SELF Worksheets for Pronoun and Antecedents
An Overview of Different Types of Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns include I, my, mine, me, you, your, yours, it, its, he, his, him, she, her, they, their, theirs, them, etc. A singular pronoun is used to refer to a singular noun, as in (a), while a plural pronoun is used to refer to a plural noun, as in (b).
(a)A student should always do his (his/her, or, his or her) assignments.
(b)Students should always do their assignments.
Reflexive Pronouns
The reflexive pronouns,such as myself, yourself, herself, ourselves, themselves, indicate that the sentence subject also receives the action of the verb. (Students who cheat on this quiz are only hurting themselves.) What this means is that whenever there is a reflexive pronoun in a sentence there must be a person to whom that pronoun can "reflect."
Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns include: Everyone, someone, anyone, no one, everybody, somebody, anybody, nobody, everything, something, anything, nothing. They are singular; however, in informal spoken English, a plural personal pronoun is sometimes used to refer to an indefinite pronoun.
(c) Somebody left his book on the desk.
(d) Everyone has his/her own ideas.
(e) Informal: Somebody left their book on the desk. Everyone has their own ideas.
Demonstrative Pronouns
The family of demonstratives (this/that/these/those/such) can act as pronouns to identify or point to nouns.
(f) That is incredible! (referring to something you just saw)
(g) I will never forget this. (referring to a recent experience)
(h) Such is my belief. (referring to an explanation just made)
Collective Pronouns
In formal usage, a collective noun followed by a pronoun takes a plural verb, especially if the pronoun and verb occur in the same sentence, as in (i) and (j). Examples of collective nouns: audience, class, committee, couple, crowd, faculty, family, group, staff, team.
Note: Government and public are usually followed by plural verbs in British usage but by singular verbs in American usage.
(i)My family are loving and supportive. Theyare always ready to help me.
(j) The faculty have signed their contracts.
In informal usage, a collective noun usually takes a singular verb, particularly if the collective noun is considered a single unit.
(k)My family is large.Itis composed of nine members.
Relative Pronouns
The relative pronouns (who/whoever/which/that) relate groups of words to nouns or other pronouns (The student who studies hardest usually does the best.). The word who connects or relates the subject, student, to the verb within the dependent clause (studies).
SELF Worksheets for Pronoun and Antecedents
ELEMENTARY LEVEL
Exercises: Supply pronouns for the blanks. In some of the blanks there is more than one possibility. Choose the appropriate singular or plural verb in parentheses where necessary. (20 marks)
1. A citizen has two primary responsibilities. ______should vote in every election and ______should willingly serve on a jury.
2. Students in Biology 101 have to spend three hours per week in the laboratory, where ______(does, do) various experiments by following the directions in ______lab manuals.
3. A pharmacist fills prescriptions, but ______(is, are) not allowed to prescribe medicine for patients. By law, only a doctor can prescribe medicine.
4.Everyone who came to the picnic brought ______own food.
5.A: Is that your notebook?
B: No. It belongs to one of the other students.
A: Look on the inside cover. Did ______write ______name there?
6. A dog makes a good pet if ______(is, are) properly trained.
7. My cat is very independent. ______obeys me only if ______wants to.
8. I have a wonderful family. I love ______very much, and ______also(loves, love) me.
9.The soccer team felt unhappy because ______had lost in theclosing moments of the game.
10. A basketball team is relatively small. ______(doesn’t don’t) have as many members as a baseball team.
11.The audience clapped enthusiastically. Obviously ______enjoyed the concert.
12.The audience filled the room to overflowing. ______(was, were) larger than we had expected.
13.The office staff (is, are) planning to give ______boss a gold watch when he retires.
14.The young couple (has, have) saved enough money to make a down-payment on ______own house.
15.The crowd became more and more excited as the Premier's motorcade approached. ______began to shout and wave flags in the air.
16. The man down the street committed suicide. We were all shocked by the newsthat he had killed ______.
17. 1 can't help you, gentlemen. You'll have to solve the problem by ______.
18. Tea and coffee are often preserved by dehydration, a process ______absorbs moisture from food.
19. Meat is rich in proteins ______are chemical substances ______gives us energy.
20. That is the senator ______wife was hoaxed to the local history museum inside ______she was taken hostage by the terrorists.
Key to the exercise – 1 (he/she; he/she), 2.(they do; their), 3. (he/she is), 4. (his or his/her ortheir), 5. (he; his or she; her or he/she; his/her), 6. (it), 7. (he; he or she; she), 8. (them; they love), 9. (they), 10. (It doesn’t), 11. (they), 12. (It was), 13. (is (informal) or are – their), 14. (have; their), 15. (They), 16. (himself), 17. (yourselves), 18. (which or that), 19. (which; which or that; that), 20. (whose; which)
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