Name: ___________________ Date:_____________
Period:______
Pronouns Packet I
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. They help avoid repetition. In the second
sentence below, the pronoun he refers to Richard. The pronoun it refers to station. The
word a pronoun refers to is called its antecedent.
Example:
Richard is the antecedent of he. Station is the antecedent of it.
Richard is going to make a weather station.
He is going to put it in his garden.
*Personal pronouns change form depending on person - who is speaking, being spoken to, or
being spoken about.
*They also change form depending on number - whether they refer to a singular or plural
antecedent.
*Third person singular pronouns also change form to reflect gender - whether the
antecedent is feminine (she, her, hers), masculine (he, his, him), or neuter (it, its).
Underline each pronoun. Write first, second, or third to identify the person of each
underlined pronoun.
1. Did she call back yet?
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2. You may enter now.
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3. They will arrive at 6:00pm.
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4. Please meet me by the school.
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5. They asked us for help.
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6. I found the weak battery and replaced it
myself.
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7. Here is a postcard from Egypt for you and me.
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8. Did you see them beat the Bears?
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9. We bought them gifts.
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10. Is that his paper?
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Underline each singular pronoun once and each plural pronoun twice.
11. Simon and Sheryl, can you please help me wash the pets in order to get
them finished by noon?
12. They owe us $20 for the tickets.
13. He told me the game was on Thursday.
14. We can drive him to school on Monday for you, Pam.
15. I found the missing homework assignment and gave it to her.
16. We helped ourselves to the buffet.
17. Class, would you please open your books to page 10?
18. He had to do his math homework before playing soccer with us.
19. The boys decided they would visit Peru.
20. He washed the mats thoroughly and put them out in the sun to dry.
Writing Practice: The paragraph below sounds pretty strange. It needs some pronouns to
stand in for the nouns once in a while. Rewrite the paragraph using pronouns from the box
below. You may use the pronouns more than once.
I
he
she
we
they me
him
her
his
us
them
it
you
Brian walked into the room with no intention of doing any mischief until Brain saw Brian’s
grandmother’s false teeth in a glass on the lamp stand next to Grandma’s bed. Brian approached
the false teeth with a smile on his face. What a find! Brian knew exactly what Brain would do.
Brain sneaked down to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Brian saw trays of cheese
snacks, and Brain knew who the snacks were for – Brian’s mother’s bridge club friends who came
to play cards every Thursday. Brain slipped the teeth out of Brian’s pocket and stuffed them
into the bacon-onion dip. Then Brian closed the door and went upstairs. That night far from
below in the dining room, Brian heard screams from his mother’s guests drift up to Brian in
sharp, pleasant waves.
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More writing practice: Read the sentences below. Then rewrite them using personal pronouns
from the list below.
I
he
she
we
they me
him
her
us
them you
it
21. When I turned on the lie detector, the detector told me the detector had a headache.
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22. If the doctor ever shows up, ask the doctor if the doctor will deliver the bad news.
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23. “I can’t believe you ate 39 kumquats,” said Tom to Tom’s brother.
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24. Gertrude threw the banana cream pie at the judge, but Gertrude later apologized.
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25. Alvin asked Tim to loan Alvin Tim’s skateboard, but Tim said, “Buy your own!”
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Underline each pronoun. Write male, female, or neuter to identify the gender of the
pronoun.
26. Please take it back to the vet.
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27. Billy wanted two dogs, so he saved money.
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28. Molly lent her new jacket to Krissy.
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29. His favorite sport is basketball.
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30. I will return it after break.
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31. Susan spent her allowance on iTunes.
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The noun to which a pronoun refers is its antecedent. The pronoun must agree in person and
number with the noun it replaces. In the sentences below, the pronoun they refers to the
noun antecedent tornadoes. Since the antecedent tornadoes is third person and plural, the
pronoun must also be third person and plural. Therefore, they is the correct pronoun.
Can tornadoes occur in January?
Yes, they can, but most occur in April, May, and June.
A third person singular pronoun must also agree with its antecedent in gender. In the
sentences below, the pronoun it refers to Tornado Alley. Because the antecedent Tornado
Alley is a place, you need to use a pronoun that is third person singular and neuter.
Therefore, it is the correct choice.
Tornado Alley includes 10 states in the United States.
It is where most of the country's tornadoes occur. Circle the antecedent of each underlined pronoun.
32. My husband and I vacationed in Mexico, and we loved it.
33. Joyce swears she makes the best pies.
34. Please gather up all the presents and put them under the tree.
35. The ball rolled onto the other court and it caused the game to stop.
36. The team won on a last second shot, and they were so excited.
37. Justin performed and he was awesome!
Intensive pronouns and reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves. These pronouns must
always have antecedents. They agree with their antecedents in person, number, and
gender.
An intensive pronoun is used to emphasize a preceding noun or pronoun. In the sentence
below, myself emphasizes its antecedent, the pronoun I.
I myself have read many stories about survival.
A reflexive pronoun is usually the object of a verb or a preposition. It generally refers to
the subject of the sentence. In the sentence below, himself is used as an indirect object.
Its antecedent is Len, the subject of the sentence.
Len bought himself a survival book at the bookstore. Underline each intensive pronoun and circle each reflexive pronoun.
38. I myself have already finished both projects for this quarter.
39. He will hurt himself playing that roughly.
40. Many people wanted the artifacts for themselves.
41. The player himself scored 30 points.
42. Darren himself did not know where the gifts were hidden.
43. Kara treated herself to a short nap after a long day.
44. The dog made itself dizzy by chasing its own tail.
45. Samantha herself made all the decorations for the dance.
A subject pronoun is used as the subject of a sentence or as a subject complement.
The subject pronouns are: I, we, you, he, she, it, they.
Remember: a subject complement follows a linking verb (such as the verb be) and
renames the subject. In the sentence below, I is part of the compound subject
complement, Jake and I.
The students who got lost were Jake and I
A frequent error is not using the subject form when the pronoun is part of a compound
subject or subject complement. How would you correct these sentences?
Harvey and me are looking forward to the class trip.
The students making all the noise were Janey and her.
You would need to change me to I in the first sentence. The pronoun is part of a
compound subject. You would need to change her to she in the second sentence. The
pronoun is part of a compound subject complement.
Underline each pronoun. Write whether the pronoun is a subject or a subject complement.
46. We love to go on hikes every Sunday.
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47. Every year they take a trip to Europe.
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48. The most valuable player was I.
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49. Our guide around the park was she.
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50. They traveled to Greece this summer.
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51. The coach I prefer is he.
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52. Last winter we had three feet of snow.
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Writing Practice: You are in a filmmaking class at the community center and need ideas for a
project. The theme of the project is science fiction movie spoofs (fakes). Write a plot
summary for a short movie. Explain the plot of the movie, and describe the characters. Be sure
that the pronouns you use refer clearly to their antecedents. Also, be sure you are using
pronouns properly and using good mechanics while writing.
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