5.5: Try It: Pronouns

Last updated
Save as PDF

Page ID: 23352

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

This activity is not graded. The text fields below are purely for self-reflection; you do not need to submit anything for this assignment.

Identify

Identify all the pronouns in the following excerpt. Type them in the text frame below:

Figure 1 - The Chicxulub impact spewed hundreds of billions of tons of sulfur into the atmosphere, producing a worldwide blackout and freezing temperatures that persisted for at least a decade.

It’s dark. It’s always dark these days. Lights in the sky burn your eyes, so you keep your face to ground in the hopes that they’ll go away. But they don’t. The air is heavy. Heavy with poisons that make it difficult to breathe. Heavy with foreboding dread.

You, my unfortunate friend, are going through a mass extinction!

There have been five periods of mass extinction in the past. These represent major phases in the history of life where we see global reorganizations of ecosystems and their inhabitants. Perhaps the most infamous is the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, 66 million years ago. This even saw the extinction of numerous weird and wonderful marine reptile groups, the flying pterosaurs, ammonites, and of course, the non-avian (bird-like) dinosaurs.

Scientifically speaking, we’re in broad agreement about what caused this upheaval of life: the combination of a huge asteroid impact at Chicxulub in Mexico and a massive eruption of the Deccan Traps in western India.

Answer

Your typed answer should look something like this:

it; it; these; your; you; your; they; they; it; you; my; there; these; we; their; this; we; this

Here is the paragraph with all the pronouns bolded:

It’s dark. It’s always dark these days. Lights in the sky burn your eyes, so you keep your face to ground in the hopes that they’ll go away. But they don’t. The air is heavy. Heavy with poisons that make it difficult to breathe. Heavy with foreboding dread.

You, my unfortunate friend, are going through a mass extinction!

There have been five periods of mass extinction in the past. These represent major phases in the history of life where we see global reorganizations of ecosystems and their inhabitants. Perhaps the most infamous is the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, 66 million years ago. This saw the extinction of numerous weird and wonderful marine reptile groups, the flying pterosaurs, ammonites, and of course, the non-avian (bird-like) dinosaurs.

Scientifically speaking, we’re in broad agreement about what caused this upheaval of life: the combination of a huge asteroid impact at Chicxulub in Mexico and a massive eruption of the Deccan Traps in western India.

Complete the Table

Identify the missing pronouns to complete the table:

Person	Number	Nominative	Objective	Possessive
First	Singular	I	me		mine
First	Plural		us		ours
Second	Singular	you		your
Second	Plural		you
Third	Singular	he		his	his
			her		hers

	Plural	they

Answer

Your completed table should look something like this:

Person	Number	Nominative	Objective	Possessive
First	Singular	I	me	my	mine
First	Plural	we	us	our	ours
Second	Singular	you	you	your	yours
Second	Plural	you	you	your	yours
Third	Singular	he	him	his	his
		she	her	her	hers
		it	it	its	its
	Plural	they	them	their	theirs

Selecting for Case

Each of the following sentences is missing a pronoun. Possible pronouns are listed in the sentence; choose the best pronoun to complete the sentence. Type your answers in the text frame below:

Eric has to get to the bakery at 4:00 a.m. every morning. It’s hard to wake up, but (he / him / his) thinks it’s worth it.
Larissa likes sequins more than (I / me / my / mine) do.
Hockey isn’t (I / me / my / mine) favorite sport (first person singular), but it sure is (she / her / hers).
(You / your / yours) have left (this / that / these / those) papers out on the table for a week now. Throw (it / its / they / them / their / theirs) away before I do.

Answer

Your answer should look something like the following:

Eric has to get to the bakery at 4:00 a.m. every morning. It’s hard to wake up, but he thinks it’s worth it.
Larissa likes sequins more than I do.
Hockey isn’t my favorite sport (first person singular), but it sure is hers.
You have left these (or those) papers out on the table for a week now. Throw them away before I do.

In this question, the context—how close the speaker is to the papers—will determine these or those should be used. If the speaker is near the papers, these is the correct pronoun. If the speaker is far, those is the correct pronoun.