Lesson One
Grammar Module Three, Unit Six: Pronouns
LESSON ONE
You have learned in previous Modules that pronouns are quite similar to nouns because pronouns take the place of nouns. That means that many of the same rules which apply to nouns also apply to pronouns. Since pronouns are very similar to nouns, both can be the subjects of verbs. Once again, if you can find the verb, you can find the subject (either noun or pronoun). Pronouns can do anything that nouns can do.
Pronouns can do anything that nouns can do. Pronouns can be subjects, direct objects, objects of prepositions, appositives, nouns of direct address, predicate pronouns, and indirect objects.
Remember that pronouns can also be used in Dependent Clauses. This will not confuse you, however, because you know to find the verb first and then to locate its subject.
In this Lesson you will be reviewing various categories of pronouns. As you remember from previous Modules, the most commonly used are Personal Pronouns. There are three cases of Personal Pronouns: Nominative Case (sometimes called Subject Pronouns), Objective Case, and Possessive Case. (You will review Possessive Case pronouns in a later Lesson.) Personal Pronouns indicate who is speaking (1st person), who is spoken to (2nd person), and who is spoken about (3rd person).
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Tell me more about Pronoun Cases
Actually, you have already learned the Nominative Case Personal Pronouns in the verb Unit. Remember when you learned how to conjugate? You used the Nominative Case Personal Pronouns to help you conjugate. Here is a chart which will help you to remember them again. Also the chart tells you when it is correct to use Nominative Case pronouns: (1) as the subject of a verb, (2) as a predicate pronoun (coming after an Intransitive Linking verb), (3) after the infinitive TO BE if there is no subject of TO BE. If you need to review I. L. verbs, be sure to go back to the module on verbs and look through it again.
You have already memorized the singular and plural forms (1st, 2nd, and 3rd person) of the Nominative Case Personal Pronouns. Now all you have to do is to memorize the three uses (mentioned on the chart above) when Nominative Case Personal Pronouns should be used.
A common pronoun error occurs when people use the wrong case with compound subjects or compound predicate pronouns.
Ex. Carol and she (not her) were on the porch. (Carol and she form the compound subject. She is the 3rd person, singular, Nominative Case Personal Pronoun and is used as part of the subject.) It is important for you to know the rules for pronoun usage of Personal Pronouns. However, a quick way for you to know which verb to use when you have a compound is to leave out part of the compound.
Ex. She (leave out the word Carol) was on the porch. The rules are important, though, because you cannot always decide what sounds right.
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Ex. The boy is (he, him). He is correct because it is a Predicate Pronoun after the I. L. verb is. The Nominative Case is used for Predicate Pronouns.
PRACTICE
Now you will need to review the Objective Case Pronoun Chart. Notice that all the uses have the root word "object" in them: direct object, indirect object, object of preposition, objective case with subject/objects/predicate pronouns of infinitives.
OBJECTIVE CASE PRONOUNS
Use Objective Case Pronouns when you have compound objects. It is very important for you to learn the uses of the Objective Case. However, to make a quick choice, you may leave out part of the compound to see what sounds right.
Ex. Tell Florence and (I, me) your message. (Tell me -- leave out the word Florence -- your message. Leave out part of the compound -- Florence. Me is the correct choice because both Florence and me are
Indirect Objects and require the Objective Case -- me. Tell is a Transitive Active verb and has a Direct Object -- secret. Tell whom or what? Secret. Who gets the D. O., secret? Florence and me. Florence is an Indirect Object Noun, and me is an Indirect Object Pronoun; both are in the Objective Case.)
Let's see how you do in finding the Objective Case Pronouns and telling their uses.
DEPENDENT CLAUSES WITH "THAN" OR "AS"
When you have Dependent Clauses which begin with "than" or "as" and words are left out, you need to choose the Nominative or Objective Case of the pronoun which you would use if the missing words were stated as a part of the Dependent Clause.
Ex. She runs more athletically [than I]. (She runs more athletically than I do. When you express the verb do, you can see that I is the subject of the dependent clause than I do. It is correct to use the Nominative Case when the pronoun is the subject of a verb even if the verb is in a Dependent Clause.
Here is another example where words have been left out of the Dependent Clause.
Ex. The accident scared George [as much as me]. (The accident scared George as much as it scared me.) In this sentence the pronoun me is correct because it is the D. O. of the verb scared. The Dependent Clause is as much as it scared me.
One other example arises where you can complete the sentence with either an Objective or a Nominative Case Pronoun, depending upon which one fits the sentence.
Ex. The mother cat loves the kitten more than I [love the kitten.] In this sentence the Nominative Case Pronoun I is correct because it is the subject of love.
Ex. The mother cat loves the kitten more than [the mother cat loves] me. (In this sentence the Objective Case Pronoun me is correct because it is the D. O. of the understood verb loves.)
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Tell me more about Pronouns