What is a Pronoun?

WHAT IS A PRONOUN?

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. We use pronouns rather than repeating nouns again and again. Notice how strange and awkward the following sentence sounds: "Dan took Dan's hammer and saw and put Dan's hammer and saw on Dan's workbench."

And notice how much better the sentence sounds when pronouns are substituted for some of the nouns: "Dan took his hammer and saw and put them on his workbench." The words used in the place of "Dan's" and "hammer and saw" are called "pronouns."

There are five major classes of pronouns:
(1) personal,
(2) indefinite,
(3) relative,
(4) interrogative, and
(5) demonstrative.
This lesson focuses on personal pronouns. We will examine the other four types in Lesson Five.

WHAT IS A PERSONAL PRONOUN?

A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows by its form the "person" of the noun it replaces.

What do we mean by "person"?
A noun or pronoun is in the "first person" if it refers to the person speaking.
It is in the "second person" if it refers to the person spoken to.
It is in the "third person" if it refers to the person or thing spoken about.
Example: "I speak. You whisper. He shouts." In these sentences, "I" is first person, "you" is second person, and "he" is third person.
We have been using personal pronouns ever since we started speaking English. Three of our favorite words are "I," "me," and "mine." These are "first person" pronouns.

A personal pronoun also shows by its form the "case" of the noun it replaces.

What do we mean by "case"?
If a pronoun is used as a subject in a sentence*, it is in the "nominative case."
If it is used as an **object in a sentence, it is in the "objective case."
If it indicates ownership or relationship, it is in the "possessive case."
Examples: "My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me." The pronoun "my" indicates ownership or relationship and is in the possessive case. The pronouns "I" and "they" are used as subjects in the sentence and are in the nominative case. The pronouns "them" and "me" are objects and are in the objective case.

If a personal pronoun ends with "self" or "selves" and refers back to its antecedent, it is in the "reflexive case."
Example: "I am writing this myself."

Notice, in the following chart the various forms that personal pronouns take, depending on their "person," "case," and "number."

Person	Case	Singular	Plural
First	Nominative	I	we
" "	Possessive	my/mine	our/ours
" "	Objective	me	us
" "	Reflexive	myself	ourselves
Second	Nominative	you	you
" "	Possessive	your/yours	your/yours
" "	Objective	you	you
" "	Reflexive	yourself	yourselves
Third	Nominative	he/she/it	they
" "	Possessive	his/her/hers/its	their/theirs
" "	Objective	him/her/it	them
" "	Reflexive	himself/herself/itself	themselves

Practice making sentences with the above pronouns.
Examples: "I go." "You go." "She goes."
"It goes." "We go." "You go." "They go."
"Please go with me." "He is going with us." "I, myself, am going." "You should go, too."
"The decision is yours."
"She hit the ball." "It flew over the fence." "They ran after it."
"She said it was hers." "They said it was theirs." "They hit her." "She hit them."

THE POSSESSIVE PRONOUN

A possessive pronoun is a pronoun which shows ownership or relationship. Some possessive pronouns are used before nouns, while others are used alone.

Possessive pronouns that are used before nouns are "my," "our," "your," "his," "her," "its," and "their."
Sentence: "Is this your car?" (Possessive pronouns that come before nouns act as adjectives and are also called "possessive adjectives.")

Possessive pronouns that cannot be used before nouns are as follows: "mine," "ours," "yours," "hers," and "theirs." These possessive pronouns stand alone.
Sentences: "This car is not mine."
"We sold ours."
"Is it yours?" "No, it is hers."

The possessive pronoun "his" can be used before a noun, as in, "This is his money." Or it can stand alone, as in, "The money is his."

Possessive pronouns do not take an apostrophe ('). The possessive form of
"who" is "whose," not "who's."
Example: "Whose car is that?"

People sometimes confuse possessive pronouns (whose, its, your, their) with pronoun- verb contractions (who's [who is], it's [it is], you're [you are], they're [they are]). You can avoid confusion by remembering one simple rule:
"Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe."

SELF PRONOUNS

Some pronouns end in "self" or "selves."

myself,
ourselves,
yourself,
yourselves,
himself,
herself,
itself, and
themselves.

When a "self" pronoun emphasizes another noun or pronoun, it is an intensive pronoun. Example:  "God, himself, confronted Cain."  In this sentence, "himself" refers to God and emphasizes God.  God is the subject, and Cain is the object.  "Himself" stresses and intensifies God.

When a "self" pronoun serves as the object of a preposition (such as "at," "by," "for,"  "in," or "on"), it is a reflexive pronoun.  Example:  "Cain felt sorry for himself."  In this sentence, "himself" is the object of the preposition "for."  Therefore, in this sentence, "himself" is a reflexive pronoun.

Pronouns Must Agree with their Antecedents

The word "antecedent" means "coming before." The antecedent of a pronoun is a word or group of words to which a pronoun refers.
Example: "When Abel grew up, he became a keeper of sheep." "He" refers back to Abel. Therefore, "Abel" is the antecedent of "he."

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in gender, person, and number. In the example above, the antecedent "Abel" is masculine, third person, singular. Therefore, the pronoun must also be masculine, third person, and singular. It would be incorrect to say, "When Abel grew up, she became a keeper of sheep." It would also be incorrect to say that "Eve was not as happy as he has been in the garden of Eden."

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

THE PRONOUN (CONTINUED)

In Lesson Four you learned to identify and to use personal, possessive, and reflexive pronouns. You learned that the forms of these pronouns vary according to person, number, and case, and that pronouns must agree with their antecedents. In this lesson, you will be introduced to four other classes of pronouns.

PRONOUNS TO REMEMBER

1. "demonstrative pronoun" A pronoun that singles out the person, place, or thing to which it refers.
   Examples: this, that, these, those.
   Sentence: "This made the Lord sad in his heart." In this sentence, "this" is a demonstrative pronoun.
2. "indefinite pronoun" A pronoun that does not identify its antecedent. A pronoun that refers to an unspecified person or thing.
   Sentence: "God promised to send someone to defeat Satan." In this sentence, "someone" is an indefinite pronoun.
3. "interrogative pronoun" A pronoun that asks a question.
   Examples: who, what, which, whom, whose.
   Sentence: "God said to Adam, `Who told you that you were naked?'" In this sentence, "who" is used as an interrogative pronoun.
4. "relative pronoun" A pronoun which introduces a group of words that tell about the antecedent.
   Examples: that, which, who, whom, whose.
   Sentence: "Noah trusted God and did all the things that God commanded." Here, "that" is a relative pronoun.

OTHER WORDS TO REMEMBER

1. "abuse" (verb) To use wrongly; to mistreat; to hurt by treating badly.
   Sentence: "Evil people often abuse members of their own family."
2. "altar" (noun) A flat-topped pile of dirt or stones on which a gift is offered to God.
   Sentence: "Noah built an altar and worshiped the Lord."
3. "Arctic Zone" (noun) Cold area near the North Pole.
   Sentence: "The oil fields in northern Alaska prove that the Arctic Zone was once covered by vegetation."
4. "cruelty" (noun) The quality of being cruel or causing pain and suffering in others.
   Sentence: "In Noah's day, people filled the earth with anger and cruelty."
5. "geologist" (noun) One who does a scientific study of the history and structure of the earth.
   Sentence: "Many of the questions that geologists have asked find answers in the biblical account of the flood."
6. "righteousness" (noun) The state of being just and right.
   Sentence: "Noah has been called 'a preacher of righteousness.'"
7. "sacrifice" (verb) To offer something to God as a gift.
   Sentence: "Noah took some of the birds and animals and sacrificed them on an altar as a gift to God."
8. "transmit" (verb) To cause to spread; to send from one person, place, or thing to another.
   Sentence: "People are dying of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases."
9. "tropical" (adjective) Hot and humid; sultry.
   .Sentence: "Why would a tropical area, covered by vegetation, suddenly become a frozen wasteland?"
10. "violence" (noun) Physical force used in a way that causes damage, destruction, or injury.
    Sentence: "When God looked at the earth, he saw violence everywhere."

MORE ABOUT PRONOUNS

We have examined the personal pronoun. We have seen that a personal pronoun can be used as a subject in a sentence, as an object in a sentence, as a possessive noun, or a reflexive noun. Now let us examine four more classes of pronouns:
(1) indefinite,
(2) relative,
(3) interrogative, and
(4) demonstrative.

1. An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that does not specify its antecedent. Often, its antecedent is unknown. Notice the indefinite pronouns in the following sentences:
   "Does anyone know anything about tax law?"
   "No one said anything."
   "Each waited for someone else to respond."
   "Anyone," "anything," "no one," "each," and "someone" are all indefinite pronouns.
   
   
   Some indefinite pronouns are singular:
   Examples: another, anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, one, nothing, other, somebody, someone, something.
   Positive statement: "Tom saw something on the road."
   Negative statement: "Tim didn't hear anything."
   Question: "Did you see anyone in the hall?"
   Additional examples:
   "Susan said nothing."
   "Noah preached to the people, but no one listened to him."
   "God loves everyone and does not want anyone to be hurt."
   The pronouns "something," "anything," "anyone," "nothing," "no one," and "everyone" are indefinite pronouns because they do not take the place of particular nouns.
   
   
   Other indefinite pronouns are plural.
   Examples: both, few, many, several.
   Sentence: "Many are called, but few are chosen." (Note: If we put a noun after each of these pronouns, the pronouns become adjectives. "Many people are called, but few people are chosen." "Many" and "few" are now pronominal adjectives.)
2. A relative pronoun is a pronoun that connects its antecedent with a group of words which give more information about it. The relative pronouns are "that," "which," "who," "whom," and "whose."
   Sentences: "Noah was a good man who always walked with God." "Who" is the relative pronoun that introduces the clause, "who always walked with God." The clause tells us something about the antecedent, "man."
   
   The relative pronouns "who" and "whom" generally refer to a person or to people.
   Examples: "The girl who is standing outside the door is my niece."
   "The woman to whom you spoke is my mother."
   "Noah was a good man who always walked with God."
   
   
   The relative pronoun "whose" shows ownership or relationship and is, therefore, possessive.
   Example: "The woman whose picture graces my desk is my wife."
   
   The relative pronouns "that" and "which" generally refer to places, animals, or things.
   Examples: "Any house that Dan builds is a good one."
   "A relative pronoun introduces a clause which tells us something about the noun or pronoun that comes before it."
   "The happiness that Adam and Eve enjoyed in the garden of Eden disappeared."
3. An interrogative pronoun is a pronoun that asks a question. The interrogative pronouns are "what," "which," "who," "whom," and "whose."
   
   "Who," "whom," and "whose" are used to ask a question about a person or people.
   Examples: "Who came to see you this morning?"
   "To whom shall we turn for help?"
   "Whose book is this?"
   
   Some people have trouble remembering when to use "who" and when to use "whom." You can avoid this confusion by remembering the following rule: "Who" is the nominative form of the pronoun, and "whom" is the objective form.
   Examples: "Who will go for us?" "Whom shall we send?" By turning the second question around, it reads, "We shall send whom?" "Whom" is the object of the verb "send."
   
   "What" refers to a person, place, thing, idea, or event.
   Examples: "What are we having for dinner tonight?"
   "What man among you is without sin?"
   "Which" calls for a choice between two or more persons, places, or things.
   Example: "We have coffee and tea. Which do you prefer?"
   "We have pencils and pens. Which do you want to use?"
4. A demonstrative pronoun is a pronoun that points out a person, place, or thing. There are only four demonstrative pronouns: "this," "that," "these," and "those."
   Examples: "That happened to me, too."
   "This is the house that Jack built."
   "I want some of those."
   "Are these the letters you wrote?"
   
   Demonstrative pronouns "this/that" and "these/those" often indicate nearness to the speaker.
   Examples: "This [in my hand] is my pen. That [on the desk] is your pen."

Distance	Singular	Plural
Near:	this	these
Far:	that	those

Your Assignment

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