| People<\/td>\r\n | Places<\/td>\r\n | Things<\/td>\r\n | Concepts<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/thead>\r\n |
| Tracy<\/td>\r\n | Alaska<\/td>\r\n | fork<\/td>\r\n | love<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n |
| actors<\/td>\r\n | home<\/td>\r\n | internet<\/td>\r\n | jogging<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n |
| Mrs. Doubtfire<\/td>\r\n | Mars<\/td>\r\n | unicorn<\/td>\r\n | acceptance<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n \r\n\r\nIn a sentence, it is the noun's job to act as a [pb_glossary id=\"42\"]subject[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong>, an [pb_glossary id=\"369\"]object[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong>, or a\u00a0subject complement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>You'll learn more about these terms in Chapter 2.\r\n Football<\/span> is very entertaining.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/em>(underlined noun is the subject)<\/p>\r\n Gracy challenged Carl<\/span> to a race.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>(underlined noun is the object of the verb)<\/p>\r\n Karmandeep is a chef<\/span>.\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (underlined noun is a subject complement)<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n PRACTICE: Identifying Nouns<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n The bus veered sharply toward the crowd of people. It<\/span> nearly hit them<\/span>!<\/em><\/p>\r\nIn that second sentence, the underlined pronouns substituted for nouns in the first sentence (we call those nouns [pb_glossary id=\"372\"]antecedents[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong>). Instead of bus<\/em>, I wrote\u00a0it<\/em>. Instead of\u00a0crowd of people<\/em> I wrote them<\/em>. Using pronouns clarifies writing and makes it more efficient. Instead of using four words to describe \"the crowd of people\" I can use just one short pronoun.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nIn case the previous example wasn't clear, I'll offer a short passage to illustrate just how irritating and confusing English would be without pronouns.\r\n My\u00a0name is Tom and I<\/span> am a teacher. I<\/span> pursued that<\/span> career because I<\/span> like to interact with students and help them<\/span> learn to communicate. I<\/span> hope I<\/span> help them<\/span> live happier, more successful lives.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n Tom's name is Tom and Tom is a teacher. Tom pursued the career of teaching because Tom likes to interact with students and help students learn to communicate. Tom hopes Tom helps students live happier, more successful lives.<\/em><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nSee what I mean? That second passage was painful to read (and write -- believe me). Pronouns are vital to communication.\r\n\r\n \r\n PRACTICE: Identifying Pronouns<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n We begin with the parts of speech that express the “things” in a sentence: nouns and pronouns.<\/p>\n Nouns, as we probably know from our high school English classes, are people, places, things, and also concepts.<\/p>\n |