Pronouns!

Nouns only change form when in the possessive case (which we will discuss in a few minutes)... Bethany's eyes Alice's furcoat

Pronouns, however, have three cases: subject, object, and possessive.

Pronouns!

What is case? Case is the form a noun or pronoun takes to indicate its function in a sentence Three cases above See chart on 207 in Wadsworth

Subject Case!

Pronouns take on the subject case in the following situations: As a subject of a verb: Bethany bought a new water bottle. As a subject complement: It was she who took me to Long Beach Island.

Object Case!

Pronouns take on the object case in the following situations: As a direct object (nouns affected by subject/verb): Our department head told Alexis and me to come to the meeting. As an indirect object (tells you who the action is happening to): The tuition bill surprised him.

Possessive Case!

Possessive case indicates ownership of something: your car, your book, our wedding Bethany's advisor approved her trip to our campus.

Time Out!

Pause. Take a breath! Questions?!

Who v Whom

In general, use who when talking about a person as a subject The Salvation Army gives food and shelter to whoever is in need. (whoever=subject of a dependent clause) In general, use whom when a pronoun functions as an object I wonder whom jazz musician Miles Davis influenced (whom=object of larger dependent clause...Miles Davis is subject)

We v Us

Use we if the noun is a subject. We women must stick together. Use us if the pronoun must be in object case. Teachers make learning easy for us students.

Which v That!

That usually refers to an object, not a person. Use that when using a restrictive clause that would change the meaning of the sentence without it. Books that big can't fit into my bag. The librarians at Monmouth that have hybrid cars get better gas mileage.

Time Out!

Pause. Take a breath! Questions?!