Pronouns
Pronouns
A pronoun stands in place of a noun, noun group or name. Pronouns generally need to have clear reference,
referring to something that has been identified or named elsewhere in the text. Pronouns generally refer
back to words mentioned earlier in the text, however sometimes a pronoun can be used and referenced to
a word forward in the text. For example:
Correct pronoun use
Lucy may seem shy but she loves making friends. (refers back)
Although it was late, the train finally arrived. (refers forwards)
Incorrect pronoun use
It was late so Ming was relieved when it finally arrived. (unclear reference)
Pronouns help to give a text cohesion and prevent it from becoming repetitious. Pronouns are only effective
if they are not ambiguous (that is, there is a clear line of reference) and if they are not used repetitively.
Different types of pronouns include:
•
•
•
•
•
personal – I, we, he, she, you, it, they, me, us, her, him, them
possessive – mine, ours, yours, hers, his, its, theirs
reflexive – myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, herself, himself, themselves
demonstrative – this, that, these, those
indefinite – each, any, some, all, one, none, anybody, anything, nobody, nothing, somebody,
something, everybody
• relative – who, whom, whose, which, that
• interrogative – who, which, what, whose, whom
This list of pronouns could be displayed on a poster (without using the technical names of the different
pronoun types if you think these will confuse students). For student with visual impairment, poster text
should be bold, black on white and an appropriate font size. Students using Braille should make their own
Braille copy of the poster or alternative paste a Braille copy of the words on the poster using Braille label
(see Learning Difficulties Appendix).
Reference
Reference refers to the way in which information is introduced, maintained and expanded in a text. The
use of pronouns is the most common way of maintaining reference without the clumsiness of continual
naming. Pronouns are not used indefinitely, even if there is a clear line of reference to the noun or name,
as strings of pronouns can make a text flat and uninteresting. Instead, good writers use different ways of
identifying nouns in a text to maintain a clear “chain of reference” but keep a text interesting. For example:
I love reading The Wind in the Willows ... This wonderful story has ... Kenneth Grahame’s tale will ...
This children’s classic tells ... It is all about ... I recommend this book to ...
Pronouns were assessed in Year 3 Reading Questions 12, 29 and 31, Year 5 Reading Questions 18, 20,
23 and 24. Pronouns are assessed in Writing Task Two – Criterion 7, Year 3 Language Question 7 and
15 and Year 5 Language Questions 6 and 21.
32
Assessed in Writing Task 2 – Criterion 7, Y3 L7, 15, Y5 L6, 16 and 21
Identifying pronoun referencing
Students need to understand that pronouns provide a text with cohesion and only work if they are not
ambiguous and not used too repetitively.
Remind students that a pronoun is a word that replaces a noun in a text.
Brainstorm examples of pronouns, encouraging students to move beyond personal pronouns (eg he, she)
and record these on the board. Display a comprehensive wall chart of pronouns for future reference (see
opposite).
Teaching Pronouns
Teaching PronounsPronouns
Teaching
Using an enlarged passage from a shared text, identify and highlight the pronouns used and the noun to
which the pronoun refers. Model how to read forward or backward to locate the noun, noun group or event
to which each pronoun refers.
Provide students with a copy of a passage from a book being studied such as the following one, from page
63 of The Battle of the Galah Trees by Christobel Mattingley, and ask the students to circle the pronouns,
underline noun groups and events and draw lines from the pronouns to the nouns they are replacing.
Janey stroked Lucky’s head where he liked it best behind his crest. Then
she gave a far more realistic imitation of a galah call than Matt could
make. Lucky squawked a reply and fluttered to her shoulder. Janey
laughed and Matt realised that he hadn’t heard her laugh before either.
She ruffled Lucky’s feathers and made the galah talk to him. Then she
said, “Go back to Matt.” Lucky flew to Matt’s shoulder and Janey slipped
suddenly out of the door. Matt called after her but she did not come back.
Write the names of characters from a shared text onto cards. Divide the class into groups. Give each group
a card with the name of a character on it. Ask each group to write sentences related to their character,
beginning each with a pronoun. Encourage students to use a variety of pronouns from the wall chart.
These sentences can then be used as a class barrier game, matching descriptions to characters.
WS3.10 Learning to Write – Skills and Strategies
• Uses pronoun references accurately
• Uses relative pronouns correctly
RS2.8 Learning about Reading – Language Structures
and Features
WS2.10 Learning to Write – Skills and Strategies
WS3.14 Learning about Writing – Language Structures
and Features
• Uses pointing adjectives correctly
• Recognises cohesive links in a text eg referring
words/pronouns
Stages one-two
WS1.10 Learning to Write – Skills and Strategies
• Demonstrates the correct use of pronouns and to whom or
what they refer
33
Teaching PronounsPronouns
Teaching
Assessed in Writing Task 2 – Criterion 7, Y3 L7, 15, Y5 L6, 16 and 21
Selecting the appropriate pronoun to refer to a noun
Remind students that once the name of something or someone has been introduced into a written text, the
word can be referred to again and again by using pronouns, eg he, she, it and they. This saves writers from
having to repeat the original noun or noun group.
The novel Junk Castle by Robin Klein could be used to contextualise this strategy. (Another text that is
helpful for teaching pronoun reference is The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and Michael
Martchenko.)
Introduce and orientate students to the novel. Open the cover so that both front and back are visible. Draw
the students’ attention to the characters and the junk castle. Ask students to look carefully at the sorts of
objects used to construct the castle. Discuss where they may have found these objects.
Modelling the use of pronoun referencing
Read the opening two pages from Robin Klein’s Junk Castle, or select an appropriate alternative text. Draw
students' attention to examples of pronoun referencing. During the reading of the text, check to see if
students understand which character/object is being referred to by the pronoun.
Copy pages 2 and 3 from Junk Castle on to an overhead transparency. Use highlighters to explicitly
demonstrate the way in which pronouns refer back to the noun or noun group previously introduced in the
text. Draw arrows to show the links.
The hiccups sounded so dramatic and intense that
Mandy, Con and Splinter rendered immediate first aid. They sat
her down on the bottom step and put a brown paper bag over
her head. But Irene went on hiccuping, and it sounded even
more alarming with the bag as an amplifier.
Mr Felsenthal stuck his head out of his ground floor flat and told
Irene to shut up because he was trying to listen to the 3:45
from Moonee Valley race track. So they took Irene into Mandy’s
flat and gave her a drink of cold tea out of the opposite side of
the cup. When that didn’t work, they ran her up and down all
the stairs between the ground floor and the first floor.
Read the remainder of the chapter. Jointly construct a chart that records the characters and their reference
pronouns.
he
34
she
they
Mr Acland
Irene
Mandy, Irene, Con and Splinter
Con
Mandy
Mrs Cooper and her husband
Splinter
Mrs Cooper
Mr Felsenthal
Mrs Caranani
Guiding students to use appropriate pronoun reference
Play the following barrier game to give students the opportunity to use the pronouns he, she and they. Buddy
students if necessary to provide additional support. Give each student a copy of the Junk Castle book cover
(see below) and a barrier to place between each pair.
Inform the students that in order to guess the circled character/s selected by their partner, they will need to
ask questions that eliminate all other possibilities. Begin by demonstrating the game with a willing student
in front of the whole class. Questions such as Is there only one person in the circle? to ascertain singular or
plural would be appropriate. Then continue with questions such as Are the people in the circle playing? and
indicate to students the appropriate response to ensure that the reference pronoun is articulated, eg Yes, they
are playing. Continue with the game until all circled characters have been identified. Students may like to
use counters to place over each circle once selected.
Teaching Pronouns
Assessed in Writing Task 2 – Criterion 7, Y3 L7, 15, Y5 L6, 16 and 21
Students may also like to play the game
Who am I? using the characters from the
Junk Castle novel. This game should be
played only after reading enough of the
book to have developed a reasonable
profile of each character.
Write the names of the main characters on
cards. Place these in a container. Ask each
student to take a card from the container
and write three statements about that
particular character using the appropriate
pronouns. Ensure that a model is
provided for the students before the game
is played in groups. Select a character and
construct three sentences to read to the
students, eg
He is young.
He has the hiccups.
His mother works at the hospital canteen.
Students guess the character using the pronoun and character descriptions as clues.
WS3.10 Learning to Write – Skills and Strategies
• Uses pronoun references accurately
• Uses relative pronouns correctly
RS2.8 Learning about Reading – Language Structures
and Features
WS3.14 Learning about Writing – Language Structures
and Features
• Recognises cohesive links in a text eg referring
words/pronouns
• Demonstrates the correct use of pronouns and to whom or
what they refer
Stage two
WS1.10 Learning to Write – Skills and Strategies
WS2.10 Learning to Write – Skills and Strategies
• Uses pointing adjectives correctly
35
Teaching PronounsPronouns
Teaching
Assessed in Writing Task 2 – Criterion 7, Y3 L7, 15, Y5 L6, 16 and 21
Using personal pronoun reference accurately
Write personal subject pronouns on a chart. Highlight the masculine, feminine and neutral pronouns.
Model sentences that use the pronouns as subjects and then as objects, eg I was given a book. The book
belongs to me. Assist students to identify the objective form. Explain that the words my, your, his, her, its, our,
your and their, are possessive adjectives when used with a noun, because they are describing who owns or
possesses the noun, eg It is her book.
Classify pronouns into masculine, feminine and neutral groups. Write pronouns on flashcards. Ask students
to choose one card at a time and place it under the correct heading.
An explanation of when to use reflexive pronouns is complex and could be better dealt with in a separate
lesson. Model how to write a sentence using a reflexive pronoun, eg He washed himself, then use arrows and
explain that a reflexive pronoun is used when a pronoun refers back to the subject of the verb, when the
action of the verb is performed on the subject. Add two singular and two plural reflexive pronouns to the
table and then assist students to recognise the pattern and complete the rest of the table.
Pronoun as
subject
Pronoun as
object
Possessive
pronoun
Reflexive
pronoun
I
me
mine
myself
you
you
yours
yourself
he
him
his
himself
she
her
hers
herself
it
it
its
itself
we
us
ours
ourselves
you
you
yours
yourselves
they
them
theirs
themselves
Pronoun reference chain
Using a text on an overhead transparency, show how the texts are tied together cohesively using pronoun
references, eg explain and show with arrows how all the personal pronouns refer to back to Lulu.
Discuss how to identify a noun or noun group. Use the chart on the previous page to discuss pronoun/noun
links eg usually ‘she’ refers to females; ‘its’ refers to things.
Lulu likes drawing. She attends drawing
classes once a week with her brother. Her
pictures are colourful and creative.
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Pronoun reference chain:
Lulu–She–her–Her
The following is an example of more complex pronoun referencing. It will help students to prompt them
to use their knowledge of a noun or noun group to help them reference even if they are unsure of some
vocabulary (eg yacht). Modelling and discussing how effective readers reference when reading more complex
texts can help them in comprehending more difficult texts.
Luke stood back and looked over the
old wooden yacht that his dad had bought.
He admired its huge solid mast and ran his
Pronoun reference chain:
old wooden yacht – its – its
Teaching Pronouns
Assessed in Writing Task 2 – Criterion 7, Y3 L7, 15, Y5 L6, 16 and 21
Luke – He – his
fingers over its freshly oiled deck.
Discuss how we know the ‘he/his’ refers to Luke rather than to his dad.
Using a familiar text, ask students in pairs to locate the nouns and their linking pronouns and then identify
a pronoun reference chain. This is especially useful for students whose writing includes confusing pronoun
referencing.
Ask students to identify a pronoun reference chain in their own writing by circling the subject and
highlighting the pronouns. Have students edit their text appropriately, then examine their text for repetitive
nouns and replace these with appropriate pronouns.
WS3.10 Learning to Write – Skills and Strategies
• Identifies noun–pronoun links in written texts
• Uses relative pronouns correctly
WS1.10 Learning to Write – Skills and Strategies
WS3.14 Learning about Writing – Language Structures
and Features
• Uses pronoun references accurately
RS2.8 Learning about Reading – Language Structures
and Features
Stage two
RS1.6 Learning to Read – Skills and Strategies
• Demonstrates the correct use of pronouns and to whom or
what they refer
• Recognises cohesive links in a text eg referring
words/pronouns
WS2.10 Learning to Write – Skills and Strategies
• Uses pointing adjectives correctly
37
Teaching PronounsPronouns
Teaching
Assessed in Writing Task 2 – Criterion 7, Y3 L7, 15, Y5 L6, 16 and 21
Identify the noun to which a pronoun refers
Ask students what they know about pronouns. Show students a short text such as Damper – an extract from
Skating on Sand by Libby Gleeson, and jointly identify the pronouns.
'Ready?' says Mum. She pokes the fire with a stick.
Hannah squats beside her. She holds her branch so that the end hovers
above the hottest coals.
Her face and hands are warm and she watches as the pale mixture turns
toast-coloured. By the time Lena and Sue join them, Hannah is eating her
third helping – hot tubes of damper, dripping with butter and golden syrup.
'When you go camping,' says Dad as he finishes his third cup of coffee,
'parents never wash up. It's a rule.'
'Who says?' says Lena.
'The parents.' Mum grins and stretches back on the grass. 'You can go to the
beach when you've finished.' She watches as Lena and Sue roll their eyes but
then pick up the buckets and head for the shower block.
Record these pronouns and others on a chart. Construct a definition of pronouns, eg a pronoun is a word
that is used in place of a noun.
Display a poem, such as Vegetarian by Steven Herrick, on an overhead transparency. Model how to
circle/underline/box, the nouns and pronouns in the text according to who they refer to or the cohesive link
created. Model reading forward or backward to identify the noun or noun group to which the pronoun is
referring. Either colour the noun or noun group and the pronoun to which it is referring the same colour,
or use other identifiers such as underlines, rings and boxes, to show how pronouns are used for cohesion
across a text.
My sister is a vegetarian
And she doesn’t let me eat in peace.
When I go to eat some chicken
She says
‘Bye little chicken, bye Charlie chicken,
Bye, bye.’
Then at breakfast
When I’ m eating my bacon , she says,
‘ That ’s Babe’s brother you’ re putting
in your mouth you know.’
38
Guide students in identifying pronouns in poems such as The Ball by Lydia Pender, The Clever Rabbit by
D. H. Souter and High Explosive by A. B. Paterson. If appropriate use more complex examples of pronoun
reference such as the poem A blind girl celebrates Holi by Theresa Heine from the BST 2001 Stimulus
Magazine (Year 3). Discuss with students what the pronouns are referring to. Introduce students to a chart
with the headings Personal pronoun, Demonstrative pronoun and Relative pronoun. Tell students that personal
pronouns are used to refer to the person who is speaking, the person being spoken to or the person or thing
being spoken about. Tell students that demonstrative pronouns are words such as that, this, these and those
and these words are used to take the place of something that is being indicated or pointed out (if these words
occur with a noun they are acting as demonstrative adjectives, eg this book).
Teaching Pronouns
Assessed in Writing Task 2 – Criterion 7, Y3 L7, 15, Y5 L6, 16 and 21
Write sentences containing the relative pronouns, who, whom, whose, that and which, and explain how they
are used to refer to people and things while introducing adjectival clauses about those people or things.
Provide students with examples of who, whom, whose and which used as interrogative pronouns, so they can
distinguish the different functions that these words can perform in different contexts.
Personal pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns
Relative pronouns
Using the pronouns identified in the poems categorise them under the headings. Discuss what types of
pronouns often occur and why. Guide students in understanding that the personal pronouns often refer to
people or things within the poem (eg he, she, it) while often other personal pronouns (eg I and you) refer to
the author and the audience or reader.
In guided reading groups ask students to identify pronouns used in texts that they read, then discuss to
whom or what the pronouns are referring.
Provide students with a variety of texts. Published readers can use pronoun referencing that is obvious.
Authentic texts often provide more difficult referencing to examine with students. Ask them to identify
pronouns. Ask them what types of texts are more likely to use personal pronouns such as you and I and what
effect this has on the reader.
Ask students to identify relative pronouns at the beginning of adjectival clauses and discuss why a clause
has been used instead of a simple adjective and why this might be an effective way to describe something
or someone.
WS3.10 Learning to Write – Skills and Strategies
• Uses pronoun references accurately
• Uses relative pronouns correctly
RS2.8 Learning about Reading – Language Structures
and Features
WS3.14 Learning about Writing – Language Structures
and Features
• Recognises cohesive links in a text eg referring
words/pronouns
• Demonstrates the correct use of pronouns and to whom or
what they refer
Stages two-three
WS1.10 Learning to Write – Skills and Strategies
WS2.10 Learning to Write – Skills and Strategies
• Uses pointing adjectives correctly
RS3.8 Learning about Reading – Language Structures
and Features
• Recognises relative pronouns and the role they play in
descriptive clauses in texts)
39