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UNIT 2

PRONOUNS

Pronouns stand in place of nouns.

Essential English Skills Year 7

LANGUAGE

Example
John is a young boy. John is only three years old.
John is a young boy. He is only three years old.

The word you can


stand for one or
more than one.
Both of you can
go.

Personal pronouns refer to people, animals or objects.


Examples
Mary hit the ball. She hit it. Bill and Bob caught a lizard. They put it in a box.
Mr and Mrs Black went to see a film. They enjoyed it.
The doers of the actions (Mary, Bill and Bob, and Mr and Mrs Black) are called subjects. The
pronouns (she, they and they) that replace them are subjective pronouns. The receivers of the
actions (ball, lizard, film) are called objects. The pronouns (it, it and it) that replace them are
objective pronouns.
Person

Subjective
(doer)

Objective
(receiver)

Possessive
(owner)

First person singular one of

me

my/mine

Second person singular one of

you

you

your/yours

Third person singular male

he

him

his

Third person singular female

she

her

her/hers

Third person singular

it

it

its

First person plural more than one

we

us

our/ours

Second person plural more than one

you

you

your/yours

Third person plural more than one

they

them

their/theirs

Always check that your meaning is clear when you use pronouns.
Example
Jack told Andrew that his father had met with an accident.
It is unclear whose father has had an accident. Punctuation and direct speech would make
the meaning clear.
6

Stoneman, Rucco and Brownhill 2012


ISBN: 978-1-139-21098-0
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18/07/12 2:27 PM

This is clearer:
Jack told Andrew, Your father has met with an accident, or
Jack told Andrew, My father has met with an accident.

Other types of pronouns

Sometimes
using pronouns
can make your
meaning unclear.

Person

Singular

Plural

First

myself

ourselves

Second

yourself

yourselves

Third

himself
herself
itself

themselves

Examples
I myself saw him push her out of line.
We shall plan our holiday trip ourselves.
You must clean up your room yourself.
You must provide the backpacks yourselves.
My brother blamed me, but he did it himself.
They had to carry their luggage themselves.
The girl insisted she wanted to go by herself.
The watch itself was of little value.
Note: These same words can also act as reflexive pronouns when the subject of the verb
(the doer) is also the object (the receiver) of the verb.
Examples
He shot himself.
I hurt myself.
Interrogative pronouns ask questions. They interrogate.
For people, use who, whom, whose.
Examples
Who is knocking? (subjective)
Whom did you meet in Bali? (objective)
Whose book is this? (possessive)
For things use what.
Example
What was that noise?

LANGUAGE

Emphatic pronouns are used to emphasise the involvement of the person or thing named by
the subjective (doer) pronoun.

For people or things when the choice


is restricted, use which.

Stoneman, Rucco and Brownhill 2012


ISBN: 978-1-139-21098-0
Photocopying is restricted under law and this material must not be transferred to another party.

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Unit 2 Pronouns

Example
Which of you did that?

18/07/12 2:27 PM

Test yourself

Subjective

Doer

you

he

she

it

we

you

they

Objective

Receiver

me

you

him

her

it

us

me

them

! Select personal pronouns from the table above to fill the gaps.
a

Sandra and Troy picked some apples.


_____________ found ________________ in the orchard.

Corey and David met Maria.


_______________ met ________________ in the mall.

Samantha drew a picture of her dog.


_______________ drew a picture of ________________.

Essential English Skills Year 7

LANGUAGE

Abdul and I met Franz and Ang.


_____________ met _____________ at the school gate.

Asha ate an ice-cream.


_____________ ate ________________ slowly.

" Highlight the correct pronoun in the brackets.


a

(We, us) met (they, them).

(Her, she) left (we, us).

(Him, he) beat (me, I).

(I, me) saw (she, her).

# Fill in the correct emphatic pronouns in the following sentences.


a

The small boy said, I must learn to tie my shoelaces ______________________.

The Prime Minister ______________________ presented the medals.

Although she was small, Ann opened the door ______________________.

The boys insisted on cooking the dinner ______________________.

You must solve the riddle ______________________, the wizard said.

$ Fill in the correct interrogative pronouns in the following sentences.


a

_________________ do you plan to meet in Sydney?

_________________ is that outside the window?

__________________ homework is this?

__________________ do you want to do next?

_________________ of you broke the window?

Writing challenge
Write a description of a party. Make sure you include a variety of pronouns in your story. When you
have completed your description, underline all the pronouns. Example: We had masses of balloons.
They were all the colours of the rainbow.

Stoneman, Rucco and Brownhill 2012


ISBN: 978-1-139-21098-0
Photocopying is restricted under law and this material must not be transferred to another party.

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Cambridge University Press

18/07/12 2:27 PM

Extend yourself

Pronouns can also show ownership. These are called possessive pronouns.
(Refer to the table of pronouns at the start of this unit.)
Examples
That is my book. That book is mine.
That is our house. That house is ours.

That is your car. _____________________________________________________________

That is her dressing gown. ____________________________________________________

That is their shop. ___________________________________________________________

That is its kennel. ___________________________________________________________

That is our town. ____________________________________________________________

" Fill in the correct interrogative pronouns in the following sentences.


a

__________ are you?

________________ did you say?

__________ bicycle is this?

________________ of them won the prize?

__________are you going to meet?

_________________ do you want to do?

# Change these sentences as directed. (Refer to the table on page 6 if you are unsure.)
Example: Change He rides his bicycle (third person singular) to first person plural.
Answer: We ride our bicycles.
a

I shall be happy to be on my own. (Change to third person plural.)


___________________________________________________________________________

You are in control of your life. (Change to first person singular.)


___________________________________________________________________________

They always remember to bring their sports clothes. (Change to third person singular.
Note: This can be either he or she.)
___________________________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE

! Change the following sentences to match the examples above.


Example: That is his football. That football is his.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Writing challenge

Write a short story about a scary adventure. Underline subjective pronouns in one colour, objective in
another, possessive in a third colour and emphatic in a fourth colour.

Stoneman, Rucco and Brownhill 2012


ISBN: 978-1-139-21098-0
Photocopying is restricted under law and this material must not be transferred to another party.

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Cambridge University Press

Unit 2 Pronouns

$ Write three sentences that show emphatic pronouns acting as reflexive pronouns.
Example: They taught themselves how to ski.

18/07/12 2:27 PM

UNIT 2

PRONOUNS

Pronouns stand in place of (or stand for) nouns.

He (subject)

made (verb)

it (object)

Essential English Skills Year 8

LANGUAGE

Main types of pronouns


The main types of pronouns are listed in this table.
Subjective pronouns

Objective pronouns

Possessive pronouns

Emphatic pronouns

Doer of action

Receiver of action

Owner

Emphasise

Singular

I, you, he, she, it

me, you, him, her, it

myself, yourself, himself,


herself, itself

Plural

we, you, they

us, you, them

my, your, his, her, its;


also mine, yours, his,
hers, its
our, your, their;
also ours, yours, theirs

ourselves, yourselves,
themselves

Other types of pronouns


RELATIVE PRONOUNS

Relative pronouns are used to begin a clause


(a group of words with a verb that is not a
complete sentence on its own see Unit 7.
They make this clause relate to a noun that is
immediately before it.
Example
The old man, who used to be a soldier,
marched on Anzac Day.
In this example, the word who is a
subjective (subject) pronoun. It relates
used to be a soldier to the noun man. This
information could have been written in two
sentences.
Example
The old man marched on Anzac Day.
He used to be a soldier.

Rucco, Stoneman and Brownhill 2012


ISBN 978-1-139-27206-3
Photocopying is restricted under law and this material must not be transferred to another party.

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For people

For things

Subjective

who (usually), that

which (more formal), that

Objective

whom (usually), who, that

which, that

Possessive

whose

whose, of which

Examples
Subjective
The man who robbed you is called Johnson.
The car, which/that I hired, broke down.
Objective
The girls, whom he praised, were delighted.
The woman, from whom I bought it, seemed honest.
The window, that/which was broken by a stone, has been
repaired.
Possessive
People whose goods have been stolen can call the police.
Animals whose owners do not look after them suffer.
A special case is what. What = the thing (or things) that. What can be
either a subjective or objective pronoun.
Examples
The things that we saw astonished us = What we saw astonished
us (subjective)

If you are unsure


when to use who
and when to use
whom, you can
rephrase the
sentence so you
choose between
he and him: if you
want him, write
whom; if you want
he, write who. For
example: Who do
you think did this?
(Do you think he
did this?) Whom
should we ask to
help us? (Should
we ask him to help
us?)

When she sees the damage that you have done she will be furious = When she sees what
you have done she will be furious (objective)
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

Demonstrative pronouns are used to point out some person or thing (that may have been named
earlier in speech or writing). They are often used in answers to questions.
Demonstrative pronouns include this, that, these, those, one, ones, none, some and such
when these words are used to replace a noun or nouns, but the same words may act as
adjectives when used with nouns. Such is more often used as an adjective than a pronoun in
writing.
Examples
This is my pen.

LANGUAGE

The forms of relative pronouns are as follows.

Singular demonstrative pronouns

Plural demonstrative pronouns

This: This is my football.

These: These are our friends.

That: That is his backpack.

Those: Those peaches are not ripe.

One: One is enough for me.

Ones: I like red roses better than white ones.

Such: Such was the result of the match.

Some: Some are ripe enough to eat.

Rucco, Stoneman and Brownhill 2012


ISBN 978-1-139-27206-3
Photocopying is restricted under law and this material must not be transferred to another party.

9781139272063w01.indd 9

Cambridge University Press

Unit 2 Pronouns

In this example, this is pointing out and is a demonstrative pronoun. But this conveys the
meaning this pen. In This pen is my pen, the word this is acting as an adjective describing pen.

09/08/12 5:36 PM

Test yourself

! Insert the correct pronouns in the gaps. (Some have been done for you.)
For my eighth birthday ___________ father promised me a bicycle, but ___________ mother
said that I could only have ____________ if _____________ behaved myself. However, on the
afternoon of ___________ birthday, __________ accidentally broke several plates. They were
Mums favourites and ____________ said, Just wait until ____________ father comes home.
___________ friends cheered ___________ up when __________ suggested that __________
would forgive __________ as __________ wasnt as if __________ had done __________ on
purpose. Soon __________ went home and tried to make __________ as useful as possible,
hoping that Mum would not tell ____________ father. When Dad arrived, ___________ said,

Essential English Skills Year 8

LANGUAGE

______________ must remember when __________ were young, ____________. Sometimes

10

___________ had accidents, too. ___________ hugged __________ and went out to the car.
From the boot ____________ pulled out a bright red bicycle. ____________ could not believe
___________ was really ___________.
" Fill in the correct emphatic pronouns. The first one has been done for you.
a

The small boy said, I must learn to tie my shoelaces myself.

The Prime Minister _____________________ presented the medals.

Although she was small, Ann opened the door _____________________.

The boys insisted on cooking the dinner _____________________.

You must solve the riddle _____________________, the wizard said.

# Highlight the relative pronouns in these sentences.


a

The wizard, who tricked the boy, was able to change his appearance.

The cat, which caught the bird, was always stalking prey.

The woman, whose children broke our window, was very angry.

The hire car, that I rented, was expensive to run.

When the football coach learns what you have done, he will punish you.

Writing challenge
Your cat has caught a mouse and brought it inside.
Describe what happens using as many pronouns as you can.

Rucco, Stoneman and Brownhill 2012


ISBN 978-1-139-27206-3
Photocopying is restricted under law and this material must not be transferred to another party.

9781139272063w01.indd 10

Cambridge University Press

09/08/12 5:36 PM

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