This is one of three presentations on pronouns.

1. PERSONAL PRONOUNS
H E C A N TA K E M Y P L A C E .
B Y R O N A L D S P E E N E R

2. OBJECTIVES
•Understand what a pronoun is
•Identify types of pronouns
•Explain person, number, case
and gender
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3. OBJECTIVES
•Identify pronoun reference
•Identify pronoun agreement
•Identify pronoun shift
•Use pronouns correctly
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4. DEFINITION
A pronoun takes the place of a
noun.
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Jack went to the store; bought
an apple
Jackhe

5. TYPES OF PRONOUNS
• Personal – I, you
he
• Relative – who,
whom, that, which
• Indefinite – each,
one, anyone
• Reflexive – myself,
himself
• Intensive – himself,
themselves
• Interrogative – who,
whom, what, which
• Reciprocal – one
another, each other
• Demonstrative –
this, these, that,
those
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6. GENERAL PRONOUN RULE 1
• Pronouns must use the case of how they
function in the sentence.
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Jack was tired when he got home. So Mary and
the children took him out to her favorite
restaurant. They had tacos.

7. GENERAL PRONOUN RULE 2
• Pronouns must match (agree) with what they
take the place of (antecedent) in person,
number and gender.
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Jack was tired when he got home. So Mary and
the children took him out to her favorite
restaurant. They had tacos.

8. PERSONAL PRONOUNS
• Personal pronouns are the most
commonly used pronouns.
• These pronouns are used to replace a
specific noun.
–Jack went to the store. He bought a gallon
of milk.
• Personal pronouns have the most forms
of any pronoun.
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9. CLASSIFICATIONS
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I Me My/Mine
We Us Our/Ours
Thou Thee Thy/Thine
Ye You Your/Yours
Singular Masc. He Him His
Fem. She Her Hers
Neuter It It Its
They Them Their/Theirs
Possessive
Case
Plural
Number Subjective Objective
Singular
Gender
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st
2nd
Person
3rd
Pronouns are classified by person, number, case, and gender.
I Me My/Mine
We Us Our/Ours
Thou Thee Thy/Thine
Ye You Your/Yours
Singular Masc. He Him His
Fem. She Her Hers
Neuter It It Its
They Them Their/Theirs
Possessive
Case
Plural
Number Subjective Objective
Singular
Gender
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st
2nd
Person
3rd
I Me My/Mine
We Us Our/Ours
Thou Thee Thy/Thine
Ye You Your/Yours
Singular Masc. He Him His
Fem. She Her Hers
Neuter It It Its
They Them Their/Theirs
Possessive
Case
Plural
Number Subjective Objective
Singular
Gender
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st
2nd
Person
3rd
I Me My/Mine
We Us Our/Ours
Thou Thee Thy/Thine
Ye You Your/Yours
Singular Masc. He Him His
Fem. She Her Hers
Neuter It It Its
They Them Their/Theirs
Possessive
Case
Plural
Number Subjective Objective
Singular
Gender
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st
2nd
Person
3rd
I Me My/Mine
We Us Our/Ours
Thou Thee Thy/Thine
Ye You Your/Yours
Singular Masc. He Him His
Fem. She Her Hers
Neuter It It Its
They Them Their/Theirs
Plural
1st
2nd
Person
3rd
Possessive
Case
Plural
Number Subjective Objective
Singular
Gender
Plural
Singular

10. PERSON
1st Person I Speaker talking
about him or herself
2nd Person You Speaker talking to
someone
3rd Person He Speaker talking
about someone or
something
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Person shows the relationship of the
pronoun to the speaker or writer.

11. PERSON — FORMS OF PERSONAL
PRONOUNS
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I Me My/Mine
We Us Our/Ours
Thou Thee Thy/Thine
You You Your/Yours
Masc. He Him His
Fem. She Her Hers
Neuter It It Its
They Them Their/Theirs
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st
2nd
Person
3rd
Possessive
Case
Plural
Number Subjective Objective
Gender
Singular
Singular

12. PRONOUN REFERENCE--
UNCLEAR
• A pronoun needs
to refer clearly to
its antecedent.
Mary and Gretchen
wanted to wear her
new dress to the
party.
Who is wearing the
dress?
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13. PRONOUN REFERENCE--FUZZY
• Avoid fuzzy pronouns
with no antecedent or
vague antecedent.
It was a sunny day.
What does the it refer to
Better—the day was
sunny
They say that life begins at
forty.
Who is they?
Better—People over forty
say that life begins at forty.
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14. PRONOUN REFERENCE —AND
• Antecedents that
are joined by and
are plural
1. Tim and Jackie
went to the
store; they
bought milk.
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15. PRONOUN REFERENCE —OR
• When an
antecedent is
joined by or or nor,
the pronoun is
either singular or
plural based on
closest antecedent
to the pronoun
1. Either the books
or the movie
needs to be
returned to the
library, or it will
be over due.
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16. PRONOUN REFERENCE —
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
• Collective nouns
are considered
singular
• Pronouns
referring to them
are considered
singular
1. The team
finished the
season zero
and ten. It was
a
disappointment
to its fans.
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17. PRONOUN SHIFT
I N C O N S I S TA N C E
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18. PRONOUN SHIFT DEFINITION
• Inconstancy in person, number or
gender between the pronoun and the
antecedent
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19. PERSON SHIFT
• Person must be used consistently. Change
person only when required.
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The student must study daily. You should set
aside specific times.
The student must study daily. He or she
should set aside specific times.
2nd3rd
3rd 3rd

20. PERSON EXERCISE
You need to wash your hands
frequently if one wants to reduce
the risk of colds and flu.
Dante, who wrote the Divine Comedy,
is considered one of the great
writers of the world.
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21. NUMBER
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Number shows if the pronoun takes the
place to one thing or more than one thing.
Pronouns are either singular or plural.

22. NUMBER — FORMS OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS
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I Me My/Mine
We Us Our/Ours
Thou Thee Thy/Thine
Ye You Your/Yours
Masc. He Him His
Fem. She Her Hers
Neuter It It Its
They Them Their/Theirs
Person
3rd
Possessive
Case
Plural
Number Subjective Objective
Gender
Singular
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st
2nd

23. NUMBER SHIFT
• Pronouns must be consistent in
number with what they refer to
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The book for the class is on my desk. They are difficult
to read.
Each student must work hard. They are expected to
write 6000 words each.

24. NUMBER EXERCISE
The Supreme Court ruled on
prayer in school. They said it
could not be required.
The sheep were in the meadow
grazing when it was attacked
by a wolf.
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25. GENDER
• Gender is used to indicate the sex of
what the pronoun refers to.
• Gender has three sexes: masculine,
feminine and neuter.
• Gender is only used in the third person
singular personal pronouns—he, she it.
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26. GENDER — FORMS PERSONAL PRONOUNS
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I Me My/Mine
We Us Our/Ours
Thou Thee Thy/Thine
Ye You Your/Yours
Masc. He Him His
Fem. She Her Hers
Neuter It It Its
They Them Their/Theirs
Person
3rd
Possessive
Case
Plural
Number Subjective Objective
Gender
Singular
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st
2nd

27. GENDER AGREEMENT
• Pronouns must be consistent in gender with
what they refer to
– The book for the class is on my desk. She is
difficult to read.
• English uses only masculine and feminine
gender for people and animals that have true
sex characteristics
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28. GENDER EXCEPTIONS
• Boats and cars are sometimes referred to as she
• Very young children are occasionally referred to
as it
• Is it a boy or a girl?
• Animals are neuter unless it has a clear gender
• The dog was big. It was ferocious too.
• My dog Betty is a sweetie. She brings me the paper every
day.
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29. GENDER WORDS
SOME WORDS IN ENGLISH REFER TO A SPECIFIC
GENDER AND MUST USE THE APPROPRIATE GENDER
PRONOUN.
• Bull/Cow
• Gander/Goose
• Rooster/Hen
• Stallion/Mare
• Drake/Duck
• Ram/Ewe
• The hen stopped
laying eggs, so
she is soup now.
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30. GENDER WORDS
• Policeman  police officer
• Fireman  firefighter
• Waitress  server
• Chairman  chairperson
• Mailman  letter carrier
• Stewardess  flight attendant
• Secretary  administrative assistant
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Some nouns in English have been changed to avoid
gender bias.

31. GENDER BIAS
• Traditionally he/him/his could be either
masculine or both masculine and feminine
• American society today sees the use of
the generic masculine forms as potentially
confusing.
• It is too easy to think masculine when both
genders apply.
• This could lead to gender bias.
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32. GENDER BIAS — THE PROBLEM
• Our language has no
personal pronoun
besides it which is
gender neutral.
• Few would like to be
referred to as it.
– It took the money to the
bank for deposit.
• Our language is being
challenged and
changed,
– 150 years ago the
singular forms of you
fell from common
usage.
• Avoid use of
masculine pronouns
when the antecedent
can be either male
or female.
– A student should
study daily if he
wants to be
successful.
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33. GENDER BIAS – SOLUTION 1
• Replace with he or
she
– A student should
study daily if he or
she wants to be
successful.
• S/he He/she is not
acceptable in
formal writing
• Avoid awkward
repetitions
– The student
should have his or
her textbook with
him or her in
class.
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34. GENDER BIAS – SOLUTION 2
• Use an indefinite pronoun
–A student should study daily if one wants
to be successful.
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35. GENDER BIAS – SOLUTION 3
• Change nouns to plural
–Students should study daily if they want to
be successful.
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36. GENDER BIAS – SOLUTION 4
• Remove pronouns
–The student should have his or her
textbook with him or her in class.
–The student should have the textbook in
class.
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37. GENDER BIAS – GRAMMAR ERROR
• Do not mix singulars with plurals
–A student should study daily if they want to
be successful.
–Each of the students should study daily if
they want to be successful.
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38. GENDER EXERCISE
He or she should write an
introduction if he or she want to
successfully complete his or
her assignment.
The actor performed her role well.
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39. SUMMARY
• Pronouns must agree with their
antecedent in gender, number and
person
• Pronouns must match the case of how
they function in the sentence
• Watch for gender bias
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