Download Unit 3 Lesson 3 (sec 4) - Ms. De masi Teaching website

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Personal pronouns have different forms,
or cases, to indicate their function.
› Use the subjective case for pronouns that
function as part of the subject or subject
compliment of a sentence. Subjective
pronouns include I, you, he, she, it, we, and
they.
 Examples:
 Joan and I visited Theresa.
 It was they who knocked.
› Use the objective case for pronouns that
function as a direct or indirect object. Objective
pronouns include me, you, him, her, it, us, and
them.
 Examples:
 Give me Dana’s name and number.
 Those kids tricked us.
› Use the possessive case for pronouns that
indicate ownership or possession. Possessive
personal pronouns include mine, yours, his, hers,
its, ours, and theirs.
 Examples:
 The house on the left is theirs.
 Ours is a little farther on.
› Note that my, your, his, her, our, and their
before a noun are possessive adjectives, not
pronouns.
 Examples:
 My knapsack
 His umbrella
 Their contract
Activity: Write a sentence using a possessive
pronoun in the case indicated.
1. (possessive case)
2. (subjective case)
3. (Objective case)
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Relative pronouns are used to introduce relative
clauses. A relative clause is a subordinate clause that
functions as an adjective in a sentence. The most
common relative pronouns are who, whom, whose,
which, and that.
A relative pronoun replaces a noun or pronoun,
which is its antecedent, in a main clause.
› Examples:
 The tree that died was chopped down yesterday.
 (antecedent of tree is that)
 My mother, who hates garlic, makes great spaghetti
sauce.
 (antecedent of who is mother)
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Use reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself,
himself, herself, itself, ourselves,
yourselves, themselves) to refer back to
a person or thing that is the subject of
the sentence.
› Examples:
 Kristen cut herself a large piece of cake.
 (antecedent is Kristen)
 The children laughed themselves silly watching
that cartoon.
 (antecedent is Children)
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Use reflexive pronouns immediately after
a noun or pronoun to add emphasis.
› Example:
 The Queen herself attended the ceremony.
 (antecedent is Queen)
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Do not use a reflexive pronoun in place
of a personal pronoun.
› Examples:
 Incorrect: Shiva and myself went for a soda.
 Correct: Shiva and I went for a soda.
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Who is a relative or interrogative (question)
pronoun in the subjective case. It is used as
a subject or subject complement.
› Example: Who is at the door?
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Whom is a relative or interrogative pronoun
in the objective case. It is used as an
object.
› Example: Whom did she ask?
By rearranging the sentence (She did ask whom?),
it is clear that whom follows the verb as its
object.
If you are unsure which pronoun to use,
try rearranging the sentence and
replacing who or whom with he/she or
him/her. If he or she sounds correct (e.g.,
She asked him), use whom.
 Whom can also be the object of a
preposition.

› Example: For whom does the bell toll? (The
bell tolls for whom?)
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When who or whom are used as relative
pronouns, rearrange the words in the
relative clause to determine if the pronoun
acts as a subject or an object.
› Examples:
 The man [who died] was wealthy.
 (who died – subject)
 The man ]whom we visited] was German.
 (we visited whom – direct object)
 The player [whom we cheered for] was replaced.
 (we cheered for whom – object of preposition)
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Adjectives describe, limit, or identify a noun or
pronoun. A descriptive adjective adds detail or
answers the question what is it like?
› Examples:
 Blue eyes
 Lucky number
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A limiting adjective makes the noun or pronoun it
modifies more specific and concrete. Some common
limiting adjectives are few, many, every, each, both,
several, some, any, most, and one. The limiting
adjectives are called articles (a, an, and the)
› Examples:
 Few people
 One day
 An argument
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Words that are commonly classified as
nouns can be used as adjectives. So,
too, can participles and pronouns when
placed directly in front of a noun or a
pronoun. Personal pronouns used in this
way are called possessive adjectives.
› Examples:
 Brick walls (noun as adjective)
 Blossoming flowers (participle as adjective)
 My hair (possessive adjective)
Write three adjectives to describe each
noun.
1. Bruise
2. Glass
3. Box
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