pronoun personal

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

H E C A N TA K E M Y P L A C E .

B Y R O N A L D S P E E N E R

Grammar--Personal Pronoun 2

OBJECTIVES

•Understand what a pronoun is• Identify types of pronouns•Explain person, number, case and gender

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OBJECTIVES

• Identify pronoun reference•Identify pronoun agreement•Identify pronoun shift•Use pronouns correctly

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DEFINITION

A pronoun takes the place of a noun.

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Jack went to the store; bought an apple

Jackhe


TYPES OF PRONOUNS

• Personal – I, you he

• Relative – who, whom, that, which

• Indefinite – each, one, anyone

• Reflexive – myself, himself

• Intensive – himself, themselves

• Interrogative – who, whom, what, which

• Reciprocal – one another, each other

• Demonstrative – this, these, that, those

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GENERAL PRONOUN RULE 1• Pronouns must use the case of how they

function in the sentence.

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Jack was tired when he got home. So Mary and the children took him out to her favorite restaurant. They had tacos.


GENERAL PRONOUN RULE 2• Pronouns must match (agree) with what they

take the place of (antecedent) in person, number and gender.

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Jack was tired when he got home. So Mary and the children took him out to her favorite restaurant. They had tacos.


PERSONAL PRONOUNS• Personal pronouns are the most

commonly used pronouns.• These pronouns are used to replace a

specific noun.–Jack went to the store. He bought a gallon

of milk.• Personal pronouns have the most forms

of any pronoun.

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CLASSIFICATIONS

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I Me My/MineWe Us Our/OursThou Thee Thy/ThineYe You Your/Yours

Singular Masc. He Him HisFem. She Her Hers

Neuter It It ItsThey Them Their/Theirs

PossessiveCase

Plural

Number Subjective Objective

Singular

Gender

PluralSingularPlural

1st

2ndPerson

3rd

Pronouns are classified by person, number, case, and gender.




PossessiveCase

Plural


Singular

Gender


1st

2ndPerson

3rd




PossessiveCase

Plural


Singular

Gender


1st

2ndPerson

3rd




PossessiveCase

Plural


Singular

Gender


1st

2ndPerson

3rd




Plural

1st

2ndPerson

3rd

PossessiveCase

Plural


Singular

Gender

PluralSingular


PERSON

1st Person I Speaker talking about him or herself

2nd Person You Speaker talking to someone

3rd Person He Speaker talking about someone or something

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Person shows the relationship of the pronoun to the speaker or writer.


PERSON — FORMS OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS

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I Me My/MineWe Us Our/OursThou Thee Thy/ThineYou You Your/Yours

Masc. He Him HisFem. She Her Hers



1st

2ndPerson

3rd

PossessiveCase

Plural


Gender Singular

Singular


PRONOUN REFERENCE--UNCLEAR

• A pronoun needs to refer clearly to its antecedent.

Mary and Gretchen wanted to wear her new dress to the party.

Who is wearing the dress?

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PRONOUN REFERENCE--FUZZY

• Avoid fuzzy pronouns with no antecedent or vague antecedent.

It was a sunny day.

What does the it refer to

Better—the day was sunny

They say that life begins at forty.

Who is they?

Better—People over forty say that life begins at forty.

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PRONOUN REFERENCE —AND

• Antecedents that are joined by and are plural

1. Tim and Jackie went to the store; they bought milk.

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PRONOUN REFERENCE —OR

• When an antecedent is joined by or or nor, the pronoun is either singular or plural based on closest antecedent to the pronoun

1. Either the books or the movie needs to be returned to the library, or it will be over due.

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PRONOUN REFERENCE — COLLECTIVE NOUNS

• Collective nouns are considered singular

• Pronouns referring to them are considered singular

1. The team finished the season zero and ten. It was a disappointment to its fans.

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PRONOUN SHIFTI N C O N S I S TA N C E

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PRONOUN SHIFT DEFINITION• Inconstancy in person, number or

gender between the pronoun and the antecedent

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PERSON SHIFT• Person must be used consistently. Change person

only when required.

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The student must study daily. You should set aside specific times.

The student must study daily. He or she should set aside specific times.

2nd3rd

3rd 3rd


PERSON EXERCISE

You need to wash your hands frequently if one wants to reduce the risk of colds and flu.

Dante, who wrote the Divine Comedy, is considered one of the great writers of the world.

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NUMBER

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Number shows if the pronoun takes the place to one thing or more than one thing. Pronouns are either singular or plural.


NUMBER — FORMS OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS

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Person

3rd

PossessiveCase

Plural


Gender Singular

SingularPluralSingularPlural

1st

2nd


NUMBER SHIFT• Pronouns must be consistent in

number with what they refer to

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The book for the class is on my desk. They are difficult to read.

Each student must work hard. They are expected to write 6000 words each.


NUMBER EXERCISE

The Supreme Court ruled on prayer in school. They said it could not be required.

The sheep were in the meadow grazing when it was attacked by a wolf.

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GENDER

• Gender is used to indicate the sex of what the pronoun refers to.

• Gender has three sexes: masculine, feminine and neuter.

• Gender is only used in the third person singular personal pronouns—he, she it.

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GENDER — FORMS PERSONAL PRONOUNS

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Person

3rd

PossessiveCase

Plural


Gender Singular

SingularPluralSingularPlural

1st

2nd


GENDER AGREEMENT• Pronouns must be consistent in gender with

what they refer to

– The book for the class is on my desk. She is difficult to read.

• English uses only masculine and feminine gender for people and animals that have true sex characteristics

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GENDER EXCEPTIONS

• Boats and cars are sometimes referred to as she• Very young children are occasionally referred to as it

• Is it a boy or a girl?

• Animals are neuter unless it has a clear gender• The dog was big. It was ferocious too.• My dog Betty is a sweetie. She brings me the paper every day.

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GENDER WORDSSOME WORDS IN ENGLISH REFER TO A SPECIFIC GENDER AND MUST USE THE APPROPRIATE GENDER PRONOUN.

• Bull/Cow• Gander/Goose• Rooster/Hen• Stallion/Mare• Drake/Duck• Ram/Ewe

• The hen stopped laying eggs, so she is soup now.

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GENDER WORDS

• Policeman police officer• Fireman firefighter• Waitress server• Chairman chairperson• Mailman letter carrier• Stewardess flight attendant• Secretary administrative assistant

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Some nouns in English have been changed to avoid gender bias.


GENDER BIAS• Traditionally he/him/his could be either

masculine or both masculine and feminine• American society today sees the use of the

generic masculine forms as potentially confusing.

• It is too easy to think masculine when both genders apply.

• This could lead to gender bias.

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GENDER BIAS — THE PROBLEM• Our language has no

personal pronoun besides it which is gender neutral.

• Few would like to be referred to as it.

– It took the money to the bank for deposit.

• Our language is being challenged and changed,

– 150 years ago the singular forms of you fell from common usage.

• Avoid use of masculine pronouns when the antecedent can be either male or female.

– A student should study daily if he wants to be successful.

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GENDER BIAS – SOLUTION 1

• Replace with he or she

– A student should study daily if he or she wants to be successful.

• S/he He/she is not acceptable in formal writing

• Avoid awkward repetitions

– The student should have his or her textbook with him or her in class.

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• Use an indefinite pronoun–A student should study daily if one wants

to be successful.

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• Change nouns to plural–Students should study daily if they want to

be successful.

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• Remove pronouns–The student should have his or her

textbook with him or her in class.–The student should have the textbook in

class.

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GENDER BIAS – GRAMMAR ERROR

• Do not mix singulars with plurals–A student should study daily if they want to

be successful.–Each of the students should study daily if

they want to be successful.

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GENDER EXERCISE

He or she should write an introduction if he or she want to successfully complete his or her assignment.

The actor performed her role well.

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SUMMARY

• Pronouns must agree with their antecedent in gender, number and person

• Pronouns must match the case of how they function in the sentence

• Watch for gender bias

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Grammar--Personal Pronoun 40Rev 3/2016

pronoun personal

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