PARTS
OF
SPEECH:
NOUNS and
Pronouns
An LSCC Learning Center
Self-Paced Tutorial
What are the Parts of Speech?
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Let’s review the various categories of words that make up the English
language.

They are:
–
–
–
–
–
Nouns
Pronouns
Adjectives
Prepositions
Interjections
Verbs
Adverbs
Articles
Conjunctions
The good news is – this is the entire list!
The bad news is - many of these categories
have multiple subgroups.
Nouns and Pronouns


Today we are going to focus on these two
grammar elements.
FACT
Nouns and pronouns are the
only two parts of speech that
can be used as the subject of
a sentence.
Nouns
Nouns name a person, place or thing:
JAMES (person)
SLIDE (thing)
PLAYGROUND
(place)
Types of Nouns

Proper Noun
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Common Noun
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
slide
Abstract Noun


James
love
Collective Noun

team
Plural Forms of Nouns
–
Some nouns add “S” or “ES” to form the plural. These
are called regular nouns.
car / cars match / matches
–
Some nouns change completely. These are called
irregular nouns.
goose / geese mouse / mice
–
Some nouns are singular but seem to be plural.
These are called collective nouns.
team jury group
My favorite team is playing tonight.
Pronouns Pronouns
Pro means “for” so a pronoun is a word that
is used in place of or stands for a noun.
Kinds of Pronouns
Subjective
Relative
Objective
Interrogative
Possessive
Demonstrative
Reflexive
Intensive
Pronouns
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FACT
–
–
The noun that a pronoun replaces is called the
antecedent. This term combines two Latin words
that mean “comes before.” The noun always
comes before the pronoun.
James is my little brother. He loves to play video
games.
Kinds of Pronouns
Subjective case pronouns replace a subject.
I
You
He
She
It
We
You
They
* My
Your
His
Her
Its
Our
Your
Their
*Possessive forms
accompany the noun
they represent in a
sentence:
My car is parked on the
corner.
Kinds of Pronouns
Objective case pronouns replace a noun used as an object.
Me
You
Him
Her
It
Us
You
Them
*Mine
Yours
His
Hers
Its
Ours
Yours
Theirs
*These possessive
forms may stand alone
in a sentence:
The car that is parked on
the corner is mine.
Kinds of Pronouns
Reflexive Relative Interrogative Demonstrative
Myself
That
Yourself
Which
Himself
Who
Herself
Whom
Itself
Whose
Ourselves
Yourselves
Themselves
Who
Whose
What
Whom
Which
This
That
These
Those
Kinds of Pronouns

Reflexive

Relative
Looks back to an earlier noun
or pronoun:
James completed the project by himself.
Helps define properties of a
noun or pronoun:
The house that was built in 2007
burned down.
Kinds of Pronouns

Interrogative
Asks a question:
Who called you after class today?

Demonstrative Points out something or
someone:
That is a really good picture of you.
Kinds of Pronouns
Indefinite
Plural
All
Few
Some
Both
Most
Many
More
Several
Singular
Another
None
One
Everyone
Someone
No one
Anyone
Anything
Something
Everything
Nothing
Much
Such
Each
Anybody
Everybody
Somebody
Nobody
Either
Neither
Other
Kinds of Pronouns

Plural Indefinite – means some undetermined
number:

Some of the students were interested in
taking a biology course.
Singular Indefinite – means one of a group of
people or things, but not one specifically:
Anyone could have taken that course.
Kinds of Pronouns
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
Singular Indefinite
Clues that the pronoun is singular:
–
Begins with any or every
–
Ends in one or body
Pronouns


Either and neither are singular. The logical meaning
is that you are examining the antecedents one at a
time:
Two dogs live on my street. Antecedent = dogs
Neither dog likes cats.
Pronouns
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Some final thoughts:
–
Pronouns must agree with antecedents.

A student must be careful to record his or her
scores. (student is singular, needs singular his and
her)

Students can turn in their papers any time today.
(students is
plural, therefore
their is correct)
Pronouns
Some more final thoughts:
 Who or whom? When to use which one:
The easy way to test for who and whom is to
replace them with he/she or him/her.
If he is correct, use who
If him is correct, use whom.
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PRONOUNS
Even more final thoughts:
 Don’t let compounds confuse your use of I
and me:
Eliminate the extra words to check:

My dad took James and I to the game. (?)
My dad took --- I to the game. (NO!)
My dad took James and me to the game. (YES!)
Nouns and Pronouns
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If you want more information about this topic:
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