Why Do We Need Pronouns?
Name:______
Pronouns are used to take the place of a noun
- Mary was sick yesterday, and she missed her class trip.
PERSON / 1st Singular / 2nd Singular / 3rd Singular / 1st Plural / 2nd Plural / 3rd Plural
SUBJECT / I / you / he, she, it / we / you / they
OBJECT / me / you / him, her, it / us / you / them
Pronouns take the place of nouns when we are writing or talking about something. It would be very tiresome if we had to repeat the same noun over and over again. Just look at how long it takes to express ideas without using pronouns:
A Day at the Park
Sammy went to the park with Sammy’s mother and Sammy’s father. Sammy and Sammy’s mother and Sammy’s father ran on the lawn. Then Sammy’s father pushed Sammy on the swings while Sammy’s mother smiled and watched. Then Sammy’s mother spread out a blanket on the lawn and read a book while Sammy and Sammy’s father played catch with a ball. Sammy threw the ball too hard, and Sammy’s father had to chase after the ball. Sammy did some somersaults, rolling forward on Sammy’s head and kicking Sammy’s feet up over Sammy’s head. Sammy giggled and lay on the grass until Sammy’s dad came back. Sammy, Sammy’s mother, and Sammy’s father ate sandwiches together before Sammy, Sammy’s mother, and Sammy’s father went back home.
Choose the appropriate pronouns from the Word Bank to fill in the blanks and make the story easier to read.
Word Bank:
hisitthem they shehim her
Sammy went to the park with ______mother and ______father.
______ran on the lawn. Then ______father pushed ______
on the swings while ______mother smiled and watched. Then ______
spread out a blanket on the lawn and read a book while Sammy and ______father
played catch with a ball. Sammy threw ______too hard, and ______father had to
chase after ______. Sammy did some somersaults, rolling forward on ______
head and kicking ______feet up over ______head. ______
giggled and lay on the grass until ______dad came back. All three of ______
ate sandwiches together before ______went back home.
PART 2: SUBJECT PRONOUNS
A SUBJECT PRONOUN is as the subject of the sentence in place of of a person’s or thing’s name or description, particularly after the subject has already been introduced.
Person Subject Pronouns – Singular Subject Pronouns - Plural
1st (speaking) I, We
2nd (being spoken to) You, You
3rd (being spoken about) He,She,It, They
One of the most common mistakes made when using subjective pronouns is when using the compound subject you and I. Because youis the same in the subjective and the objective case, people get confused between I and me. The way to check this is to remove the second-person pronoun.
Should you and mego pick up the pizza now? (incorrect) If the sentence read “Should me go pick up the pizza?”, we would know it was wrong. We could also look for the preposition: there isn’t one.
Should you and I go pick up the pizza now? (correct)
Directions: Use a subject pronoun in place of the noun in parentheses.
1. ______(Joe, Scott, and Bob) went hiking on the mountain together.
2. ______(My Aunt Jane) likes to watch scary movies on television.
3. ______(Nick and I) have a favorite restaurant in town.
4. ______(The neighbor’s car) has a very noisy engine.
5. ______(Jenny and Fatima) wore heavy coats to school because of the rain.
6. ______(The little old lady) walks very slowly with a cane.
7. ______(Adam’s grandfather) retired from the U.S. Army four years ago.
8. ______(The blue notebook) contains all the notes from Science class.
9. ______(The pens and pencils) belong in the cup on the counter.
10. ______(Your Uncle Peter) works for a large company in Europe.
11. ______(The Andersons) were our neighbors for seven years.
12. ______(Amanda Sanderson) is the prettiest girl in school.
13. ______(The boy wearing red) scored the most points in the basketball game.
14. ______(The small girl) is the youngest student in the class.
15. ______(Your parents) live in a beautiful home in the country.
16. ______(The green apple) will be ripe in a couple of weeks.
17. ______(The sweet oranges) are on sale at the grocery store today.
18. ______(Sally and Jeff) rode on the fastest roller coaster yesterday.
19. ______(You and I) can carpool together to the meeting.
20. ______(Timothy Johnson) wrote a book about space travel.
21. ______(The city of Tokyo) is the capital city of Japan.
22. ______(Melanie and Susan) got fired because they were late to work.
23. ______(My friend, Susannah) was honored by the principal at the assembly.
24. ______(Your parents and I) got to know each other at the party.
25. ______(Our cousin Kenny) just graduated from high school.
PART 3: Object Pronouns
An object pronoun is used in place of a person or thing that is acted upon, or receives the action of the verb in a sentence.
Directions: Fill in the correct OBJECT PRONOUN for the words in parentheses.
Person Object Pronouns – Singular Object Pronouns - Plural
1st (speaking) Me Us
2nd (being spoken to) You You
3rd (being spoken about) Him/Her/It Them
1. (Joe, Scott, and Bob) The waiter brought out three plates of food for ______.
2. (My Aunt Jane) My brother and I wrote thank you letters to ______.
3. (Nick and I) The science teacher gave a bottle rocket to ______.
4. (The neighbor’s car) The mechanic from the garage went to work on ______.
5. (Jenny and Fatima) My parents bought $25 gift certificates for______.
6. (The little old lady) I carried in the bags of groceries to help ______.
7. (Adam’s grandfather) Adam carefully painted a special portrait of ______.
8. (The blue notebook) Samantha quickly wrote down all her notes in ______.
9. (The pens and pencils) I bought a new zippered pouch at the store for ______.
10. (Your Uncle Peter) Sally expertly danced her tap dance routine for ______.
11. (The Andersons) We got a letter in our mailbox that belongs to ______.
12. (Amanda Sanderson) Andrew went shopping and bought a ring for ______.
13. (The boy wearing red) The soccer goalie kicked the soccer ball to ______.
14. (The small girl) The waitress handed the ice cream cone to ______.
15. (Your parents) You couldn’t wait to show her report card to ______.
16. (The green apple) The kitchen store sells a special tool to cut ______.
17. (The sweet oranges) I learned to make a delicious recipe that uses ______.
18. (Sally and Jeff) Before we go to the movies, I should call ______.
19. (You and I) Peter and Jason will cook dinner tonight for ______.
20. (Timothy Johnson) Sylvia put on an apron and baked cookies for ______.
21. (The city of Tokyo) We looked everywhere on the map for ______.
22. (Melanie and Susan) A package from the book store arrived for ______.
23. (My friend, Susannah) I think she knows the answer, so I will go ask ______.
24. (Your parents and I) All of the neighbors threw a surprise party for ______.
25. (Our cousin Kenny) Aunt Alexia mailed a suitcase to our house for ______.
PART 4: Possessive pronouns
Possessive Pronouns show that something belongs to someone or something.
EXAMPLES:
If the shoes belong to me, they are my shoes. They are mine.
If the car belongs to you, it is your car. It is yours.
If the books belong to her, they are her books. They are hers.
If the pencil belongs to him, it is his pencil. It is his.
If the leaf belongs to the plant, it is its leaf.
If the food belongs to us, it is our food. It is ours.
If the house belongs to them, it is their house. It is theirs.
Directions: Choose the possessive pronouns that best complete each sentence.
1. ______(My/Mine) brother planted a beautiful apricot tree in
______(our/ours) front yard.
2. Anna finished ______(her/hers) homework early, but Julia did
not do ______(her/hers) until later.
3. The little boy who lives next door played with ______(him/his) toys.
4. The furniture belongs to my mother. It is ______(her/hers).
5. ______(Our/Ours) family enjoys spending time together.
6. Jenny’s dad trimmed the branches off the tree. It looked bare without all of
______(it/its) branches.
7. You must remember to clean ______(your/yours) room before
you go to the party.
8. Mr. and Mrs. Rochester bought a plant for ______(their/theirs)
house.
9. The bicycle over there is ______(him/his), but this one right here is
______(my/mine).
10. Angela likes to wear ______(her/hers) hair long, while Peggy
prefers to wear ______(her/hers) short.
PART 5: Interrogative Pronouns
Interrogative pronouns are used in sentences that ask questions.
The interrogative pronouns are:
whowhom what whose which
Add an interrogative pronoun to complete each question sentence.
1. ______one of the books is your favorite?
2. To ______should I address the letter?
3. ______shoes are sitting outside the front door?
4. ______would you like to do tomorrow?
5. ______house should we go to on Saturday to watch the game?
6. To ______was the package sent?
7. ______is the new student in the band?
8. ______is the title of the poem that you liked?
9. ______is going to be the guest speaker for the assembly?
10. ______homework was turned in without a name written on it?
11. ______is your dog’s name?
12. ______car is yours?
13. ______birthday is in the month of December?
14. To ______was the angry phone call made?
15. ______is in the tropical punch in the punch bowl?
16. ______is the new principal of the elementary school?
17. ______one of the sandwiches is made with ham?
18. ______did we see at the movies last week?