Exercise 2.. Insert the proper form of the personal pronoun in brackets and comment on its grammatical categories.

1. I had turned and faced (he). He was taller than (I).

2. I only mean I’m sorry the captain’s (I).

3. He’ll be between (you) and (I), anyway. 

4. It was (she) who asked the next question.

5. It’s (they) whom I pity desperately.

6. ‘She’s better at it than (we) are,’ said Nora.

7. It was (I) not Martin, who had in­sisted on seeing (he) that night – because I wanted his support.

8. ‘Who is it?’ ‘(I). It’s (I).’

9. Now here you are, safe and sound. And you have your home and Eliza and (he).

10. Time for you and (I)to talk a little business. (S. Sheldon)

11. ‘Well, I cried last night,’ he returned, ‘and I had more reason to cry than (she).’ (E. Bronte)

12. ‘To get rid of (I), answer my question,’ persevered Mr. Linton. (E. Bronte)

13. ‘You and (I),’ he said, ‘have each a great debt to settle with the man out yonder!’ (E. Bronte)

14. She was older than (I) was, with good cheekbones and lovely skin. (Robert B. Parker)

15. She’s as bad as (I) and you!

16. You are closer to death than (I).

17. ‘Who told him?’ ‘(I).’

18. ‘Well, it was late, and (I) and my friend Bob, we’d been to a game.’

19. The ski instructor didn’t actually ski any better than (I).

20.  It’s (they) who asked for the music to be turned down.  

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS have the following grammatical categories:

· person (first, second, third);

· number (singular, plural);

· gender in the third person singular (masculine, feminine, neuter);

They may be used in the conjoint form (as determiners) or absolute form (as substitutes, replacers).

Exercise 3. Choose the appropriate form of the possessive pronoun and comment on its grammatical categories.

1. I went (my, mine) way, and she went (her, hers).

2. He left (her, hers) with (their, theirs) child.

3. What was this experiment of (your, yours)?

4. He slipped (his) arm in (her, hers).

5. From this point onward (their, theirs) story comes in two versions, (my, mine) and (her, hers).

6. The Minister’s room was only two doors from (my, mine).

7. ‘That thought is not (me, mine),’ he said to himself quickly.

8. Where’s (your, yours) seat? I shall go to (my, mine).

9. Call me what you like. You have chosen (your, yours) part, we have chosen (our, ours).

10. His nature was harder than most of (their, theirs).

11. I thought it over aloud, in my master’s presence; walking straight from (her, hers) room to (his), and relating the whole story. (E. Bronte)

12. I took (her, hers) hand in (my, mine), and bid (her, hers) be composed.            (E. Bronte)

13. You have chosen (your, yours) part, we have chosen (our, ours).                   (John Galsworthy)

14. ‘…and this – I should know it among a thousand – it’s a lapwing’s. Bonny bird; wheeling over our heads in the middle of the moor. It wanted to get to (it, its) nest, for the clouds had touched the swells, and it felt rain coming.’ (E. Bronte)

 

Exercise 4. Choose between the definite article and the possessive pronoun. Explain your choice.

1. ‘Hi, Mom,’ he says, kissing me on ………. cheek. (Terry McMillan)

2. And he took ………. wife in ………. arms, and looked at her with anguish. (E. Bronte)

3. Mr. Edgar’s coldness depressed me exceedingly; and all the way from the Grange I puzzled ………. brains how to put more heart into what he said, when I repeated it; and how to soften his refusal of even a few lines to console Isabella. (E. Bronte)

4. I tapped her carefully on ………. shoulder.

5. I didn’t feel as if I were in the company of a creature of my own species: it appeared that he would not understand, though I spoke to him; so I stood off, and held ………. tongue, in great perplexity. (E. Bronte)

6. … after the struggle, he trembled, in spite of himself, to ………. very finger-ends. (E. Bronte)

7. Ryan kissed her on ………. cheek. (Jack Higgins)

8. Hareton, during the discussion, stood with ………. hands in his pockets, too awkward to speak; though he looked as if he did not relish my intrusion. (E. Bronte)

9. I shook her warmly by ………. hand.

10. Mrs Heathcliff was seated by the bedside, with ………. hands folded on ………. knees. (E. Bronte)  

11. He plucked Soames by ………. sleeve. (John Galsworthy)

12. ‘I didn’t touch you, you lying creature!’ cried she, ………. fingers tingling to repeat the act, and ………. ears red with rage. (E. Bronte)

13. I feel a pain in ………. neck whenever I lift heavy objects.

14. She stamped ………. foot, wavered a moment, and then, irresistibly impelled by the naughty spirit within her, slapped me on ………. cheek a stinging blow that filled both eyes with water. (E. Bronte)

15. The youth was paralysed after being shot in ………. leg.

16. At last he placed ………. hat on………. head, and walked grumbling forth. (E. Bronte)

17. ‘She has blood on ………. lips!’ he said, shuddering. (E. Bronte)

18. I incautiously gave the account aloud, and she heard me; for she started up – ………. hair flying over ………. shoulders, ………. eyes flashing, the muscles of ………. neck and arms standing out preternaturally. (E. Bronte)

19.  The Duchness patted her on ………. head.

‘You are talking in ………. sleep!’ (E. Bronte)

20. He took her by ………. hand and led her into the next room.

SELF-PRONOUNS

    SELF-PRONOUNS have the following grammatical categories:

· person (first, second, third);

· number (singular, plural);

· gender in the third person singular (masculine, feminine, neuter).

 

SELF-PRONOUNS may function as:

Ø reflexive: have their own syntactic function in the sentence – subject, predicative, object, attribute; adverbial modifier (cannot be dropped out from the sentence without destroying its meaning)

Ø emphatic: function in the sentence for emphasis as apposition to nouns, pronouns they emphasize (can be dropped out from the sentence without destroying its meaning). Emphatic pronouns may be used to emphasize that the subject caused a certain action. Compare: He got arrested.// He got himself arrested (= he did something to cause it). They may function with a meaning similar to ‘also.’ E.g. John said he was feeling ill. I was feeling pretty bad myself.