Brighter Grammar 1 - Margaret Macaulay 1987

Lesson Sixteen. Pronouns: subject and object

In Lessons 11 and 12 we talked about subjects and objects:

In English (but not in all languages), nouns always have the same form whether they are the subject or the object.

As you see, the nouns boy and dog can be subjective or objective without any change of form. As subject or as object they are b-o-y and d-o-g. But pronouns are different. With most of them there is one form for the subject and another form for the object. I is subjective; me is objective. He is subjective; him is objective, and so on. For example:

You and it are the same whether they are the subject or the object.

This table will help you to remember what you have learned about pronouns.

Exercises

A Pick out the pronouns in these sentences. Write subject or object after each.

Example: They took us in their car.

Answer. They - subject; us - object

1 I taught him at school.

2 He helped us with this exercise.

3 She will see them tomorrow.

4 You broke that window; I saw you.

5 It will cost a lot of money to mend it.

6 I asked her to come and see me,

7 We couldn’t do the exercise until the teacher told us how to do it.

8 They played us at football, and we beat them.

9 He scored a goal, and we all cheered him.

10 She did the exercise well. When I had marked it, I praised her.

В Divide these sentences into subject, verb, object like this:

and then underline each pronoun on your paper. We have answered the first one in the example.

1 I taught you.  6 He thanked them.

2 He saw me.  7 She hit the ball.

3 She knows us. 8 He threw it.

4 We know her. 9 It broke a window.

5 They praised him. 10 They blamed him.

C Change the pronouns in these sentences from singular to plural. In some cases you will have to change the verb too.

Example: He likes me.

Answer: They like us.

1 I come to school every day.

2 He is hungry.

3 She can sing very well.

4 The teacher gives me an English lesson.

5 The teacher asked him a question.

6 I asked her to sing ’Ten Green Bottles’.

7 He told me a story.

8 You are working hard.

9 I am English; what is he?

10 He doesn’t see me.

D Write out these sentences, but with pronouns instead of the words printed in italics. You will need to change the verb too in 17,18,19 and 20

1 John is a boy.

2 Margaret is a girl.

3 John and Margaret met the teacher.

4 Mrs Smith, the teacher, gave John a lesson.

5 Margaret is a nice girl. My wife and I like Margaret.

6 Here is my bicycle. My bicycle is black.

7 Mr Jones, the teacher, said, ’Give the teacher your book.’

8 The teacher said to John and Margaret, ’Have John and Margaret done this exercise?’

9 The lesson is easy. Mrs Smith, the teacher, explained the lesson.

10 Mr Jones, the teacher, spoke to John and Margaret. The teacher asked John and Margaret to come and see the teacher.

11 Tom saw Mary. Tom spoke to Mary.

12 Mary saw Tom. Mary spoke to Tom.

13 Tom and Mary saw Mrs Robinson. Tom and Mary spoke to Mrs Robinson.

14 Mrs Robinson saw Tom and Mary. Mrs Robinson spoke to Tom and Mary.

15 Mr Sangster met Carl and Linda. Mr Sangster shook hands with Carl and Linda.

16 Linda and Carl met Mr Sangster. Linda and Carl shook hands with Mr Sangster.

17 Linda and Carl said to Mr Sangster, ’Is Mr Sangster pleased to see Linda and Carl?'

18 ’My name is Henry. What is your name?’

’My name is George, and George is very pleased to meet Henry.'

19 My name is Grace. What is your name?’

’My name is Margaret, and Margaret is very pleased to meet Grace'

20 ’My name is Linda. What are your names?’ ’Our names are Jane and Elizabeth, and Jane and Elizabeth are very pleased to meet Linda. Is Linda pleased to meet Jane and Elizabeth?'

E Here is another story. Write it out again, but use pronouns instead of nouns where pronouns are better.

Isaac Newton's egg

Three hundred years ago, Isaac Newton was a great man of science. No man was a greater thinker, but Newton was very absent-minded about small matters when Newton was thinking about a problem. One morning Newton got up very early because Newton was working on a very difficult problem. Newton was thinking about the problem so deeply that Newton would not leave the problem to go to break­fast. But Mary, his housekeeper, thought Newton needed food, so the housekeeper took a pan of water and an egg to his study. The housekeeper wanted to boil the egg and stay with Newton until Newton ate the egg.

But Newton wanted to be alone, and Newton said, ’Mary can leave the egg with Newton, and Newton will boil the egg.’ The housekeeper put the egg on the table beside Newton’s watch, and the housekeeper said, ’Isaac must boil the egg for four minutes and then the egg will be ready.’

Then the housekeeper left the room. But the house­keeper was afraid that Newton might forget to boil the egg. So the housekeeper returned about an hour later. The housekeeper found Newton standing by the fireplace. Newton had put the watch in the saucepan, and Newton was boiling the watch. Newton was holding the egg in his hand. But Newton was still thinking about his problem.