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Personal Pronouns

March 14, 2014 by Bret Tutor

Personal Pronouns


I lost 20 pounds.

Specific things or people are represented by personal pronouns. These pronouns are used based on:

  • Number: singular (I) or plural (we)
  • Person: 1st person (I), 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he)
  • Gender: male (he), female (she) or neuter (it)
  • Case: subject (we) or object (us)

Personal pronouns are often used in place of the individual being spoken about. My name is Emily, but when I talk about myself I use me or I and not Emily. Whenever I am speaking directly to you, I generally use you and not your actual name. Whenever I speak about another individual, such as Susan, I might begin by saying Susan, but often use she or her later on.

Personal pronouns are outlined in the chart below, as well as some examples:

number person gender personal pronouns
Subject object
singular 1st male/female I me
2nd male/female You you
3rd male He him
female She her
neuter It it
plural 1st male/female We us
2nd male/female You you
3rd male/female/neuter They them

Examples (in all of the cases, the first example will show you a subject pronoun, while the second will show you an object pronoun:
I, me

  • I lost 20 pounds.
  • Sherry worked out with me.

You

  • Do you want to go to the movies this weekend?
  • I enjoy spending time with you.

He, him

  • He has an appointment with the specialist.
  • Are you going with him?

She, her

  • She likes baking cookies for the troops.
  • Are you going to help her?

It

  • It stopped working yesterday.
  • Can you fix it?

We, us

  • We got a new puppy.
  • My mom and dad took us.

You

  • Do you have any change for a 20?
  • Can you trade me bills?

They, them

  • They ate at Long John Silvers.
  • Tim and I joined them.

Whenever we are speaking about just one thing, we normally use it, but there are a few different exceptions to the rule. Sometimes, we might refer to animals as she/her or he/him, especially when they are a family pet. In some countries, ships are treated as females and called she/her. Examples of this are:

  • Sam is such a beautiful cat. He likes to play a lot too.
  • The USS Arizona was an amazing ship, but she was destroyed in Pearl Harbor.
  • My last car lasted a long time. I was sad to see her breakdown.
  • Canada is a beautiful country. You have to make the time to visit her one of these days.

When referring to a single individual, we might not always know whether we should use he or she. In this case, multiple solutions exist to solve the problem.

  • If the teenager wants to go to the concert, he or she should get permission first.
  • If the teenager wants to go to the concert, he should get permission first.
  • If the teenager wants to go to the concert, they should get permission first.

It is used when we are making remarks or statements:

  • It is a lot of fun to be around Tim.
  • It is always good to be on time.
  • It‘ is hard to find a good babysitter in town.
  • Is it hard to find a job?
  • It doesn’t take long to get to work.

It is also used quite often when talking about temperature, time, weather and distance:

  • It‘s going to snow all day tomorrow.
  • It is 30 degrees outside.
  • Is it far from here?
  • It is five in the afternoon.
[slickquiz id=26]

Filed Under: Pronouns Tagged With: Grammar, Personal Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns

March 13, 2014 by Bret Tutor

Possessive Pronouns


My cake turned out great. Yours doesn’t taste right.

Possessive pronouns are used to refer to a specific person, people, thing, or things that belong to a person or group of people. Sometimes, a possessive pronoun can also refer to things that belong to other things or animals.
There are several different possessive pronouns. These words are chosen based on:

  • Number: mine is singular, ours is plural
  • Person: 1st person uses mine, 2nd person uses yours or 3rd person uses
    his or hers
  • Gender: males use his, females use hers

Below is a useful chart of possessive pronouns, with examples on how they can be used in sentences. Understand how each possessive pronoun can:

  • Be the object or subject.
  • Refer to a singular or plural noun that it stands for. This is referred to as the antecedent.
number person gender (of “owner”) possessive pronouns
singular 1st male/female mine
2nd male/female yours
3rd male his
female hers
plural 1st male/female ours
2nd male/female yours
3rd male/female/neuter theirs

Mine

  • This is a fast computer. Mine is slow. (subject = My computer)
  • Your dog seems friendly. How nice is mine?(object = my dog)

Yours

  • My cake turned out great. Yours doesn’t taste right. (object = your cake)
  • My TV stopped working. Yours is still on. (subject = Your TV)

His

  • His cat won a medal. (subject = his cat)
  • Bill drank his coffee, but Betty spilt hers. (object = her coffee)
  • Bill filed his taxes, but Betty forgot hers. (object = her taxes)

Ours

  • Your cookies were burnt. Ours turned out great. (subject = Our cookies)
  • Sally cut her grass. Ours still needs to be done. (subject = Our grass)

Theirs

  • This isn’t Betty and Bill’s photo album. Theirs has flowers on it. (subject = Their photo album)
  • Bill and Betty think their cookies are better than yours. What do you think of theirs? (object = their cookies)
[slickquiz id=25]

Filed Under: Pronouns Tagged With: Grammar, Possessive Pronouns

Interrogative Pronouns

March 13, 2014 by Bret Tutor

Interrogative Pronouns

Who wants to eat all of these cookies?

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. An interrogative pronoun represents what we are asking the question about. It represents the thing we do not know. This is expressed using one of the four main interrogative pronouns: who, whom, what, which.

Note that there are also possessive pronouns. Whose can be used instead of who when the possessive pronoun is plural.

subject object
person who whom
thing what
person/thing which
person whose (possessive)

Whom, for example, is correct when a pronoun is the object of the verb. When asked “Whom made these cards?” (“Bill made these.”) We rarely use whom when we speak in English. Most of us even say “Who made these cards?”

Here are some examples of questions. In the answers, the noun the interrogative pronoun represents is written in bold.

Question Answer
Who did this? Bill did it. subject
Whom did you give the cake? I gave the cake to Gloria. object
What is the answer? The answer is five. subject
What can I get you? I’d like a cookie. object
Which driver won the race? John won the race. subject
Which one did you buy? I bought the red one. object
A book hasn’t been turned in yet. Whose is missing? Bill’s (book) is still missing. subject
Whose cat is in the tree? Betty’s cat is in the tree. object

The suffix “-ever” is also used frequently to make compound words from these pronouns. Whoever, whichever, and whatever are common examples. Adding “-ever” to the pronoun gives it emphasis and helps show surprise or confusion. Here are a couple examples:

  • Whoever would eat a whole cake?
  • Whatever did you eat after the cookies were missing?
  • All of the treats at the party looked good. Whichever did you taste?

Who, Whom and Whose in Indirect Questions

Indirect questions can be used to show we don’t know an information. Here are some examples of indirect questions:

  • Can you tell me who wrote this book?
  • Would you let me know whose pen this is?

Some sentences start with phrases that show we don’t understand. Phrases like “He isn’t sure” or “We don’t want to know” are two examples. Ignore those types of phrases. Instead, look at the indirect part of the question to decide whether to use whose, whom or who. Ask yourself if the question is discussing an object, subject, or is in the possessive form.
Examples:

  • Sarah isn’t sure who ate all the cookies. subject of the indirect question
  • Brad doesn’t care whom you bring to the party. object of the indirect question
  • Sally isn’t sure whose children are on the swing. Whose shows possession of the children.

Who, Whom and Whose in Adjective Clauses

The following sentences are examples of adjective clauses. The adjective clause comes after the relative pronoun and can also come after a relative adverb.

  • I shook the hand of the woman who was on TV.
  • That is her brother whose car is outside.

Nouns in the main sentence can be described with an adjective clause. In one of the previous examples the adjective clause to tell us about “the woman.” The adjective clause is the only thing that tells us whom, who or whose. In these examples, you can see if the adjective clause describes a subject, object, or possessive form.

Examples:

  • We knew the man who owned a snake. subject of adjective clause
  • They saw the man whom ran in the marathon last night. object of adjective clause
  • Stacie met the man whose keys were lost. Whose shows possession of the keys.

Whom Less Commonly Used

“Whom” is a word that is used less and less in the English language. The word seems outdated to many native speakers. Whom is even less common in the United States. When whom is combined with prepositions, most people want to use who because it flows better. Here are some examples that most native English speakers would be comfortable using instead of using who:

  • Who did you have the interview with?
  • I want to know who ate the cookies.
  • That is the man who doesn’t talk.
  • Who loaned you the money?
  • Do you know who has the new Audi in stock?
  • That’s the woman who gave me a flower.
[slickquiz id=24]

Filed Under: Pronouns Tagged With: Grammar, Interrogative Pronouns

Indefinite Pronouns

March 13, 2014 by Bret Tutor

Indefinite Pronouns

IndefinitePronoun_DoSomethingAwesomeRightNow_Lesson_Main
Do something awesome right now.

Indefinite pronouns never refer to anything specific. The term refers to something vague, rather than a specific thing, amount, or person. Here are some examples:

  • somebody/someone, all, another, one, several, any, anybody/anyone, anything, nobody, none, some, something, both, each, many, neither, either, everybody, everything.

Many indefinite pronouns are seen in other parts of speech. For example, the word another can be used in a number of ways:

  • He went to one class in the daytime and another in the evening. (pronoun)
  • She bought another cat. (adjective)

When using indefinite pronouns, they are usually either singular or plural. Usually, this changes with their context, so in one case the pronoun can be used in a plural form and in the other in a singular form. The most common examples of indefinite pronouns are listed in the examples below. You will see that the examples can be singular or plural. Note that singular pronouns use a singular verb. Personal pronouns need to agree with the singular pronoun. Here are some examples:

  • I know both brothers. Only one has shown me his car.
  • Either of them worked with Billy.

Plural pronouns also need to agree with plural subjects:

  • Several others have their own cars.
  • Few of them left before I arrived.

Chart of Indefinite Pronouns

pronoun meaning Example
singular
another One more person or thing I liked the first story. Can you read me another?
anybody any person Will anybody be coming with you?
anyone Is anyone else going to be there?
anything any of the things The teacher hasn’t assigned anything for our homework.
each every one of the people or things in a group Each had a fever and a cough.
either one of two options Please bring me either since I am not picky.
enough as much as needed I’ve had enough for today.
everybody all people Everybody ate a cookie with me.
everyone Is everyone coming?
everything all things I own one of everything in the store.
less a smaller quantity She did less than was expected.
little a small quantity She had very little left by the time they arrived.
much a large quantity Not too much happened on TV last night.
neither not either of the people or things mentioned I can’t eat apples or bananas. Please bring me neither.
nobody no person Nobody was home.
no one No one knew where Sam went.
nothing not a thing I did nothing all day.
one an unidentified person One can draw a picture.
other people who haven’t been discussed yet One had a dog, the other had a bird.
somebody an unknown person Somebody must have read my book.
someone Quiet, someone might hear you.
something an unknown thing I just ate something.
you a person being addressed directly You baked a cake.
plural
both two things or people grouped together Betty likes both on her sandwich.
few a small amount of things or people I only ate a few as opposed to John who ate a lot.
fewer a smaller number of things or people I own fewer  than I did a year ago.
many a large amount of things or people There were many more in the race than expected.
others other people not previously mentioned; not us Others have painted their own homes.
several over two, but not as much as many Several bought pizza instead of hotdogs.
they people in general (informal) They all went to the playground.
singular or plural
all the entire amount or every person All have left for the next class.
any an unknown amount Did you eat any or all of them?
more a greater amount of people or things I just bought more for you in case you need them.
most almost all Most speak only one language.
none no person or persons None had gone to Japan prior to the trip.
some an unspecified amount Some had lunch while others did not.
such an amount or description already given It was a tragedy, and she reacted as such.

More examples of indefinite pronouns:

  • Will anybody help me with this paper?
  • Will you all be going to church tonight?
  • Is Susan going to make any?
  • We are going to try out another later tonight.
  • Each is responsible for contributing five dollars.
  • Can anyone help me take out the trash?
  • Did you find out anything about your job interview?
  • Sam and I are going to take care of everything for you.
  • Everyone ran outside to see what the noise was.
  • Do you have many of them need to be written?
  • No one is coming to my party tonight.
  • One was able to hear the fans screaming at the Super Bowl.
  • Several came over to watch the parade.
  • Somebody called here looking for you.
  • Do you know if someone will be there to let me in?
[slickquiz id=23]

Filed Under: Pronouns Tagged With: Grammar, Indefinite Pronouns

Relative Pronouns

March 13, 2014 by Bret Tutor

Relative Pronouns

RelativePronouns_GoodThingsToThoseWhoCanWait_Lesson_Main
Good things come to those who wait but the best things come to those who do.
Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses. A relative pronoun will always relate to a word that it modifies. Here is a short example:

  • The girl who ran in the 5K is my best friend.

In the above example, who:

  • relates to girl
  • introduces the relative clause “ran in the 5K”

The six most commonly used relative pronouns found in the English language are: who, whoever, whom, whose, which, and that. Who, whom, and whoever are reserved for people. Whose is for things that are owned or to show ownership. Which is for things. That is only used in defining relative clauses for both things and people.

Relative pronouns make no distinction between male or female. They can also be used to describe people or things. Here are a couple of examples of defining and non-defining relative clauses combined with relative pronouns:

defining relative clauses Subject The person who took my socks gave them back.The person that took my socks gave them back. That is preferable
Subject The cat which scratched me is over there.The cat that scratched me is over there. That is preferable
Object The woman whom baked me a cake was friendly.The lady who baked me a cake was friendly.The lady that baked me a cake was friendly. Whom is correct in formal English.
Object The food, which was cooked yesterday, doesn’t taste right.The food, that was cooked yesterday, doesn’t taste right. That is preferred over which. This relative pronoun is optional.
Possessive The child whose homework is already done shouldn’t have to redo the assignment.Children whose parents help them with homework may get better grades.
Possessive I was looking for a dog whose owner had extra treats.I was looking for a dog of which the owner had extra treats. Whose can be used with things of which is also possible.
non-defining relative clauses Subject My sister, who is very pretty, gets lots of dates.
Subject The door, which was propped against the wall, fell down.The doors, which were propped against the wall, fell down.
Object My sister, whom I enjoy spending time with, is getting married in the fall.My sister, who I enjoy spending time with, is getting married in the fall. Whom is correct in formal English. Who is more common.
Object My house, which I was in during the storm, lost power.
Possessive My friend, whose dog just barked, is also a vegetarian.
Possessive The house, whose owners decided to move, sat alone.The house, the owners of which decided to move, sat alone. Whose and of which can both be used.

Relative Pronouns In Formal English

In general, relative pronouns are necessary for formal written English. Also, who and which are more common than that in formal English. Here are a few examples:

  • She did not have the dog I wanted. (Informal)
  • She did not have the dog which I wanted. (Formal)
  • He is the man I spoke to. (Informal)
  • He is the man to whom I spoke to. (Formal)

When To Use Whom

Whom is not commonly used in conversations in English. Whom is used often in formal written English. There are other rules as well for when to use who, whom and whose.

What, When and Where as Relative Pronouns

What, when and where can also be used as relative pronouns. They are not commonly used as them, but be aware that there are cases.

[slickquiz id=27]

Filed Under: Pronouns Tagged With: Grammar, Relative Pronouns

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