Pronoun /antecedent, Prepositions , Conjunctions , and Interjections

1. Pronoun/antecedent, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections Parts of Speech part 2

2. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

3. What do you need to understand about pronoun-antecedent agreement errors? • What’s a pronoun? • What’s an antecedent? • What’s a pronoun-antecedent agreement error?

4. What’s a Pronoun? • A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun or other pronoun • It can take the place of a subject word • (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) • It can take the place of an object word • (me, you him, her it, us, them) • It can take the place of a possessive word • (my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs)

5. If you like silly videos, here are a couple defining pronouns. Sopronouns Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla Pronouns

6. What’s an antecedent? • The word that the pronoun replaces. • Hermione Granger threw her wand onto the floor • (“her” renames “Hermione Granger”). • When Ron Weasley saw the wand drop, he picked it up and handed it to her. • (“it” renames the “wand”) • Then Ron and Hermione went to their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. • (“their” renames “Ron and Hermione”)

7. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement: • All pronouns and their antecedents need to agree in person and number.

8. Agree in Person • Ihate to proofread my paper because proofreading is such a boring thing for you to do. • (disagreement in person--first person antecedent “I”, second person pronoun “you”) • "Why should I study literature? You don't get anything out of it" • (disagreement in number—I shouldn’t study it because “you” don’t get anything out of it?

9. Agree in Number • Singular antecedents get singular pronouns • The boy tossed his hat on the table. • Plural antecedents get plural pronouns • The boys tossed their hats on the table.

10. You’ll generally run into problems in two cases: • When the antecedent is an indefinite pronounand • When the antecedent is a singular noun that could refer to a man or a woman.

11. Indefinite Pronouns: They’re usually singular

12. Except when they’re plural

13. Or when they’re singular or plural, depending on context

14. Argh!

15. Singular Nouns that Can Refer to a Man or a Woman. • A person should be able to make up their own mind about prayer in schools. • A teacher should show their students love and compassion. • Often, a doctor will leave their patients waiting for a ridiculously long time.

16. Generally, these errors occur • because the writer is trying to avoid sexism. • When you don’t know if the antecedent is male or female, it seems logical to use the pronoun “they.”

17. When you can, just make the antecedent plural • A person should be able to make up their own mind about prayer in schools (incorrect). • People should be able to make up their own mind about prayer in schools (correct). • A teacher should show their students love and compassion (incorrect). • Teachers should show their students love and compassion (correct). • Often, a doctor will leave their patients waiting for a ridiculously long time (incorrect). • Often, doctors will leave their patients waiting for a ridiculously long time (correct).

18. General Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Rules • Compound antecedents are usually plural; • Joey and Melissa think their kids are brilliant. • If two antecedents are joined by either/or, neither/nor, the pronoun agrees with the antecedent closest to it; • Either Michael or his friends will bring their video games to the party. • Either his friends or Michael will bring his video games to the party. (This sentence is correct, but sounds illogical. Word the sentence like the first example rather than the second). • The pronoun agrees with the antecedent, not the object of the prepositional phrase; • Each of the dogs needs its own crate.

19. General Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Rules • Collective noun can be either singular or plural, depending on the context. • The jury took only two hours to reach its verdict. (Emphasizes the singularity of the jury) • The jury took only two hours to reach their verdict. (Emphasizes the jury as a group of individuals) • Avoid sexism • Not “A doctor should listen carefully to his patients.” • But rather (1) making the pronoun and its antecedent plural, or (2) reword the sentence. • Doctors should listen carefully to their patients. • Doctors should listen carefully to patients.

20. Vague Pronoun Reference • "Mom wasn't sure if Jane had her make-up," • it is unclear if "her" refers to Mom or Jane. Whose make up is it? • “Mom wasn’t sure if Jane had brought Mom’s make up.” • “Mom wasn’t sure if Jane had brought Jane’s make up.” OR • "Had Jane brought her make up?" Mom wondered. • Mom thought, "Has Jane brought my make up?"

21. Other Resources • Pronoun reference: explains pronouns using a student’s different learning styles: • Pronoun-Agreement Exercise • Pronoun-Agreement Exercise • Pronoun-Antecedent Rules (RTF)

22. Prepositions • A preposition is a word that relates a noun or a pronoun to some word in a sentence. • The paint on the canvas will dry slowly. • He ran down the stairs. • The dog hid under the bed.

23. Prepositions • A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun, which is called the object of the phrase. • The dog hid under the bed. • Sit beside me. • The runners sprinted across the finish line.

24. Prepositional Phrases • The noun or pronoun that ends a prepositional phrase is called the OBJECT. • He was born in a small town. • The cat ran toward the litter box. • The bridge is over a river.

25. Prepositional Phrases • The object of the phrase should be an object pronoun and NOT a subject pronoun. You would not use he, she, we, or I. • Hand the box to ( me, I). • She ran towards (he, him). • I can’t sit beside (she, her).

26. Prepositional Phrases • Sometimes an object will be compound. Remember to use an object pronoun. • Give it to Gary and (I, me.) • I lent a bookto Nick and (she, her).

27. Prepositions • Sometimes prepositions can be made up of two or more words. These are called compound prepositions. • according to aside from in front of instead of • across from because of in place of on top of • on account of along with far from in spite of

28. Prepositional Phrases (1st block) • If you are unsure about whether to use a subject pronoun or an object pronoun, try saying the sentence aloud with only the pronoun following the preposition. • The subject pronoun who is NEVER the object of a prepositional phrase. • ONLY use whom as the object.

29. Jobs of Prepositional Phrases • A prepositional phrase can function as an ADJECTIVE by describing a noun or pronoun. • The phrase will almost always comedirectly after the noun or pronoun that it is describing. The fabrics from that store are beautiful. (from that store describes fabrics) The man in the blue suit is staring at us. (in the blue suit describes man)

30. Jobs of Prepositional Phrases • A prepositional phrase can also function as an ADVERB when it modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. • An ADVERB phrase tells when, where, or how an action takes place. • It usually will go to the verb.

31. Adverb Prepositional Phrases The women are weaving on looms. (on looms goes to weaving) That fabric looks great on you. (on you goes to great) They work in shops. (in shops goes to work)

32. Are these adjective or adverb phrases? • Weavers around the world practice an ancient craft. • Early weavers worked with long grass strands. • Paintings from ancient Egypt show that weaving was developed early. • Tapestries with complex patterns hang in museums. • These tapestries often illustrate stories about great people. • Many tapestries depict stories from the Bible. • Several tapestries hang in French museums.

33. Conjunctions • There are 3 types of conjunctions-words that join. Coordinating - and, but, or, so, yet, for and nor. Join two simple sentences Correlative (pairs) - both/and either/or neither/nor not only/ but also Subordinating – join subordinate clauses(dependent) to main clauses(independent). Examples: once, provided that, rather than, since, so that, than, though, unless

34. Simple Sentences • A sentence consisting of only one clause, with a single subject and predicate; however, it must be a complete thought. • Examples: • The dog ate the birds. • The horse decided that he wanted to gallop around the petting zoo.

35. Conjunctive Adverbs • A conjunctive adverb may be used to join the simple sentences in a compound sentence. • Conjunctive Adverbs replace conjunctions to add a little flair to your speaking and writing. • Many Asians use chopsticks, but some use forks. • Many Asians use chopsticks; however, some use forks.

36. Conjunctive Adverbs • Conjunctive Adverbs replace conjunctions to add a little flair to your speaking and writing. To replace AND --- also, besides, furthermore, moreover To replace BUT --- however, nevertheless, still To state a result – consequently, therefore, so, thus To state equality – equally, likewise, similarly

37. Conjunctive Adverbs • Look closely as to how these adverbs are punctuated in a sentence. • Chinese cooks often stir-fry their food; therefore, they must cut it into small pieces. • When 2 simple sentences are joined with a CA, a semicolon always appears before the second sentence.

38. Conjunctive Adverbs • When the CA comes at the beginning or end of a sentence, it is set of by a comma. Stir frying should be done quickly; the wok must be very hot, therefore.

39. Conjunctive Adverbs When the CA appears in the middle, one comma precedes it and one comma follows it. Vegetables cook more quickly than meat; they must, therefore, be added to the wok last.

40. Subordinating Conjunctions Recognize a subordinate conjunction when you see one. Some sentences are complex. Such sentences have two clauses, one main [or independent] and one subordinate [or dependent]. The subordinate conjunction has two jobs. First, it provides a necessary transition between the two ideas in the sentence. This transition will indicate a time, place, or cause and effect relationship. Here are some examples: • Louisa will wash the sink full of her dirty dishes onceher roommate Shane cleans his stubble and globs of shaving cream from the bathroom sink. • We looked on top of the refrigerator, where Jenny will often hide a bag of chocolate chip cookies. • Because her teeth were chattering in fear, Lynda clenched her jaw muscle while waiting for her turn to audition.

41. Subordinating Conjunctions The second job of the subordinate conjunction is to reduce the importance of one clause so that a reader understands which of the two ideas is more important. The more important idea belongs in the main clause, the less important in the clause introduced by the subordinate conjunction. Read these examples: As Samson blew out the birthday candles atop the cake, he burned the tip of his nose on a stubborn flame. Burning his nose > blowing out candles. Ronnie begins to sneeze violently whenever he opens the door to greet a fresh spring day. Sneezing violently > opening the door.

42. Independent + dependent clause Complex sentences follow two common patterns: Main clause + Ø + subordinate clause. Nicky shook her head and sighed Ø as she puzzled over the algebra problem. Subordinate clause + , + main clause. When the doorbell rang, Nicky slammed shut her textbook and rose to pay for her pizza.

43. Complex sentence punctuation continued Punctuation gets trickier when the subordinate clause begins with a relative pronoun like who, which, or where. Sometimes you will need a comma, and sometimes you won't, depending on whether the clause is essential or nonessential. When the information in the relative clause clarifies an otherwise general noun, the clause is essential and will follow the same pattern that you saw above: main clause + Ø + essential relative clause. Nicky paid the deliveryman Ø whose rusty hatchback choked and coughed in the driveway. Deliveryman is a general noun. Which one are we talking about? When a relative clause follows a specific noun, punctuation changes. The information in the relative clause is no longer as important, and the clause becomes nonessential. Nonessential clauses require you to use commas to connect them. main clause + , + nonessential relative clause. Nicky paid Fernando , whose rusty hatchback choked and coughed in the driveway.

44. WOOOOO…

45. Interjections • An interjection is a word or group of words that expresses a strong feeling. • It has no other connection to any other words in the sentence. • Aha! Oops well Awesome • Oh my! Oh my goodness, ouch, ha, wow, gee whiz, hooray, whoops, what • Good grief Holy Moley Gosh

46. Interjection • Interjections that express STRONG emotion are followed by a ! • Overusing interjections will spoil their effectiveness. • Wow! The Saints just won the Superbowl.