Lesson Two
Grammar Module Two, Unit Six: Pronouns
LESSON TWO
You are making progress as you proceed through the Pronoun Module. In this Lesson you will be practicing when to use the nominative and when to use the objective case with appositives. Also, you will be learning more about the Possessive Case Pronouns. You will also review pronouns used in various clauses.
Review: In Lesson One you learned more about using the nominative and objective cases of pronouns, particularly in compound situations; and you also studied the use of pronouns in dependent clauses with "than" or "as." Here is a review of the Personal Pronoun Charts for nominative, objective, and possessive cases:
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Please see how well you do on the following sentences:
PRACTICE
Let's review one more time a few of the uses of nominative, objective, and possessive case pronouns:
1. Use nominative case pronouns as appositives with subjects or predicate nouns/predicate pronouns which they rename. Look at the word which the appositive renames. If the word is used in the nominative case, then the pronoun appositive must be used in the nominative case, too. In other words, the appositive and the word it renames must be in the same case. Ex. Two fifth graders, he and I, live in this house. (He and I are renaming graders. He and I are appositives which rename graders. If graders is the subject of the sentence, then graders is in the nominative case.
Therefore, the appositives which rename graders must also be in the nominative case -- he and I.)
Ex. The whole group, we and they, had a picnic. (We and they are renaming group. Therefore, they are appositives and must be in the same case as the noun they rename -- group. Since group is the subject of the verb had, then group is in the nominative case; and the appositives which rename group must also be in the nominative case.
2. Remember also that we followed by a noun takes the nominative case. Ex. We (not us) girls were ushers for the play. (Girls is really an appositive which renames we. We is the subject and is in the nominative case. Appositives can be removed from the sentence without hurting the meaning of the sentence: We were ushers for the play.)
3. Please use objective case pronouns for an appositive that renames any object. Ex. I told only one person (D. O.), him. (Use him because person is a direct object and is in the objective case. Him is an appositive and renames person. Both him and person must be in the objective case.)
4. Us followed by a noun keeps its objective case. Taking out the noun (appositive) makes the choice easy. Ex. Give us (indirect object) members a chance. (Read it "Give us a chance." Since us is an indirect object and members is an appositive renaming us, both must be in the objective case.)
5. The possessive case pronouns on the Possessive Case Chart are either used purely as pronouns or are sometimes used as adjectives because they modify nouns or pronouns. Notice that there are certain words which are always used as pronouns: mine, hers, yours, theirs. Some are used as adjectives: my, your, her, its, our, their. The word his can either be used as a pronoun or as an adjective. When a word on the chart is used as an adjective to modify a noun or a pronoun, the word is called a possessive adjective.
PRACTICE
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.)
As you look at long, complicated-looking sentences, the first thing you should do is to find the verb and then its subject plus all words which seem to cling together. This is a clause. Separate the sentence into clauses and then check the pronoun usage in each clause for accuracy.
Ex. When the other choirs arrive for the big concert, we and they will begin our final warm-ups. (When the other choirs arrive for the big concert -- dependent clause) (we and they will begin our final warm-ups -- independent clause) In the independent clause, the verb is will begin. We and they are the two subjects for the verb -- nominative case pronouns.
Ex. Because she has a dental appointment early this morning, she wants them, Sandra and him, to wait in the outer office until the nurse and he arrive.
Let’s separate this sentence into clauses.
1) Because she has a dental appointment early this morning -- first dependent clause
2) she wants them, Sandra and him, to wait in the outer office -- independent clause
3) until the nurse and he arrive -- second dependent clause
First dependent clause -- she -- subject, nominative case
Independent clause -- she -- subject, nominative case
them -- direct object, objective case
him -- appositive renaming them
them -- objective case
therefore, him -- objective case
Second dependent clause -- he -- part of compound subject -- nominative case
PRACTICE
QUIZZES