Practical tools for learning and teaching grammar

Personal pronouns 
Singular 
Plural
1st person
(the person/s speaking)
I
we
2nd person
(the person/s spoken to)
you
you
3rd person
(the person/s or things being spoken 
about)
he/she/it
they
And when the action is done
 to 
the person, for example:
Singular 
Plural
me 
us
you 
you
he/she/it 
them
The falling brick hit 
me
. 
a. Following a preposition: These will be explained in the section 
on prepositions and the section on object (see pages 71, 98).
The brick fell 
on me
. 
b. A preposition that is understood, i.e. not mentioned.
It gave (to) 
me
concussion.
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pronouns

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The following words are common pronouns for one person or 
thing:
I you he she it me her him
And for more than one person or thing:
we you they us them
Demonstrative pronouns
As the name suggests, demonstrative pronouns demonstrate or 
point out ‘which one’ of a number. There are just four obvious 
ones:
Singular
Plural
(here)
this
these
(there)
that
those
Remember, as the pronoun 
takes the place of a noun
, the noun 
is not mentioned.
A pronoun – 
This
is scrumptious.
Not a pronoun – 
This
éclair is scrumptious.
In the second sentence 
this
is an adjective qualifying (telling more 
about) the noun ‘éclair’. (See adjectives on page 53.)
Note:
the words 
one
and 
such
can also be used as pronouns taking 
the place of nouns.
For example:
One
can search for gemstones.
Such
is life.
I found 
one
.
He told me 
such
.
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GrAMMAr for eVerYone

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A
2.1 Activities: pronouns
1. Students rewrite sentences replacing the nouns with suitable 
pronouns.
2. Students in pairs attempt to have a conversation without using any 
pronouns. Suggest subjects, such as:
a. What you did yesterday …
b. A teacher reprimanding a student for a bad piece of work …
3. Students are given cloze sentences with a choice of pronouns for 
filling the gaps.
a. Who drove the car? David drove . . . . . . . . . . (them, it, his, we)
b. Who gave Lucy the chewing gum? . . . . . . . . . . did. (him, those, 
he, this)
c. We saw . . . . . . . . . . at the show. (I, they, him, us)
d. David bought . . . . . . . . . . ice-creams. (he, they, us, this)
e. Jenny was at the show. Did . . . . . . . . . . see . . . . . . . . . . (them, 
her, we, you)
4. Students make example sentences using pronouns correctly, orally, 
on the board or in their grammar exercise books.
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pronouns

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