Pronouns
Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. Use pronouns to avoid repeating nouns unnecessarily.
Example #1
Frank read about Emily Dickinson and Emily Dickinson’s poetry.
Correction
Frank read about Emily Dickinson and her poetry.
Example #2
Frank read the book for Frank’s report.
Correction
He read it for his report.
Personal Pronouns
The pronouns replacing nouns in the examples above are called personal pronouns. The chart below lists the personal pronouns.
List Of Personal Pronouns
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| First Person (the speaker) | I, me, my, mine | we, us, our, ours |
| Second Person (person spoken to) | you, your, yours | you, your, yours |
| Third Person (person or thing spoken about) | she, her, hers, him, his, it, its | they, them their, theirs |
Summary
A pronoun takes the place of a noun or nouns. Use pronouns in your writing to avoid unnecessary repetition of nouns.
Practice
A. Write each personal pronoun. Then write its person and number.
- Jay said he used comparisons to express happiness in a poem. _____________________________________________________________________________
- Tiffany and Bella, you will select poems about the seasons. _____________________________________________________________________________
- This ballad was written by us, Alfredo and Rita Ortega. _____________________________________________________________________________
- The Wongs wrote this poem, and they added a refrain. _____________________________________________________________________________
- When Nina reads poetry, her foot taps to the rhythm. _____________________________________________________________________________
- Clarita, are the three story poems yours? _____________________________________________________________________________
- “Yes, the poems are mine,” said Clarita. _____________________________________________________________________________
- “No, the poems are ours!” exclaimed Tommy and Mickey. _____________________________________________________________________________
- The students agreed that their favourite poems are limericks. _____________________________________________________________________________
- Ichino illustrated the poem that Yoko had sent him. _____________________________________________________________________________
B. Choose from these pronouns to complete the paragraph about Carl Sandburg.
| him | they | his | their | he |
11. Carl Sandburg drew upon ——– experiences as a labourer and journalist. 12. ———- was born in Illinois in 1878. 13. Walt Whitman, another major American poet, influenced ——–. 14. Like Whitman, Sandburg wrote poems about ordinary people and ——— lives. 15. Later ——- were published in volumes such as The People, Yes.
C. Use pronouns in place of repetitive nouns.
- Poetry can best be appreciated when poetry is read aloud. _____________________________________________________________________________
- A poem can express strong feelings, or a poem can tell a story. _____________________________________________________________________________
- Children are natural poets because children can express ideas easily in verse form. _____________________________________________________________________________
- Although Sandburg and Sandburg’s great ideal, Whitman, did not use rhyme, many poets do. _____________________________________________________________________________
- Most poets use strong rhythm in poets’ poem. _____________________________________________________________________________