Pronouns

Chris:	Guess what I did this weekend?
Jessica:	What?
Chris:	I spent hours and hours at a hardware store trying to reproduce the color of the Golden Gate bridge, but we just couldn’t get it right. The salesperson said I needed to travel to San Francisco and get a paint sample.
Jessica:	What do you need the color for?
Chris:	For my friend. He’s painting his house this weekend and I’m going to help.
Jessica:	Well, let me save you some time. It’s “International Orange.”
Chris:	What? The Golden Gate Bridge is clearly red, not orange.
Jessica:	It looks red, but it’s actually called “International Orange.” It’s very popular in California. They use it for everything.
Chris:	They are really very proud of their bridge. I think it’s the most gorgeous bridge in the world.
Jessica:	It is certainly the most photographed, and rightfully so. But there are many other beautiful bridges in the world. I have a soft spot for Tower Bridge in London, and Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
Chris:	And there’s the Pont Neuf in Paris, or the Charles Bridge in Prague. They’re also picturesque, but the Golden Gate Bridge is immediately recognizable. No one ever mistakes it. It’s the color, I’m telling you.
Jessica:	We owe the genius color choice to Irving Morrow, one of the architects of the bridge. He thought the color would look glorious next to the backdrop of the beautiful California landscape.
Chris:	It also makes it quite visible in the famous San Francisco fog.
Jessica:	And the funny thing is, it wasn’t even supposed to be permanent. The Navy wanted black and yellow stripes for the visibility. The Army wanted red and white stripes. International Orange was the color of the primer, but Morrow liked it so much that he advocated to keep it that way.
Chris:	Black and yellow stripes? Sheesh, no wonder the red color stuck!
Jessica:	Orange! International orange!
Chris:	Anyway, there could not be a better setting for such a bridge. The gorgeous city of San Francisco on one side, the beautiful mountains of Marin County on the other. It is just breathtaking.
Jessica:	Did you know the first design for the bridge by Joseph Strauss was universally rejected? He had to go back to the drawing board.
Chris:	I’m glad he did! The Golden Gate bridge was a marvel of engineering. It was dubbed “The bridge that could not be built” because the span it had to cover was enormous, and when it was finally completed in 1937, it was the longest bridge in the world.
Jessica:	Did you also know that the Golden Gate had the best safety record for a construction project for that time?
Chris:	That’s impressive.
Jessica:	Strauss put in an innovative safety net under the bridge and required all workers to wear helmets. 19 workers were saved by that net.
Chris:	Wow.
Jessica:	And do you know what Strauss said when asked how long the bridge would last?
Chris:	No.
Jessica:	He said, “forever.”

Pronouns

A pronoun is a word or phrase that is substituted for a noun whose identity has already been established. We use pronouns so we don’t have to keep repeating nouns and avoid sounding repetitive. Erin woke up early. She is tired today. sounds far less repetitive than Erin woke up early. Erin is tired today.

I. First and Second Person Pronouns: I, You, and We

I used used when you are referring to yourself as the speaker or writer. You is used when referring directly to a listener or reader.

I am the teacher. You are the student. ‘I’ refers to the writer. ‘You’ refers to the reader.

We is used to refer to a group that the speaker or writer belongs to. The listener or reader may or may not be included in the group.

We will start class in five minutes. ‘We’ refers to the teacher (the speaker) and the students.

II. He, She, It, and They

Most, but not all, pronouns have an antecedent which the pronoun later replaces.

Brenda went to Los Angeles. She will be back on Monday. Brenda is the antecedent. ‘She’ is the pronoun.

The pronoun reflects the gender of the noun it is replacing. He is used when referring to a man, she is used when referring to a woman, it is used when referring to a place or an object, and they is used when referring to more than one person.

Jared went to work early so he could leave after lunch. ‘He’ refers to Jared. Natalie called out sick. She won’t be in the office today. ‘She’ refers to Natalie. Sarah bought a new car. It is a Toyota. ‘It’ refers to the car. John and Maria are coming over to dinner. They will be here in an hour. ‘They’ refers to John and Maria.

Animals are usually referred to as it. However, if there is a personal relationship with the animal, such as a pet, and/or the gender is known, use he or she.

Did you see that horse? It ran right in front of the car! ‘It’ is used because there is no relationship between the speaker and the horse. My pet cat’s name is Hazel. She is almost seven years old. ‘She’ is used because there is a personal relationship between the speaker and the cat.

III. The Dummy Subject

We use it as an empty pronoun, or a dummy subject, if there is no other pronoun to use as a subject. This is often used when referring to the weather or time.

It was past midnight when I got home. It is so nice to go out to dinner. I can’t believe it is raining again.

Pronouns

In the box, type the correct pronoun for the noun in parenthesis.

Pronouns

Type the correct pronoun in the box for the noun the given.