Lesson One
Grammar Module Two, Unit Six: Pronouns
LESSON ONE
You learned in Module One - Pronouns 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 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.
TELL ME MORE! Click the PLAY button to hear additional information.
Tell me more about Pronouns
In this Lesson you will be reviewing various categories of pronouns. As you remember from Module One - Pronouns, 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 study 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).
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. In this case, leave out Carol or she. Ex. She was on the porch. Ex. Carol was on the porch. Learning the rules is important, though, because you cannot always decide what sounds right. 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 learn 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 subjects/objects/predicate pronouns of infinitives.
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. (Say “tell me” your message or “tell Florence” your message. Leave out part of the compound. 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 and me are indirect objects and are in the objective case.)
Let's see how you do in finding the objective case pronouns and telling their uses.