Singular and Plural Pronouns Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. Pronouns that take the place of singular nouns are singular pronouns. I, me, myself, he, she, him, himself, her, herself, and it are singular pronouns. Pronouns that take the place of plural nouns are plural pronouns. We, us, ourselves, they, them, and themselves are plural pronouns. The man met the magicians at the train station. He met them at the train station. Always capitalize the singular pronoun I. When you talk about yourself and another person, name yourself last. The pronoun you can be singular or plural. Directions Write the pronoun in each sentence. 1. I read The Case of the Gasping Garbage. 2. It is about Drake and Nell, two young detectives. 3. Gabby said she heard a garbage can gasping. 4. The detectives were curious when they heard the can. 5. The detectives examined the can themselves. 6. The can itself was warm. Directions Choose a pronoun in ( ) to replace each underlined noun or noun phrase. Write the pronoun on the line. 7. The next part of the story tells more about Drake and Nell. (he, them) 8. Nell said, Meet Drake and Nell in the lab. (us, her) 9. Nell said the smell of bread was an important clue. (She, Her) 10. Nell and Drake performed some experiments. (You, They) 11. Drake said the monster was yeast. (we, it) 12. Drake was happy to help. (He, Him) Unit 4 The Case of the Gasping Garbage Grammar 16
Subject and Object Pronouns A subject pronoun is used in the subject of a sentence. Singular subject pronouns are I, you, he, she, and it. Plural subject pronouns are we, you, and they. When you use a person s name and a pronoun in a compound subject, be sure to use a subject pronoun. Singular Subject Pronoun Plural Subject Pronoun Directions Look at the underlined pronoun. Write SP for a subject pronoun, OP for an object pronoun, RP for a reflexive pronoun, or DP for a demonstrative pronoun. 1. He knows where to find the dolphins. 2. Who saw them first? 3. This is my camera. 4. I myself paddled the canoe. She went to Brazil. We looked for dolphins. An object pronoun is used in the predicate of a sentence after an action verb or with a preposition, such as for, at, into, with, or to. Singular object pronouns are me, you, him, her, and it. Plural object pronouns are us, you, and them. When you use a person s name and a pronoun in a compound object, be sure to use an object pronoun. Singular Object Pronoun Plural Object Pronoun The dolphin saw her. We photographed them. A reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject of the sentence. Singular reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, and itself. Plural reflexive pronouns are ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. Singular Reflexive Pronoun Plural Reflexive Pronoun The dolphin hid itself. We photographed ourselves. A demonstrative pronoun is used to refer to specific people or things. Singular demonstrative pronouns are this and that. Plural demonstrative pronouns are these and those. Singular Demonstrative Pronoun Plural Demonstrative Pronoun That is a rare dolphin. These are amazing animals. 5. They will swim up to us if we are quiet. 6. The dolphin is playing with us. Unit 4 Encantado Grammar 17
Pronouns and Antecedents A pronoun takes the place of a noun or nouns. An antecedent, or referent, is the noun or nouns to which the pronoun refers. A pronoun and its antecedent must agree in number and gender. Before you use a pronoun, ask yourself whether the antecedent is singular or plural. If the antecedent is singular, decide whether it is masculine, feminine, or neuter. Then choose a pronoun that agrees. In the following sentences, the antecedents are underlined once; the pronouns are underlined twice. The marines developed a code. It was based on the Navajo language. Navajo students lived on a reservation where they were not allowed to speak their language. The code talkers protected themselves in battle. Directions Match the pronoun with the noun or noun phrase that could be its antecedent. Write the letter of the correct antecedent next to the pronoun. 1. it A the reservation 2. we B Ms. Clinton 3. he C my dad and I 4. she D Philip Johnston Directions Write the correct pronoun in ( ) to complete each sentence. The antecedents of the pronouns have been underlined to help you. 5. The Navajo reservation is so large that (he, it) stretches across three states. 6. Each code talker carried a heavy radio into battle with (him, they). 7. When you and I go to the library, (they, we) will read about code talkers. 8. The officers did not know Navajo. (She, They) had to be convinced. 9. The nation knew it had to defend (itself, it). 10. Philip Johnston could express (him, himself) in Navajo. 11. Anna traveled to New Mexico. (She, Them) bought a Navajo ring. Unit 4 Navajo Code Talkers Grammar 18
Possessive Pronouns Possessive pronouns show who or what owns, or possesses, something. My, mine, your, yours, her, hers, his, its, our, ours, their, and theirs are possessive pronouns. Use my, your, her, our, and their before nouns. I study at my desk. Claire read her book. Experts shared their discoveries. Use mine, yours, hers, ours, and theirs alone. The desk is mine. The book was hers. The discoveries were theirs. His and its can be used both before nouns and alone. Jean-François did his work. The work was his. The Egyptian alphabet revealed its secrets. The secrets were its. Do not use an apostrophe with a possessive pronoun. Directions Write the possessive pronoun in each sentence. 1. Ancient Egyptians left many samples of their writing. 2. The Egyptian alphabet was very different from ours. 3. Some of its letters were pictures of animals. 4. Jean-François concentrated on his work for years. 5. I have written about him in my research paper. Directions Write the possessive pronoun in ( ) that correctly completes each sentence. 6. (Our, Ours) class is studying ancient Egypt. 7. Maria told us about hieroglyphs in (her, hers) oral report. 8. Julio and Pam made a model of the Rosetta stone for (their, theirs) presentation. 9. I wrote about Jean-François Champollion for (my, mine). 10. What will you do for (your, yours)? Unit 4 Seeker of Knowledge Grammar 19
Contractions and Negatives A contraction is a shortened form of two words. An apostrophe takes the place of one or more letters. Some contractions are formed from a pronoun and a verb: she is = she s. Other contractions combine a verb and the word not: would not = wouldn t. Not, no, none, nothing, and never are negative words. Avoid double negatives. Do not use more than one negative word in a sentence. No: She didn t tell me nothing. Yes: She didn t tell me anything. Contractions with Pronouns and Verbs I am I m he is (has) he s she is (has) she s it is (has) it s you are you re we are we re they are they re I will I ll he will he ll she will she ll you will you ll we will we ll they will they ll I had (would) I d he had (would) he d she had (would) she d you had (would) you d I have I ve you have you ve we have we ve they have they ve Contractions with Verbs and not is not isn t are not aren t was not wasn t were not weren t will not won t would not wouldn t has not hasn t have not haven t had not hadn t do not don t does not doesn t did not didn t can not can t could not couldn t should not shouldn t Directions Write the contractions for the underlined words. 1. Chief Brown is not happy. 2. He is having difficulty solving a case. Directions Find two words in each sentence that can be written as a contraction. Write the contraction. 3. I have read another Encyclopedia Brown story. 4. I could not guess what was going to happen. Unit 4 Encyclopedia Brown Grammar 20