Pronouns in Action

Pronouns are an important part of speech. In fact, without pronouns the English language would not work so well.

Perhaps, an easy way to understand a pronoun's job is to remember that pronouns work for nouns. Pronouns are used in the place of nouns.

For example, in the sentence "Len gave Luiza a banana." we can change "Luiza" to her. So, we will write "Len gave her a banana."

Pronouns not only take the place of nouns, but also take gender and function (how they are used) from the nouns.

For example, because Luiza is female we use a female pronoun, her, and not him. We also use her and not she because Luiza is an object in the sentence. Len, of course, is the subject in the sentence.

So, we could also write "He gave her a banana."

Below is a guide to the use of pronouns. Please note the gender and function.

SUBJECT	VERB	OBJECT	OBJECT
Len	brought	oranges	for the students.
Len	brought	them	for the students.
He	brought	them	for the students.
Luiza	ate	Maria's oranges.
Luiza	ate	her oranges.
She	ate	her oranges.
Luiza's boyfriend	kissed	her.
He	kissed	her.
Luiza	kissed	her boyfriend.
She	kissed	him.

IMPORTANT: You should always use the OBJECT form of a pronoun after a preposition.

For example, write "Len brought oranges for them." Do not write "Len brought oranges for they."

Here are some more examples.

[] Haruhisa loves Latina girls because they make churrasco for him. Do not write "for he".
[] Gabriela gave the money to Vitor so he could buy a present for her. Do not write "for she".

She

stole

it.

Len's book.

is dancing

with her.

with Luiza.

is kissing

them.

Luiza and Gabriela.

She

ran away

from him.

from

hugged

him.

She

is singing

with her.

with

Let's Talk

Substitute a pronoun for the underlined nouns. Answer each question by clicking on the appropriate words.

What is Charles doing with the chicken?

He is heating it in the oven.

What is the soldier giving the children?

He is giving them candy.

What is Rocky doing with Molly?

He is chasing her.

What's Sisyphus trying to do with the boulder?

He is trying to push it up the hill.

What are the children doing with the butterflies?

They are chasing them.

What is the boy doing with the hamburger?

He is giving it to the girl.

What is Fred doing to the chicken?

He is hitting it.

What is the woman doing with the bowl?

She is putting it on the table.

What is the boy doing with the milk?

He is pouring it into the bowl.

What is the dog doing?

It is resting on the grass.

What are Betty and her dogs doing?

They are sitting in the living room.

Demonstrative Pronouns

The pronouns This, That, These and Those are called demonstrative pronouns. They demonstrate the distance between two things or people.

Look at the following examples to learn how these pronouns are used.

No, this is not a rectangle. This is a square. You see the picture over there on the wall? That is a square.
Put that back in the refrigerator. This is enough wine for us.
Oh, these are not the cookies you like. See those over on the kitchen counter? My mom made those for you.
Why are you still wearing those? I bought these for you. Try them on.

Notice how the demonstrative pronouns work. This is used for things which are singular in number and close. These is used for things plural in number and close. On the other hand, that is used for things which are singular, but not close. Similarly, those is used for things which are plural and not close.

The following video will give you some practice with demonstrative pronouns. Observe and listen well.

Want Homework? Click to download.

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