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Pronouns
Cases of Personal Pronouns
Case/exam.
Use
Example
Condition
Nominative
Subject
We ate the pear.
(subject case)
I, we, you, he,
she, it, they
Predicate
pronoun
Your friend is I.
Usually before the
verb
“be” verb linking the
subject to predicate
Objective
Direct object
Jim saw me.
Show
ownership
Is this pen yours? Use the form ending in
Is this your pen? “s” when the object
that is owned does not
follow the pronoun
Is this pen his?
(“his” & “its” are exceptions)
Is this his pen?
Possessive pronouns never
me, us, you,
him, her, it,
them
Possessive
my, mine, our,
ours, your,
yours, his, her,
hers, its, their,
theirs
Takes the action of
Arrows point to DO
verb
Indirect object Al gave me a bat. to whom or for whom
Arrows point to DO
the action is done
Al gave the bat to ends a prepositional
Object of a
me.
phrase
preposition
use apostrophes.
Who or Whom
• Who is nominative.
• Who is used as the subject of a question
or the subject of a subordinate clause
(dependent clause).
• Whom is objective.
• Whom is used as a direct object, and
indirect object, or the object of a
preposition.
Who
Subject of question
Subject of a subordinate
clause
Who understands
pronouns?
I admire a student who
studies pronouns.
Whom
Hint: it often helps to rewrite the sentence or the
clause
Direct object
Indirect object
Object of
preposition
Whom did he see in the
game?
He did see whom in the
game.
Whom did he give the
ball?
He did give whom the
ball.
From whom did he get
the ball?
He did get the ball from
whom.
I know the person
whom he met at the
game.
He met whom at the
game.
Janet thanked her aunt,
from whom she had
received a ball.
She had received a ball
from whom.
Indefinite pronouns refer to people,
places, or things often without specifying which
ones
Includes:
Singular
ones
body
thing
another
anybody
anyone
anything
each
either
everybody
everyone
everything
little
someone
much
something
neither
nobody
no one
nothing
one
other
somebody
Plural
Singular or
Plural
both
few
many
others
several
all
any
more
most
none
some
Subject/verb agreement w/
indefinite pronouns as subjects
• Pronouns that are always singular will
always take a singular or “s” verb.
– One of the submarines is equipped with
radar.
– Everybody on the submarine was frightened
by thoughts of the attack.
– Neither of the strategies seems workable.
Ignore the prepositional phrases
Subject/verb agreement w/
indefinite pronouns as subjects
• Pronouns that are always plural will
always take a plural or “base” verb.
– Many of the soldiers fight on the war’s front
lines.
– Others work to supply them with food and
ammunition.
– Several contribute as code breakers.
Ignore the prepositional phrases
Subject/verb agreement w/
indefinite pronouns as subjects
• When using pronouns that can be either
singular or plural you must examine the
context of the sentence
– Most of the war has been fought.
– Most of the battles have been fought.
Pay attention to the prepositional phrases
Making personal pronouns and
indefinite pronouns agree
• Ignore the object of any prepositional phrases
that might fall between the personal and
indefinite pronoun.
• Incorrect
– Neither of the EMTs has completed their training.
– Put each instrument in their place.
• Correct
– Neither of the EMTs has completed his or her
training.
– Put each instrument in its place.
Making personal pronouns and
indefinite pronouns agree for gender
• If the gender is unknown, a writer may use he
or she, or him or her.
– Each of the crew members checked his or her
equipment.
• If the gender is unknown, a writer may rewrite
the sentence to eliminate the gender issue.
– All of the crew members checked their equipment.
Agreement between pronouns and
antecedents
• Pronouns must agree in both person and
number.
• Number indicates singular or plural.
• Person indicates whether a pronoun refers
to…
– the person speaking (first person)
– The person spoken to (second person)
– The person, place, or thing spoken about (third)
Agreement between pronouns and antecedents
• Avoid shifts in Person.
• Incorrect:
– Jim is practicing writing, a skill you need to
master if you want to do well in school.
• Correct:
– Jim is practicing writing, a skill he needs to
master if he wants to do well in school.
• Singular antecedents joined by or or nor must
have a singular pronoun.
– Either Mary or Sue should bring her camera.
– Pat and Mike brought their cameras.