Nouns!

Nouns are one of the eight parts of speech

A noun can be a person, place, or thing

A noun can also be the subject of a clause, whether independent or dependent

A noun can also be the object of a verb in a clause

Pronouns!

Nouns only change form when in the possessive case (which we will discuss in a few minutes)...

Bethany's eyes

Alice's fur coat

A pronoun is a word that substitutes for a noun.

Pronouns have three cases: subject, object, and possessive.

Pronouns!

What is case? Case is the form a noun or pronoun takes to indicate its function in a sentence

Three cases above

Pronoun chart

Subject Case!

Pronouns take on the subject case in the following situations:

As a subject of a verb: She bought a new water bottle.

As a subject complement: It was she who took me to Long Beach Island.

Object Case!

Pronouns take on the object case in the following situations:

As a direct object (nouns affected by subject/verb): Our department head told Alexis and me to come to the meeting.

As an indirect object (tells you who the action is happening to): The tuition bill surprised him.

Possessive Case!

Possessive case indicates ownership of something: your car, your book, our wedding

Bethany's advisor approved her trip to our campus.

Time Out!

Pause.

Take a breath!

Questions?!

Who v Whom

In general, use who when talking about a person as a subject.

Who donated the books?

In general, use whom when a pronoun functions as an object.

I wonder whom jazz musician Miles Davis influenced (whom=object...Miles Davis is subject...influenced is the verb).

We v Us

Use we if the pronoun is a subject.

We women must stick together.

Use us if the pronoun must be in object case.

Teachers make learning easy for us students.

Which v That!

That usually refers to an object, not a person. Use who if referring to a person.

Arthur Miller, who wrote The Crucible, also wrote All My Sons.

Also, use that when using a restrictive clause that would change the meaning of the sentence without it.

Books that big can't fit into my bag.

The librarians at Monmouth that have hybrid cars get better gas mileage.

Time Out!

Pause.

Take a breath!

Questions?!

Finally...

Grammar checkers have a hard time with pronoun usage because they can't infer what words, if any, are being referred to in the sentence.

Make sure pronoun references are clear.

After Rooney intercepted the ball, he passed it as hard as he could towards the net. (he and it refer to Rooney and ball)

Group Work

In your groups, write three sentences about the recent hurricane that use pronouns in the subject case.

Write two sentences about the recent earthquake that use pronouns in the object case.

Write a sentence about the new semester using that/which correctly.

Write a sentence about your favorite sports team using we/us correctly.