Other Pronoun Recognition Practice

Besides personal pronouns there are other pronouns you should be able to recognize and use correctly. They are:

Possessive: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs.
Demonstrative: this, that, these, those (without noun following...if there is a noun following, these words are adjectives)

Examples:
This is mine. ("this" and "mine" are pronouns)
This book is my book. ("This" and "my" are adjectives)

Relative: who, whom, whose (these introduce a dependent clause)

Example:
John is the boy who will be coming to the classroom today.

Interrogative: who, what, which, whom (these introduce a question without a noun following...if there is a noun following, these words are adjectives)

Example:
Which is yours? ("Which" and "yours" are pronouns)
Which book is your book? ("Which" and "your" are adjectives)

Indefinite: refers to things or people who are not identified. Examples - someone, something, each, no one, many etc. (These must be used alone to be a pronoun. If there is a noun following, the word becomes an adjective).

Examples:
Each will bring a lunch. ("Each" is a pronoun)
Each boy will bring a lunch. ("Each" is an adjective)

Reflexive or Intensive Pronoun: ends with -self or -selves. For example: myself, himself, themselves, herself, yourself, itself, etc.

Reflexive: Antecedent is the subject of the sentence and it CANNOT be left out of sentence.

Example:
Burton knows himself very well.

Intensive: Used to emphasize its antecedent. It may or may not have the subject as its antecedent. IT CAN USUALLY BE LEFT OUT without destroying the meaning of the sentence.

Example:
Sid himself hung the picture on the wall.

Exercise Directions: Find the above pronouns in the following sentences and write them down. Be careful! Some of the above words have been used as adjectives, no pronouns, so watch for those nouns behind the word. There are only two sentences in the ten that do not have pronouns. You can also write down the personal pronouns as a review.

Example:
This picture belongs to my mother and father. NONE (Note the noun behind this. It is NOT a pronoun then...it is an adjective. There are NO PRONOUNS here. (Even "my" is an adjective since it comes before mother and father. It is not a pronoun.

1. The boy himself did the work.
2. Some of the students hung the decorations for the dance.
3. Who is the student who won the prize? (2 in this sentence)
4. Which book is your book? (be careful!)
5. That is mine.
6. To whom did he give tickets?
7. Do the work on the list today, Joe, and check each off as you do it.
8. Each girl will do her job.
9. Someone is irresponsible for not helping us today.
10. Choose for yourself a new topic for your report in social studies.