PRONOUNS AND POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
Pronouns designate the person we are speaking about/referring to. The subject pronouns – I,
you, he, she, it, we, you (pl) and they, can be substituted with pronouns, nouns or possessive
pronouns.
He is ready or John is ready. The subject pronoun ‘he’, substitutes the noun ‘John.’
The book is on the table – it is on the table. The book is a noun therefore the (subject
pronoun) of the sentence. Instead of repeating the noun ‘book’ we can substitute it with ‘it’.
Sentence patterns:
A sentence always consists of at least two parts, – a subject and a predicate (verb).
There are long sentences and there are short ones. A sentence, whether short or long,
expresses a complete idea.
A complete sentence must consist of an independent clause – that is, a subject and verb that
make a complete thought. Independent clauses are called independent because they make
sense when they stand on their own.
Example:
I refuse.
The wind blows.
Electricity costs.
Dogs bark.
Bees sting.
Cats meow.
We cannot say for example ‘I go’ as this has no meaning on its own. It does not express a
complete idea. It is a dependent clause – (fragmented). The listener expects to hear more
information from the speaker.
I go (where?) I go to the cinema every week.
Compound subject (two subjects related to the same verb):
James and his colleagues collaborate.
We can make the sentences above longer by adding more information.
I refuse to eat that awful food. (Here we state ‘what’ I refuse to do).
The wind blows (where? when? why?) in the north. (Here we state ‘where’ the wind
blows).
The wind blows at night. (Here we state ‘when’ it blows)
Electricity costs a lot. (Here we state ‘how much’ it costs)
Dogs bark when they are hungry, happy or angry. (Here we state ‘why or when’ they bark)
Bees sting people. (Here we state ‘who’ they sting)
Cats meow when they want attention or when they want to eat. (Here we state ‘when’ they
meow)
They meow because they want attention. (Here we state ‘why’ they meow.
James and his colleagues collaborate on the project. (Here we state ‘what’ they collaborate
on).
We can elaborate more on a sentence and add adjectives for description.
Good friends are loyal people.
Adjective ‘good’ + subject (noun) ‘friends’ + verb ‘be’ (are) + adjective ‘loyal’ + noun
‘people’.
In the above sentence we have used adjectives to describe the noun.
“What kind of friends?” Good friends.
“What kind of people?” Loyal people.
We can make sentences even longer by adding more information.
Electricity costs a lot during the day in most countries.
Here we have added the answer to three questions. How much? When? and Where?
How much? A lot – When? During the day – Where? In most countries.
We can give more details and add an adjective and an adverb. As mentioned before, the
adjective describes the noun whereas adverbs describe the verb.
Solar powered electricity rarely costs much during the day.
Here we use solar and powered – two adjectives to describe the noun ‘electricity’, ‘What
kind of electricity?’ we ask. We used ‘rarely’ which is an adverb of frequency, to describe
the verb ‘cost’ and we also used * ‘much’ (another adverb) to describe the verb ‘cost’.
*(Be careful with ‘much’ as it has many functions other than that of an adverb).
For more on adverbs of frequency and the position they take in a sentence please go to
Chapter three - Adverbs of Frequency.
So, to create sentences we must ask ourselves questions - Why? When? Where? How? etc...
When we use the possessive pronouns - My, your, his, her, its, their, your and our, they refer
to whom something belongs.
Example:
His car or John’s car. NOT the car of John.
Her book or Mary’s book.
Compound subject (two subjects related to the same verb).
Michael and Paul’s cars are in the garage or their cars are in the garage.
(See more on the possessives in Chapter four ‘the genitive/possessive)
So, when forming sentences in English, always ask yourself questions.
Take a look at the variations below for relatively simple sentence constructions.
Pronouns designate the person we are speaking about/referring to. The subject pronouns – I,
you, he, she, it, we, you (pl) and they, can be substituted with pronouns, nouns or possessive
pronouns.
He is ready or John is ready. The subject pronoun ‘he’, substitutes the noun ‘John.’
The book is on the table – it is on the table. The book is a noun therefore the (subject
pronoun) of the sentence. Instead of repeating the noun ‘book’ we can substitute it with ‘it’.
Sentence patterns:
A sentence always consists of at least two parts, – a subject and a predicate (verb).
There are long sentences and there are short ones. A sentence, whether short or long,
expresses a complete idea.
A complete sentence must consist of an independent clause – that is, a subject and verb that
make a complete thought. Independent clauses are called independent because they make
sense when they stand on their own.
Example:
I refuse.
The wind blows.
Electricity costs.
Dogs bark.
Bees sting.
Cats meow.
We cannot say for example ‘I go’ as this has no meaning on its own. It does not express a
complete idea. It is a dependent clause – (fragmented). The listener expects to hear more
information from the speaker.
I go (where?) I go to the cinema every week.
Compound subject (two subjects related to the same verb):
James and his colleagues collaborate.
We can make the sentences above longer by adding more information.
I refuse to eat that awful food. (Here we state ‘what’ I refuse to do).
The wind blows (where? when? why?) in the north. (Here we state ‘where’ the wind
blows).
The wind blows at night. (Here we state ‘when’ it blows)
Electricity costs a lot. (Here we state ‘how much’ it costs)
Dogs bark when they are hungry, happy or angry. (Here we state ‘why or when’ they bark)
Bees sting people. (Here we state ‘who’ they sting)
Cats meow when they want attention or when they want to eat. (Here we state ‘when’ they
meow)
They meow because they want attention. (Here we state ‘why’ they meow.
James and his colleagues collaborate on the project. (Here we state ‘what’ they collaborate
on).
We can elaborate more on a sentence and add adjectives for description.
Good friends are loyal people.
Adjective ‘good’ + subject (noun) ‘friends’ + verb ‘be’ (are) + adjective ‘loyal’ + noun
‘people’.
In the above sentence we have used adjectives to describe the noun.
“What kind of friends?” Good friends.
“What kind of people?” Loyal people.
We can make sentences even longer by adding more information.
Electricity costs a lot during the day in most countries.
Here we have added the answer to three questions. How much? When? and Where?
How much? A lot – When? During the day – Where? In most countries.
We can give more details and add an adjective and an adverb. As mentioned before, the
adjective describes the noun whereas adverbs describe the verb.
Solar powered electricity rarely costs much during the day.
Here we use solar and powered – two adjectives to describe the noun ‘electricity’, ‘What
kind of electricity?’ we ask. We used ‘rarely’ which is an adverb of frequency, to describe
the verb ‘cost’ and we also used * ‘much’ (another adverb) to describe the verb ‘cost’.
*(Be careful with ‘much’ as it has many functions other than that of an adverb).
For more on adverbs of frequency and the position they take in a sentence please go to
Chapter three - Adverbs of Frequency.
So, to create sentences we must ask ourselves questions - Why? When? Where? How? etc...
When we use the possessive pronouns - My, your, his, her, its, their, your and our, they refer
to whom something belongs.
Example:
His car or John’s car. NOT the car of John.
Her book or Mary’s book.
Compound subject (two subjects related to the same verb).
Michael and Paul’s cars are in the garage or their cars are in the garage.
(See more on the possessives in Chapter four ‘the genitive/possessive)
So, when forming sentences in English, always ask yourself questions.
Take a look at the variations below for relatively simple sentence constructions.
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