instead, you would probably say, “Michael said he lost his watch. ” o The words he and his are called pronouns.

What is a pronoun? o A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. n Sue changed her dress. n The boys changed their jerseys. o There are 7 types of pronouns (we’ll come back to these in a minute). n n n Personal Reflexive and Intensive Demonstrative Interrogative Relative Indefinite

What is an antecedent? o An antecedent is the noun for which the pronouns stands/to which the pronoun refers. o Examples: n Sue changed her dress. p Sue n is the antecedent of her. The boys changed their jerseys. p Boys n is the antecedent of their. Because of its climate, Tulsa is my favorite city. p Tulsa is the antecedent of its.

Practice Exercises – Recognizing Antecedents Identify the antecedent of each underlined pronoun o Some of the children are afraid of mice. o This is not the book I ordered. o The horse has broken out of its stall. o Did Joe bring his camera?

Answers 1. Some of the children are afraid of mice. 2. This is not the book I ordered. 3. The horse has broken out of its stall. 4. Did Joe bring his camera?

The 7 Types of Pronouns o Remember those 7 types of pronouns we were going to come back to? We’re going to talk a little bit about what each of these are so you’ll know them when you see them: n n n Personal Reflexive and Intensive Demonstrative Interrogative Relative Indefinite

Personal Pronouns o Personal Pronouns take the place of persons’ names, or they refer to a person, place, or thing that is being spoken about. o They include: I, me, my, mine, your, yours, he, she, it, hers, his, its, we, us, ours, they, them, theirs o Examples: n Caitlin baked a cake, and it was delicious. n Nate wore his red shirt to church.

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns o Both of these pronouns end in –self or –selves. o Reflexive pronouns add information to the sentence by pointing back to a noun or pronoun earlier in the sentence. n Example: Joy helped herself to some turkey. o Intensive pronouns simply add emphasis to a noun or pronoun in the same sentence. n Example: The mayor herself attended the meeting.

Demonstrative Pronouns o Demonstrative Pronouns direct attention to specific people, places, or things. o They include: This, that, these, those o The antecedent may come later in the sentence or in another sentence altogether. o Examples: n n This is the cake Caitlin baked. p Cake is referred to by this. On the cake were several roses. These were made of sugar. p Roses is referred to by these.

Interrogative Pronouns o Interrogative Pronouns are pronouns used to begin a question. o They include: Who, whose, whom, which, what o Examples: n n Who set the glasses on the table? Which knife should I use?

Relative Pronouns o Relative pronouns are used to combine two ideas that relate to one another. It begins a subordinate clause and connects it to another idea in the sentence. o They include: Who, whom, which, that, whose o Examples: n Louisa is the player who pitched first. n I sold my radio, which was very old.

Indefinite Pronouns o Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a definite person, place, or thing. o They include: Another, anybody, anyone, anything, one, each, either, everyone, everybody, everything, neither, nobody, no one, somebody, both, many, few, several, all, some, none, most, any, etc. o They often do not have antecedents. o Examples: n Does anyone want more cake? n Both of the bathrooms are full.