LANGUAGE

FOCUS

PERSONAL PRONOUNS: SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS

SUBJECT PRONOUNS: I we you he she it they
OBJECT PRONOUNS: me us you him her it them
(a) Kate is married. She has two A pronoun refers to a noun.
children. In (a): she is a pronoun; it refers to Kate.
(b) Kate is my friend. I know her In (b): her is a pronoun; it refers to Kate.
well. She is a subject pronoun; her is an object
(c) Mike has a new blue bicycle. He pronoun.
A pronoun can refer to a single noun (e.g.,
bought it yesterday.
Kate) or to a noun phrase. In (c): it refers to
the whole noun phrase a new blue bicycle.
(d) Eric and I are good friends. Guidelines for using pronouns following and:
(e) Ann met Eric and me at the If the pronoun is used as part of the subject,
museum. use a subject pronoun, as in (d). if it is part of
(f) Ann walked between Eric and the object, use an object pronoun, as in (e)
me. and (f).
INCORRECT: Eric and me are good friends.
INCORRECT: Ann met Eric and I at the
museum.
SINGULAR PRONOUNS: I we you he she it him, her
PLURAL PRONOUNS: we us you they them
(g) Mike is in class. He is taking a Singular = one. Plural = more than one.
test. Singular pronouns refer to singular nouns,
(h) The students are in class. They plural pronouns to plural nouns, as in the
are taking a test. examples.
(i) Kate and Tom are married. They
have two children.
 POSSESSIVE NOUNS
SINGULAR:
(a) I know the student’s name.
PLURAL:
(b) I know the students’ names.
PLURAL:
(c) I know the children’s names.
SINGULAR
(d) the student → the student’s name
my baby → my baby’s name
a man → a man’s name
(e) James →James’ / James’s name
PLURAL
(f) the students → the students’
names
my babies → my babies’ names
(g) men → men’s names
the children → the children’s names
COMPARE
(h) Tom’s here.
(i) Tom’s brother is here.
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS AND ADJECTIVES
An apostrophe (‘) and an –s are used with
nouns to show possession.
SINGULAR POSSESSIVE NOUN:
noun + apostrophe (‘) + -s
A singular noun that ends in –s has two
possible possessive forms: James’ OR
James’s
PLURAL POSSESSIVE NOUN:
noun + -s + apostrophe (‘)
IRREGULAR PLURAL POSSESSIVE
NOUN:
noun + apostrophe (‘) + -s
(An irregular plural noun is a plural noun that
does not end in –s: children, men, people,
women.)
In (h): Tom’s is not a possessive. It is a
contraction of Tom is, used in informal
writing.
In (i): Tom’s is a possessive.
This pen belongs to me. (a) and (b) have the same meaning; they both
(a) It’s mine. show possession. Mine is a possessive
(b) It is my pen. pronoun’ my is a possessive adjective.
Possessive Pronouns Possessive Adjectives A possessive pronoun is used alone, without
(c) I have mine. I have my pen.
a noun following it.
(d) You have yours. You have your pen.
A possessive adjective is used only with a
(e) She has hers. She has her pen.
(f) He has his. He has his pen.qa
noun following it.
(g) We have ours. We have our pens. INCORRECT: I have mine pen.
(h) They have theirs. They have their pens. INCORRECT: I have my.
I have a book. Its
cover is black.
Compare its vs. it’s In (i): its
(i) Sue gave me a book. I don’t
remember its title.
(j) Sue gave me a book. It’s a novel.

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
myself (a) I saw myself in Reflexive pronouns end in –self/-selves. They
the mirror. are used when the subject (e.g., I) and the
yourself (b) You (one person)
object (e.g., myself) are the same person. The
saw yourself.
action of the verb is pointed back to the
herself (c) She saw herself.
himself (d) He saw himself. subject of the sentence.
itself (e) It (e.g., the
INCORRECT: I saw me in the mirror.
kitten) saw itself.
ourselves (f) We saw
ourselves.
yourselves (g) You (plural) saw
yourselves.
themselve (h) They saw
s themselves.
(i) Greg lives by himself. By + a reflexive pronoun = alone. In (i): Greg
(j) I sat by myself on the park bench. lives alone, without family or roommates.
(k) I enjoyed myself at the fair. Enjoy and a few other verbs are commonly
followed by a reflexive pronoun. See the list
below.
 COMMON EXPRESSION WITH REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
believe in help yourself pinch yourself teach yourself
be proud of yourself tell yourself
yourself
take care of yourself work for yourself
blame yourself hurt yourself
talk to yourself wish yourself (luck)
cut yourself give yourself
(something)
enjoy yourself introduce
yourself
feel sorry for kill yourself
yourself

EXERCISES
1. Complete these following sentences using personal pronouns.
a. I buy a new sport car. It is black.
b. Tina buys some dolls. _____ always plays with _____ everyday.
c. I ate lunch with Doni. _____ ate in the restaurant. I ordered some Japanese food and _____
ordered Indonesian food.
d. Badminton is a popular sport today. Many people can play _____. I and my father always
play _____. _____ always wins if _____ plays with _____.

2. Fill in the blanks with my/our/your/his/her/their/its

a. Do you like your shirts?
b. I know you very well, but I don’t know _____ husband.
c. I and my husband live in Pontianak, but _____ daughter lives in Jakarta.
d. John and Merry have got married for five years. They have 2 daughters and two sons.
_____ daughters are twins.
e. I like badminton. It’s _____ favorite sport.
f. I want to go to Mary’s house. Do you know _____ house?
g. I have to call Danny. Do you have _____ phone number?
h. It is a beautiful house. _____ walls have beautiful color.
3. Complete the following sentences.
a. I gave you my phone numbers and you gave me your.
b. You gave her _____ phone numbers and she gave you _____.
c. We gave them _____ phone numbers and they gave us _____.
d. This book is for John. Can you give it to _____?
e. We’re going to the mall. Why don’t you come with _____?
f. Did your brother pass _____ exams?
g. He didn’t have an umbrella, so she gave _____ _____.
h. ‘Is this your motorcycle?’ ‘No, it’s _____.’

4. Complete the following sentences with reflexive pronouns.

a. She looks at _____ in the mirror.
b. He has a good time in his hometown. He enjoyed _____.
c. I cut ____ with a scissors.
d. Hi, nice to meet you. Please tell me about _____.
e. My friends never think about other people. They only think about _____.

f. I and Susan never think about other people. We only think about _____.