1 MODULE 3 - BASIC GRAMMAR

2 MODULE 3 - BASIC GRAMMAR

MODULE 3 - BASIC GRAMMAR

INTRODUCTION

There are many thousands of different words in the English language, but there are
only eight different kinds of words. These eight kinds, which are called “parts of
speech,” are the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the verb, the adverb, the preposition,
the conjunction, and the interjection. In this module, we will study these parts of speech
from their definitions, classes/kinds, functions in the sentence and their significance

The module is divided into four lessons, namely:

Lesson 1: The Noun
Lesson 2: Pronoun
Lesson 3: The Verb
Lesson 4: Adjective and Adverb
Lesson 5: Recognizing Preposition, Conjunction and Interjection

MODULE LEARNING OUTCOME

In this module, you should be able to:
1. distinguish the eight parts of speech from each other;
2. identify the function of each eight parts of speech; and
3. communicate effectively by following the basic rules of grammar.

Lesson 2: PRONOUN

SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOMES

In this lesson, you are expected to:
• explain the relationship between noun and pronoun;
• Identify the different kinds, cases; and
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• choose a pronoun that agrees to its antecedent.

PRE-ASSESSMENT
Instruction: Encircle the pronouns that best fit the sentences below.

1. One of the girls gave (their, her, hers) history report about Stonehenge in class
today.
2. Many of these stones have (its, it’s, their) unique characteristics that differ form
others within the structure.
3. Although the function of Stonehenge is unknown, it has not lost (its, their)
charm to mystify people.
4. Several of the boys insisted that (his, their) viewpoints about England’s most
celebrated megalithic monuments be heard.
5. Undoubtedly, its was built by a people who established (its, there, their, theirs)
principal settlements in the area between 1600 and 1300 BC.

LESSON MAP

Figure 1: The Pronouns

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CORE CONTENTS

ENGAGE:
What can you say with sentences below? If you think it’s necessary, how will you
rewrite the sentences?

1. Joana wants Joana’s requirements to be rated excellent.

2. The students came to school with the student’s parents.

EXPLORE:
Let’s examine the sentences below:
1. The students came to the school with the student’s parents.
2. The students came to the school with their parents.

I bet you find the first sentence a bit awkward. However, it wasn’t the case in the
second sentence. Instead of repeating the “students,” the word their is used. This word
is actually an example of a pronoun. A pronoun is a word used as a substitute for a
noun or a group of words used as a noun. It may stand for a person, place, thing or idea
just like in the second sentence above. The word “their” instead of “student” was used to
avoid redundancy.
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A. Classification of Pronoun
1. Personal Pronouns- refer mainly to persons

First Person
Case Singular Plural

Nominative I We

Possessive My, mine Our, ours

Objective Me Us

Second Person

Nominative You You

Possessive Your, yours Your, your

Objective You You

Third Person

Nominative He, she, it They

Possessive His, her, hers, its Their, theirs

Objective Him, her, its them

2. Indefinite Pronoun- refer to persons, places, or things generally.

The following are singular indefinite pronoun

Any Everybody Either One

Everyone Each Anything One another
No one Neither Anybody Each one Everything
Anyone Not one Something Another
Each other Nobody Somebody Someone
None
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The following are plural indefinite pronouns:

Both few many
several

The following are either singular or plural indefinite pronouns depending on the context:

All any more

most
None

some

3. Compound personal pronouns- pronouns formed by adding -self or selves to some personal
nepronouns. some plenty

Singular Plural
First Person Myself Ourselves
Second Person Yourself Yourselves
Third Person Himself, herself, itself themselves

A compound personal pronoun may either reflexive or intensive pronoun.

⚫ Reflexive pronoun- a pronoun that refers back to the subject, and it is used when the
subject and the object are the same identity.
Example:
They believe in themselves.
Cheever bought the house for himself.
⚫ Intensive pronoun- used to emphasize a noun or a pronoun. It follows immediately a noun
or a personal pronoun, or is placed at the end of the sentence. It is not essential to the
meaning of the sentence and therefore can be omitted in the sentence.
Example:
I myself edited the short story. = I edited the short story.
They themselves built the hut. = They built the hut.
4. Interrogative pronouns-used in asking question.

Who Why Whose To what

What How When To which
Which Whom To whom To where
Example: Who is the current president of the Philippines?
5. Relative Pronouns - introduce a subordinate clause qualifying an expressed or implied.
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Relative Compound Relative

Pronouns Pronouns
What Whatever
When Whenever
Where Wherever
Which Whichever
Who Whoever
Whom Whomever
that
Example: Brenda is the woman who changed my world.
The day when I first set foot at NEMCO grounds was memorable.
6. Demonstrative Pronouns-points to a person or a thing
Example:
This is the place where I truly belong.
Those are the rooms they reserved for the guests.
That is my collection of novels.
These are the documents the accreditors wanted to see.

7. Reciprocal Pronouns - refer to compound indefinites each other and one another
Example: People need to love one another.

8. Possessive Pronouns- shows ownership. (See the list on personal pronouns)

Example: Those fancy cars and bags are mine.
9. Numerical Pronouns-can be either cardinal or ordinal numbers and are used to take the place
of nouns in a sentence.
Example:
Cardinal number: one, two, three, etc.
Ordinal number:first, second, third, etc.

B. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

⚫ A pronoun must agree with its antecedent (noun referent) in number, person, and
gender.
Example: John is very in his studies. (3rd person, singular)
Joanna wants her requirements to be rated excellent. (gender)
The students came to school with their parents. (Number)
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⚫ Use singular pronouns to refer to the singular indefinite pronouns, and use plural
pronouns to refer to plural indefinite pronoun (see the list of indefinite pronouns in the
classification of pronouns)
Example: Each of the girls came armed with her own idea. (singular)
A few filled their nets with fish. (plural)

⚫ Use a singular personal pronoun with two or more singular antecedents joined by “or”
or “nor.”
Example: Mr. Corpuz or Mr. Katigbak earns his living as a policeman.
Ginelle or Gizelle had made her point.

⚫ Use plural personal pronoun if any part of the compound antecedent joined by “or” or
“nor” is plural.
Example: The dean and faculty members come to the office, tell them the
good news.
The students or the teacher wanted their money back.

⚫ Use plural personal pronoun with two or more antecedents joined by “and.”
Example: My wife and I have planned to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary in
Dinagat Islands.
The student-leaders and advisers had their seminar in Andrews Campus.

⚫ When the antecedent is collective noun, the pronoun may either be singular or plural
depending or whether the group is thought of as a unit or as an individual.
Example:
The family had its own outing in Boracay. (family is considered as 1 unit/entity-- the whole family
went to Boracay).

The family are arguing on their new business. (each member of the family is giving
his/her own arguments about the matter)

EXPLAIN:
Activity 3:
Direction:Study the sentences below:
When Kelly saw the signal, Kelly pointed the signal out to Teresa.
When Kelly saw the signal, she pointed it out to Teresa.
Questions:
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1. Which sentence do you think is better, the first or the second one? Why do you think so.

2. In the second sentence , “she” and “it” are used instead of “Kelly” and “signal” as that in the first
sentence . What do you think is the function of these words in the sentence?

TOPIC SUMMARY
In this lesson, you have learned that …
⚫ A pronoun is defined as a word or phrase that is used as a substitution for a noun or noun
phrase, which is known as the pronoun’s antecedent. Pronouns are short words and can do
everything that nouns can do and are one of the building blocks of a sentence. Common
pronouns are he, she, you, me, I, we, us, this, them, that.

⚫ Pronouns are classified as: Demonstrative Pronouns, Relative Pronouns, Reflexive

Pronouns, Possessive Pronouns, Personal Pronouns,, Indefinite Pronouns, Interrogative
Pronouns, Reciprocal Pronouns, Intensive Pronouns

⚫ The general rule for Pronoun-antecedent agreement is “a pronoun must agree with its
antecedent (noun referent) in number, person, and gender.”

References:

Books:
De La Cruz, A. O. (2014). Basics of English Grammar: A Textbook -Workbook for
English Language Learners. Wiseman’s Book Trading, Inc.: Philippines.

San Miguel, J.G., Barraquio, D.C.T., & Revilla, R. DV.(2010). Smart English: (More
Than) A Worktext for Grammar and Syntax. 2nd Ed. C&E Publishing, Inc.:
Quezon City
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From the Web:

Berstein, A. (2017). 10 tips on writing the living web. A List Apart: For People Who
Make Websites. Retrieved from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving.
Retrieved 28 July 2018. )
Ginger. Grammar Rules:Pronouns. Retrieved from https://www.gingersoftware.com/
content/grammar-rules/pronouns-2/