Parts of speech

1. Parts of Speech I
Nouns and Pronouns
Created by
shawkyallam@yahoo.com
•Shawky’s library

2. Topics
 Nouns
 Pronouns
• Personal
• Possessive
• Demonstrative
• Relative

3. Nouns
Persons: Jack, man, lawyer
Places: hospital, prison, field
Things: table, briefcase, sheet
Concepts: joy, emergency, satisfaction
Nouns name things:

4. Pronouns
Personal
Possessive
Demonstrative
Relative
Pronouns act as nouns and often replace them,
e.g., She replacing Jessica or It replacing table.
There are several types of pronouns. In this
section, we will focus on the following types:

5. Personal Pronouns
There are two types of personal pronouns:
Subjective Pronouns
Subjects
Objective Pronouns
Objects receive the action in the sentence.
perform the action in the sentence.

6. Subjective Pronouns Objective Pronouns
I
You
He / She / It
We
You
They
Me
You
Him / Her / It
Us
You
Them

7. Examples of Subjective and Objective Pronouns
 She took her to the doctor
 I called him last night.
 We beat them at chess
 They teach me good things.
The subjects perform the actions of the verbs
(took, called, beat, teach).
The objects receive the actions of the verbs.

8. Try this exercise
(She/Her) should show more patience and not
scold (he/him).
(We/Us) teachers understand our students more
than (they/them) do.
(I/Me) swim faster than (she/her).

9. Answers
She, the subject, is performing the action show, and
him, the object, is receiving the action scold.
 We teachers understand them more than they
themselves do.
We is the subject, performing the action understand;
them is the object receiving the action understand;
they is another subject performing the action do.
 She should show more patience and not scold him.

10. Answers
 I swim faster than she.
I is the subject because it performs the action swim.
But she is also a subject. Following she is an
invisible or implied swim, ie. I swim faster than she
swims, not I swim faster than her swims.

11. Possessive pronouns
Pronouns that are in the possessive case
indicate possession or ownership.
 This is my book
My is used with a noun (book) to indicate
possession.
 This is mine
Mine is used instead of my + a noun (book) and
still indicates possession.

12. Types of Possessive Pronouns
My
Your
His / Her / Its
Our
Your
Their
Mine
Yours
His / Hers / Its
Ours
Yours
Theirs

13. Try this exercise
 This dress does not match the color of (her/hers)
eyes.
 I don’t believe that this book is (your/yours).

14. Answers
 This dress does not match the color of your eyes.
The pronoun your needs to be followed by a noun
(eyes). The pronoun yours cannot be followed by a
noun. So, yours eyes would be wrong.
 I don’t believe that this book is yours.
Again, the pronoun your needs to be followed by a
noun, but there is none: This book is your…?

15. Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns point to nouns, which
follow the pronouns. Sometimes, the
demonstrative pronouns replace nouns.
Examples:
This This is not what I expected.
I’ve never heard you sing that before.
These shoes are too tight to wear.
That
These
Those I’ll take these and those dresses.

16. Relative Pronouns
Some relative pronouns refer to nouns previously
mentioned in the sentence. Others introduce
noun clauses (clauses that function as nouns).
Examples of the first and second type:
That
Which
Who
whom
What
Whichever
Whoever
Whomever

17. That
 Dogs that are adorable have expressive eyes.
That refers to the noun before it, dogs. Note: That is
also a demonstrative pronoun. The demonstrative
pronoun that comes before the noun. E.g That dog bit
you. The relative pronoun that comes after the noun:
the dog that bit you...

18. Which
 Dogs, which are all adorable, have expressive
eyes.
Which also refers to the noun before it, dogs. Many
students confuse which with that, often assuming
they have the same functions. To learn the difference
between the relative pronouns which and that, go to
the PowerPoint presentation on Phrases and Clauses.
Right now, let’s just get familiar with the various types
of pronouns.

19. Who and Whom
Who refers to the noun before it, man. Note: The man
is the subject performing the action stole. So, who
refers to the subject.
 Here is the person whom I spoke to you about.
 I saw the man who stole my car.
Whom refers to the noun before it, person. Note: The
person is the object receiving the action spoke about.
So, whom refers to the object.

20. What(ever), and Whichever
 What you do with your life is your business.
What (or whatever) introduces the noun clause what
you do with your life. Again, noun clauses function as
one-word nouns, such as law: law is your business.
 Whichever dress you choose will look good.
Whichever also introduces a noun clause whichever
dress you choose. Replace the clause with a single
noun, e.g., the dress will look good.

21. Whoever and Whomever
 Whoever is appointed is bound to mess things
up.
Whoever introduces the noun clause whoever is
appointed. Here’s a one-word noun, Jack. Jack is
bound to mess things up.
 I dislike whomever she likes.
Whomever introduces the noun clause whomever she
likes. Replace this with the noun, Jack: I dislike Jack.

22. Try this exercise:
Identify the demonstrative and relative pronouns
in the following passage:
Tom couldn’t believe it! His sister had lost the CD that
he had lent to her. That girl was irresponsible. He
should have known: She was the same person who
had ruined his favorite T-shirt – the one that he wore
for good luck. He should have lent his CD to James, a
friend whom he always trusted. He was more
responsible than that sibling of his. Whatever she did
to make up for it would not get him to forgive her.

23. Answers
The relative pronouns are in green. The
demonstrative pronouns are in blue.
Tom couldn’t believe it! His sister had lost the CD that
he had lent to her. That girl was irresponsible. He
should have known: She was the same person who
had ruined his favorite T-shirt – the one that he wore
for good luck. He should have lent his CD to James, a
friend whom he always trusted. He was more
responsible than that sibling of his. Whatever she did
to make up for it would not get him to forgive her.

24. You have completed the first part of
Parts of Speech.
You can now move on to:
Parts of Speech II
Well done!

25. Concepts borrowed from:
arrayyanshawky@yahoogroups