Lesson 1

At The Market
Pronouns
1. What Is a Pronoun?
Pronouns make up a small subcategory of nouns. The distinguishing characteristic of
pronouns is that they can be substituted for other nouns. For instance, if you’re telling a story
about your sister Sarah, the story will begin to sound repetitive if you keep repeating “Sarah”
over and over again.

Example: “Sarah has always loved fashion. Sarah announced that Sarah wants to go to
fashion school.”

You could try to mix it up by sometimes referring to Sarah as “my sister,” but then it
sounds like you’re referring to two different people.

Example: “Sarah has always loved fashion. My sister announced that Sarah wants to go to
fashion school.”

Instead, you can use the pronouns she and her to refer to Sarah.

“Sarah has always loved fashion. She announced that she wants to go to fashion school.

a. Personal Pronouns
There are a few different types of pronouns, and some pronouns belong to
more than one category. She and her are known as personal pronouns. The other
personal pronouns are I and me, you, he and him, it, we and us, and they and them. If
you learned about pronouns in school, these are probably the words your teacher
focused on. We’ll get to the other types of pronouns in a moment.

b. Antecedents
Pronouns are versatile. The pronoun it can refer to just about anything: a bike,
a tree, a movie, a feeling. That’s why you need an antecedent. An antecedent is a
noun or noun phrase that you mention at the beginning of a sentence or story and later
replace with a pronoun. In the examples below, the antecedent is highlighted and the
pronoun that replaces it is bolded.

- My family drives me nuts, but I love them.

- The sign was too far away for Henry to read it.
 - Sarah said she is almost finished with the application.

In some cases, the antecedent doesn’t need to be mentioned explicitly, as long

as the context is totally clear. It’s usually clear who the pronouns I, me, and you refer
to based on who is speaking.

It’s also possible to use a pronoun before you mention the antecedent, but try
to avoid doing it in long or complex sentences because it can make the sentence hard
to follow.

Example: I love them, but my family drives me nuts.

c. Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns make up another class of pronouns. They are used to
connect relative clauses to independent clauses. Often, they introduce additional
information about something mentioned in the sentence. Relative pronouns include
that, what, which, who, and whom. Traditionally, who refers to people, and which and
that refer to animals or things.

- The woman who called earlier didn’t leave a message.

- All the dogs that got adopted today will be loved.
- My car, which is nearly twenty years old, still runs well.

Whether you need commas with who, which, and that depends on whether the
clause is restrictive or nonrestrictive.

d. Subject and Object Pronouns

1. Subject Pronouns, like I

Subject pronouns are those pronouns that perform the action in a sentence.
They are I, you, he, she, we, they, and who. Any noun performing the main action in
the sentence, like these pronouns, is a subject and is categorized as subjective case
(nominative case). English grammar requires that the subject come before the verb in
a sentence (except in questions).

Example: I make cookies every Sunday for my co-workers.

In this sentence, “I” is the actor (subject pronoun) performing the action of
making (verb). To check for correct case, you should be able to replace I with any
other subject pronoun, modify the verb according to person and number, and have a
clear sentence. In a simple declarative sentence like this, it may seem unnecessary, but
checking case this way is a good habit for when you are checking more complicated
sentences. Remember that subject nouns absolutely always are the actors in
sentences. If action is implied, you should use subject nouns.

2. Object Pronouns, like Me

 Object pronouns are those pronouns that receive the action in a sentence. They
are me, you, him, her, us, them, and whom. Any noun receiving an action in the
sentence, like these pronouns, is an object and is categorized as objective case.* An
object pronoun can also be used after prepositions, i.e. “I will go with him.” In this
chapter, we will only focus on nouns as recipients as these are the most frequently
confused. With few exceptions, English grammar requires that objects follow the verb
in a sentence.

Example: I give them cookies every week.

In this sentence, “I” is the actor (subject pronoun) performing the action of
making (verb). “Them” is the noun receiving the giving; it is the object. You wouldn’t
ever use a subject noun after “give” here. To most native speakers and even English
learners, the following incorrect sentence should grate on the ears:

I give they cookies every week.

Now consider the following example:

- She gave Jim and I extra cookies.

Can you spot the problem? “I”—just like “they”—is a subject noun living in an
object noun’s place. The correct sentence should have “me” (the object pronoun)
following the verb:

- She gave Jim and me extra cookies.

To check for correct case, you should be able to replace me with any other object
pronoun and have a clear sentence. Remember that object nouns always are the
recipients in sentences. If an action is happening to a noun, you should use object
nouns.

She and I? Me and Her? She and Me?

Sometimes, things get tricky when you’re dealing with two pronouns at once.
Should people speak to she and I? Should they speak to me and her? Or should they
speak to she and me?

But there are a couple of ways to make this easy.

1. Demonstrative Pronouns
That, this, these and those are demonstrative pronouns. They take the place of a
noun or noun phrase that has already been mentioned.

This is used for singular items that are nearby. These is used for multiple items
that are nearby. The distance can be physical or metaphorical.

Correct:
- Here is a letter with no return address. Who could have sent this?
- What a fantastic idea! This is the best thing I’ve heard all day.
- If you think gardenias smell nice, try smelling these.

That is used for singular items that are far away. Those is used for multiple items
that are far away. Again, the distance can be physical or metaphorical.

Correct:
- A house like that would be a nice place to live.
- Some new flavors of soda came in last week. Why don’t you try some of those?
- Those aren’t swans, they’re geese.

2. Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns are used when you need to refer to a person or thing that
doesn’t need to be specifically identified. Some common indefinite pronouns are one,
other, none, some, anybody, everybody, and no one.

Example: Everybody was late to work because of the traffic jam. It matters more to
some than others. Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.

When indefinite pronouns function as subjects of a sentence or clause, they

usually take singular verbs.

3. Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself,
ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

Use a reflexive pronoun when both the subject and object of a verb refer to the
same person or thing.

Example: Henry cursed himself for his poor eyesight. They booked themselves a
room at the resort. I told myself it was nothing.

4. Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns come in two flavors: limiting and absolute. My, your, its, his,
her, our, their and whose are used to show that something belongs to an antecedent.

Example: Sarah is working on her application. Just put me back on my bike. The
students practiced their presentation after school.

The absolute possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, ours, and theirs. The
absolute forms can be substituted for the thing that belongs to the antecedent.
 Example: Are you finished with your application? Sarah already finished hers. The
blue bike is mine. I practiced my speech and the students practiced theirs.

Some possessive pronouns are easy to mix up with similar-looking contractions.

Remember, possessive personal pronouns don’t include apostrophes.

Retrieved from: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/pronouns/

PRONOUN
CHART
Subject Object Possesive Possesive Reflexive Pronoun
Pronoun Pronoun Adjective Pronoun
1st Person I ME MY…………… MINE MYSELF
2nd Person YOU YOU YOUR………… YOURS YOURSELF
3rd person HE HIM HIS…………... HIS HIMSELF
(Male)
3rd person SHE HER HER…………. HERS HERSELF
(Female)
3rd Person IT IT ITS…………… - ITSELF
1st Person WE US OUR………… OURS OURSELVES
(Plural)
2nd Preson YOU YOU YOUR……….. YOURS YOURSELVES
(Plural)
3rd Person THEY THEM THEIR………. THEIRS THEMSELVES
(Plural)

Retrieved from: www.learnenglishbritish.co.uk

Exercises
Instruction 1 : Fill the blank spaces with the correct subject pronoun.

My name is Laila. (Laila) I am a university student. My Favorite lecturer

is Mr. Ahmad. 1. (Mr. Ahmad) is a good lecturer.
My best classmate is Nahdia. 2. (Nahdia) is the cleverest student.
This is Robi. 3. (Robi) is my brother. 4. (Robby and I)
________are twins. 5. (Nina, Lila and Susi) ________ are in the same class.

Instruction 2: Fill with the correct object pronouns.

1. My mother loves books. This novel is for .

2. My brother likes colorfull postcard. This postcard is for .
3. My sister loves doll. This doll is for .
4. My mother and father like listening to Maher Zein music. This CD is for .
5. I like watches. This unique watch is for .

Instruction 3: Replace the personal pronouns by possessive adjectives .

Here is a postcard from (I)1. friend Nadifa. She lives in

 Canada now with (she) 2. family. (She ) 3.
husband works there. (He) 4.
company build ships. (they) 5.
children go to school in the city. (I) 6. family and I want
to go to Canada, too. I want to see Nadifa and (she) 7. family next
summer. (we) 8. summer!!. Because it is (they) 9.
Winter now. Is there any of (you) 10. friend stay abroad?

Instruction 4: Replace the personal pronouns by possessive pronouns.

1. Maria bought you a new ring. The ring is (you) __

2. I roasted the meat for breakfast this morning. The meat is (I)
3. Daddy bought us a new bicycle. The bicycle is (we)
4. Ismaeel gave Sarah a new car as the birthday gift. The car is (she) ___
5. We met Nina and Rani last night. This car is (they)
6. On vacation, Jamaal put all the clothes in the luggage. The luggage is (he) _
7. Karina pints the the wall beautifully. The paints are (she) __
8. There is a cat in our garden. The cat sleeps in the box. The box is (it)
9. Listen, the birds sing beautifully. The bird is (we) _
10. This was not my notebook. It was (you)

Instruction 5: Fill in the correct reflexive pronouns

1. I did not want to see it and then I saw the crocodile___________

2. The boy looks at _______________ in the mirror.
3. Jarwo, you have to do the work ___________.
4. You don’t need to call the professor. They can do the work ________________.
5. I introduce ____________ in front of my new friends.