The pronoun it can refer to just about anything: a bike, a tree, a movie, a feeling. An antecedent is a noun or noun phrase that you mention at the beginning of a sentence or story and later replace with a pronoun.
In the examples below, the antecedent is highlighted and the pronoun that replaces it is bolded. My family drives me nuts, but I love them. The sign was too far away for Henry to read it. Sarah said she is almost finished with the application. I love them , but my family drives me nuts. Relative pronouns make up another class of pronouns. They are used to connect relative clauses to independent clauses. Often, they introduce additional information about something mentioned in the sentence.
Relative pronouns include that , what , which , who , and whom. Traditionally, who refers to people, and which and that refer to animals or things. All the dogs that got adopted today will be loved. My car, which is nearly twenty years old, still runs well. Whether you need commas with who, which, and that depends on whether the clause is restrictive or nonrestrictive. Who is a subject pronoun, like I, he, she, we, and they. Whom is an object pronoun, like me, him, her, us and them.
When the pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition, the object form is the one you want. Please mail it to I. Please mail it to me. Higgins caught they passing notes. Higgins caught them passing notes. Is this cake for we? Is this cake for us? Whom is trickier, though, because it usually comes before the verb or preposition that modifies it.
Whom did you speak to earlier? A man, whom I have never seen before, was asking about you. Whom should I say is calling? One way to test whether you need who or whom is to try substituting a personal pronoun. Find the place where the personal pronoun would normally go and see whether the subject or object form makes more sense. If the object pronoun him or her sounds right, use whom.
If the subject pronoun he or she sounds right, use who. Can you spot the problem in the sentences below? Henry is meeting Sarah and I this afternoon. There are no secrets between you and I. Top Pages A-Z glossary punctuation A-Z confused words common mistakes ordered by seriousness Top Tip Get a grammar checker for your browser vocabulary for learners tests and games awkward plurals sayings and proverbs tattoo fails our Twitter page our YouTube channel. Types of Pronoun Our Story Search Got it?
Take a quick test. Try our drag and drop test. Ready for the Test? Here is a confirmatory test for this lesson. This test can also be: Edited i. Printed to create a handout. In the following sentences, determine if this , that , these , or those should be used. Indefinite pronouns, the largest group of pronouns, refer to one or more unspecified persons or things, for example: Anyone can do that.
Please note that all of these pronouns are singular. The table below shows the most common indefinite pronouns:. Note: Sometimes third-person personal pronouns are sometimes used without antecedents—this applies to special uses such as dummy pronouns and generic they , as well as cases where the referent is implied by the context.
Identify the indefinite pronouns in the following sentences. Is the best indefinite used, or is there another indefinite that would fit better? In Early Modern English, you was used as either a plural, second-person pronoun or as a polite form for the more common, singular thee. However, you eventually overtook almost all of the second-person pronouns, both singular and plural. Additionally, many individuals neither identify as male nor female, and they have begun to use they as a singular pronoun to refer to themselves.
In these cases, it is grammatically correct to use they as a singular pronoun per the Chicago Manual of Style , one of the predominant authorities on grammar and style. There are five relative pronouns in English: who , whom , whose , that , and which.
These pronouns are used to connect different clauses together. For example:. Two of the biggest confusions with these pronouns are that vs. The two following videos help with these:. Does the following paragraph use relative pronouns correctly?
Explain why or why not for each relative pronoun. Katerina, whom had taken biology once already, was still struggling to keep the steps of cellular respiration straight. She knew the process took place in animals, which take in oxygen and put out carbon dioxide.
She also knew that plants underwent the process of photosynthesis. However, the individual steps of the process seemed beyond her understanding. Whom is incorrect; the object case is not needed here. Which is appropriate to use with the noun animals , and the clause is set off with commas. That is used correctly. It connects knew with what she knew. Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Grammar: Nouns and Pronouns. Search for:.
Pronoun Cases and Types A pronoun stands in the place of a noun. Trini does her hair and make up every day—with no exceptions. So, what are the antecedents and pronouns in these sentences? Jason is the antecedent for the pronoun him. Trini is the antecedent for the pronoun her.
Practice Identify the antecedents and pronouns in the following examples: Itzel and Camila were the top ranking doubles team at OSU. People asked Jorge to review their papers so often that he started a small editing business. Henry called his parents every week. Show Answer Itzel and Camila is the antecedent for the pronoun They. People is the antecedent for their , and Jorge is the antecedent for he.
Henry is the antecedent for his. Why do you think this is? When would you use one or the other? Practice Read at the following sentences.
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