Pronouns and Antecedents

Pronouns and Antecedents

By Obie Ellmoos

• A pronoun takes the place of one or more nouns in a sentence.

• A personal pronoun refers to a person or thing

• Personal pronouns include I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, and them

• An antecedent is what a pronoun refers to.​

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Pronouns & Antecedents

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Fill in the Blank

Read the following sentence and identify the pronoun. Type the pronoun in the answer space. Spelling counts.

Julie likes banana pudding because it is so delicious.

Fill in the Blank

Read the following sentences and identify the pronoun. Type the pronoun in the answer space. Spelling counts.

Sally has a pet goldfish. She would like to get another one someday.

Fill in the Blank

Read the following sentences and identify the pronoun. Type the pronoun in the answer space. Spelling counts.

Randy and Luke are best friends. Every day after school they play basketball together.

Fill in the Blank

Read the following sentence. Replace the underlined words with the correct pronoun. Write the pronoun in the answer space. Spelling counts.

Ben and Ally went camping up North.

Fill in the Blank

Read the following sentence. Replace the underlined words with the correct pronoun. Write the pronoun in the answer space. Spelling counts.

I went to visit Cameron and Avery in Florida.

Fill in the Blank

Read the following sentences. Replace the underlined words with the correct pronoun. Write the pronoun in the answer space. Spelling counts.

Trevor wrote a report on the history of the Green Bay Packers. Trevor was proud of the report.

Fill in the Blank

Read the following sentence. Replace the underlined words with the correct pronoun. Write the pronoun in the answer space. Spelling counts.

Cooper, Allyson, and I went fishing on the Wolf River.

Fill in the Blank

The antecedent is underlined in each sentence. Fill in the blank with the correct pronoun to match the antecedent.

Because Tyler and Emily like to travel, _________________ are planning a vacation to Germany.

Fill in the Blank

The antecedent is underlined in each sentence. Fill in the blank with the correct pronoun to match the antecedent.

Here is a new diamond ring and __________________ is a beauty.

• Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number.

  • Put the bat and the ball in the bag. Put them in the bag​

• Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in gender.​

  • Gamme bakes pies. She bakes pies.​

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Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

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Multiple Choice

What is a pronoun?

• A literary device.
• A word or that is used to take the place of one or more nouns.
• An action word.

Multiple Choice

What is an antecedent?

• A Person, Place, Thing, or Idea
• An Action Word
• A word that describes nouns
• The word the pronoun is replacing

Multiple Choice

Choose the word that is not a pronoun.

• is

• me

• he

• they

Multiple Choice

Emma and Priscilla made a 100 on their tests.
What is the antecedent for their?

• tests
• Emma
• Emma and Priscilla
• Priscilla

Multiple Choice

The boy and the girl were playing in the mud, causing both to stain their shirts.

What is the antecedent for their?

• Boy, girl

• playing, causing

• mud, stain

• shirts

Multiple Choice

What is the antecedent of the pronoun it?

Ivan left some music at the office. It was on a CD.

• Jinx

• music

• It

• CD

Multiple Choice

Xavier secretly admitted to his classmates that Mrs. Walker was his favorite teacher.

What is the antecedent for his?

• classmates
• Mrs. Walker
• teacher
• Xavier

Multiple Choice

What is the antecedent of the pronoun "her"?
My mother ate her salad.

• My
• Mother
• ate
• salad

• Avoid using pronouns that refer to either of two antecedents.

  • My mum called my aunt when she got home.​

• Avoid referring to a hidden antecedent.

  • The candy bowl is empty, but I'm done eating it anyway.​

• To fix a vague pronoun reference, rephrase or replace it with a noun.

  • The candy bowl is empty, but I'm tired of eating candy anyway.​

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Vague Pronoun References

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Multiple Choice

What is a pronoun?

• figurative language

• words that replace nouns in a sentence

• words that describe a noun

• words that modify a verb

Multiple Choice

When is a pronoun vague?

• when a pronoun shows possession

• when a pronoun is used to ask a question

• when a pronoun could refer to more than one subject or the subject that the pronoun refers to is only implied

Multiple Choice

Which sentence contains a vague pronoun error?

• Although the bike hit the tree, the bike was not damaged

• Although the bike hit the tree, it was not damaged

Multiple Choice

Which sentence has a vague pronoun error?

• Armand visited George after his graduation ceremony had ended.

• Armand visited George after Armand's graduation ceremony had ended.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence contains a vague pronoun?

• As Joe was talking to Sam, Sam started to cry

• As Joe was talking to Sam, he started to cry.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence has a vague pronoun error?

• Eli is always thinking about computers; it seems to be his only interest.

• Eli is always thinking about computers; technology seems to be his only interest.

Multiple Choice

Which of the below sentences contains the vague pronoun?

• Despite the heat wave, they say that Seattle is a cool city.

• Despite the heat wave, the travel brochures say that Seattle is a cool city.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence contains the vague pronoun?

• The fans booed and jeered at the referee because he had called the game unfairly.

• The fans booed and jeered at the referee because he had called it unfairly.

Multiple Choice

What is a vague pronoun?

• A pronoun hiding in a secret location

• A pronoun with an unclear meaning

• A pronoun that mumbles when it talks

• A pronoun that is easy to identify

Multiple Choice

Which of the below sentences contains the vague pronoun?

• Dad yelled at Rick, but he was just being silly.

• Dad was just being silly when he yelled at Rick.

Open Ended

Correct the errors in the sentence:

Many youth groups have after-school activity, and they keep kids off the street.

Open Ended

Correct the errors in the sentence:

The leaves on the trees are changing color. It will soon fall to the ground.

Open Ended

Correct the errors in the sentence:

Lisa and I are in the school play because I excell at acting.