ABOUT PRONOUNS: Vocabulary



REVIEW OF PASSIVE: Identify any passive sentence in this group. Determine if it is “awkward.” If so, restate it. Maintain proper tense and aspect.

Most of the class is reading the book by Hemingway.

The entrance exam was failed by over one-third of the applicants.

Action on the bill is being considered by the committee.

ABOUT PRONOUNS: Using the Proper Vocabulary

1. Number: Singular/Plural

2. Gender: Masculine/Feminine/Neuter

3. Case: Object(ive)/ Subject(ive)/Possessive

4. Person: 1st, 2nd, 3rd

COMMON GRAMMAR ISSUES WITH PERSONAL PRONOUNS : It’s/Its

Found October 12, 1997 at URL: , a page about the Paul Bunyan Trail.

"This new trail will ultimately link 16 communities between it's source in Brainerd/Baxter and Lake Bemidji State Park on the north."

Found October 12, 1997 at URL:

"Thanks to the following specifically, and to all the volunteers and those who contributed, for the outpouring of support for the C&O Canal and the Potomac Conservancy's efforts in it's restoration!"

Found October 15, 1997 at URL: ", an NPS page for the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

"The park is known for two things, it's scenic beauty at the head of Potomac River fall line and the historic Patowmack Canal."

Articulate the difference:

What is “it’s”?

What is “its”?

How do we test for the difference?

How do we mark the difference on a style sheet?

ACTIVITY:

A person who does not speak English walks up to you and asks for help understanding the following pairs of two words in English.

For each word in each set , generate 5 sentences that show the words being used in as many different ways as possible.

Then produce a rule that could explain how the words in the set are used.

SET 1: Me/Myself

SET 1: Himself/ themselves

ABOUT REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS:

1. Reflexive pronouns always appear as either the object of the verb or the object of a preposition.

2. Reflexive pronouns must “reflect back” to a previously mentioned person or thing (called an “antecedent”) in the same clause.

Examples:

I want to kill myself.

Ms. Jones talked to Bill about himself.

ABOUT INTENSIVE PRONOUNS:

1. These look exactly like reflexive pronouns but are positioned differently.

2. Intensifying pronouns sit right next to the word they intensify and can be removed from the sentence without any need to replace them.

Examples:

I myself want to kill him. . .

(I want to kill him. . .)

President Bush himself doesn’t understand what he is saying. . .

(President Bush doesn’t understand what he is saying. . .)

GRAMMAR YOU CAN USE.

Native speakers of English often confuse “I” “me” and “myself.” So let’s review the rules:

I – is used only as the subject of a verb.

Me – is used only as the object of a verb or a preposition.

Myself – is used only as the object of a verb or a preposition WHEN the antecedent has been clearly stated in the clause. If there is no antecedent, use “me.”

Find the errors in these sentences (all taken from an article in the Wall Street Journal available at: ). Correct them.

Speaking on Social Security, Democrat hopeful Barack Obama boasted that "here's an area where John (Edwards) and myself were actually quite specific."

Bill Richardson wondered, "What is wrong with having been like myself -- 14 years in the Congress, two Cabinet positions?"

Mitt Romney: "It is going to take a person who is himself an innovator like myself who has the experience to bring change to Washington."

Ron Paul noted proudly that "We have a lot of similarities . . . Barack Obama and myself, because our campaigns are made up of young people."

Clinton famously said: "If you want a spring in your step and a song in your heart, give Al Gore and I a chance to bring America back."

Mr. Clinton remarked on the "big differences between Sen. Dole and myself."

Jimmy Carter noted that "I think that we'll have good results on November the second for myself and I hope for the country."

Bottom Line: How would you mark these errors? Are they person errors? Case errors? Gender errors? Number errors?

The challenge: Find errors in the press and in signage.

Locate examples of grammar errors that we have covered in class in the popular press and on signage.

Bring those errors to me. I must see the original. If you find it in a newspaper or magazine – clip it out. If you find it in a sign, take a picture of yourself next to the sign and bring me that.

Identify the error and tell me how you would fix it.

For each such error brought in, you will earn 3 extra credit points. If one error is brought in twice, I will only award points to the first person who brings it in.

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