WordgroupspunctualreviewAdjectives

andpronouns

In order to be able to communicate effectively and to understand what is being communicated correctly it is necessary to understand different types of words and word groups. The most important of these word groups are nouns, verbs, adjectives and prepositions. It is how you use these words, and their forms, that makes what you are trying to convey understandable and intelligent. Nouns, as you probably know, are names of people, places or things. Verbs are action words, and adjectives are description words. We are going to take a deeper look at these word groups and their different forms. Nouns are used to identify the subject of a sentence. If we did not use nouns, we would not know who or what you were talking or writing about. The use of nouns is continued throughout a text or conversation to tie all of the information together. Nouns may be replaced with pronouns or possessive adjectives. You know some of the forms of the pronouns and the possessive adjectives but we are going to review them again. Following is a table with a list of the pronouns in their different forms and possessive adjectives.

Personal or Subject Pronouns I you he she it we you they

Possessive Adjectives my your his her its our your their

Possessive Pronouns mine yours his hers its ours yours theirs

Object Pronouns me you him her it us you them

Reflexive Pronouns myself yourself himself herself itself ourselves yourselves themselves

Pronouns may replace nouns but only after the subject has been introduced or the other person or persons know who or what you are talking about. Here is an example

Mario is a good swimmer. Mario swims every morning. Marios brother also swims. Reading or listening to this example is rather monotonous. This is why we use pronouns to replace, in this case, the proper noun Mario.
1. RandersOpenWater swimmer. Wikimedia (2009).

Now read these sentences Mario is a good swimmer. He swims every morning. His brother also swims. Looks better? YES! Sounds better? YES!

Possessive Adjectives are used to describe a noun and like other adjectives come before the noun. They are also considered a Possessive Pronoun. Examples: My horse is faster then hers. My is the possessive adjective. horse is the noun. hers is the possessive pronoun. Remember that there no apostrophes with possessive adjectives or with possessive pronouns. Apostrophes are used only with possessive nouns.

2. Horse Ride. Feser (2009).

This is the dogs ball. This is its ball. dogs is the possessive noun. (with the s) its is the possessive adjective because it comes before the noun ball.
3. Viljo koirarannalla 9. Wikimedia (2010).

Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

An adjective is used to describe a noun. A pronoun is used in place of a noun. Pronouns are used in grammar in the same way nouns are. They refer to persons or things named or understood in the context of a conversation or reading. Possessive pronouns and adjectives are used to indicate the ownership of something. Below you can see how they are used: Possessive Adjectives I have my car. You have your homework. He has his dog. She has her dress. We have our books. You have your uniforms. They have their lunch. Possessive Pronouns I have mine. You have yours. He has his. She has hers. We have ours. You have yours. They have theirs.

Object Pronouns
With object pronouns you are trying to find the object in the sentence, or what the action is being done to, from, or with. In this example, can you find the object in the sentence? The boy traveled with friends. He traveled with friends. In this example, our object is the friends. The same goes for The girl flew the kite or Jonathan kissed Katie. Sometimes there is no object, so you need to make sure that you ask yourself what the action in the sentence is being done to, from, or with and you will be able to find it. Again, try finding the appropriate object pronoun to replace friends from the original example. You could try saying The boy traveled with them. or The boy traveled with us. Each pronoun could be correct as long as you continue speaking in the same person.

Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are used in three main situations. 1. Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and object are the same. I hurt myself. The band call themselves Dire Straits. He shot himself.

2. They are used as the object of a preposition, when the subject and the object are the same. I bought a present for myself. She did it by herself. (She did it alone.) That man is talking to himself. 3. They are used when you want to emphasize the subject. I'll do it myself. (No one else will help me.) They ate all the food themselves. (No one else had any.)

References
1. Wikimedia Commons. (2009). RandersOpenWater swimmer [digital picture]. Retrieved on th October 25 from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RandersOpenWater_swimmer.jpg under GNU free documentation license. 2. Fesser, C. (2009). Horse Ride [digital picture]. Retrieved on October 25 from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Horse_Ride.jpg under GNU free documentation license. 3. Wikimedia Commons. (2009). RandersOpenWater swimmer [digital picture]. Retrieved on th October 25 from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viljo_koirarannalla_9.jpg under GNU free documentation license.
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