Today...we learn about PRONOUNS and DETERMINERS.
It presented by Zura, Aini, and Jiha.
For determiners, it presented by Nabila, Amira and Edlina.
A pronoun is often defined as a word which can be used instead of a noun. For example, instead of saying John is a student, the pronoun he can be used in place of the noun John and the sentence becomes He is a student. We use pronouns very often, especially so that we do not have to keep on repeating a noun. This chapter is about the kind of pronoun called a personal pronoun because it often refers to a person. Like nouns, personal pronouns sometimes have singular and plural forms (I-we, he-they).
Unlike nouns, personal pronouns sometimes have different forms for masculine/male, feminine/female and neuter (he-she-it). Also unlike nouns, personal pronouns have different forms depending on if they act as subjects or objects (he-him, she-her). A subject is a word which does an action and usually comes before the verb, and an object is a word that receives an action and usually comes after the verb. For example, in the sentence Yesterday Susan called her mother, Susan is the subject and mother is the object. The pronoun she can be used instead of Susanand the pronoun her can be used instead of mother. The form of a personal pronoun also changes according to what person is referred to. Person is used here as a grammar word and means:
1st person or the self (I, me, we),
2nd person or the person spoken to (you),
3rd person or the person spoken about (he, she, him, her, they, them).
There is also a possessive form of the pronoun. Just as we can make a noun possessive as in the sentence That is my father's book to mean That is the book of my father, we can make thepronoun possessive and say That book is his. There are possessive adjective forms (such as my, your, his, her etc.) that are discussed with other adjectives in chapter 4. Possessive pronounscan stand by themselves without nouns, but possessive adjectives, like other adjectives, are used together with nouns.
There is also an intensive form of the pronoun which intensifies or emphasizes the noun that it comes after as in the sentence I myself saw him. The reflexive form of the pronoun looks exactly like the intensive form but is used when the subject and object of a verb refers to the same person as in the sentence I saw myself in the mirror.
All of this may sound confusing, but if you study the chart below, it will be clearer:
Singular
| Person | Subject | Object | Possessive | Intensive
Reflexive |
| 1st | I | me | mine | myself |
| 2nd | you | you | yours | yourself |
| 3rd | he/she/it | him/her/it | his/hers | himself/herself/itself |
Plural
| Person | Subject | Object | Possessive | Intensive
Reflexive |
| 1st | we | us | ours | ourselves |
| 2nd | you | you | yours | yourselves |
| 3rd | they | them | theirs | themselves |
Notice that the form you is the same for subject and object, singular and plural and that there is no neuter singular possessive form.
There are also interrogative pronouns (who, which, what) used for asking questions and relative pronouns (who, which, what, that) used in complex sentences which will be discussed in another place. Some grammar books also talk about demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those) and indefinite pronouns (some, all, both, each, etc.) which are very similar to adjectives.
DETERMINERS
Determiners signal (“determine”) that a noun will follow. Unlike adjectives, which also signal that a noun will follow, determiners cannot add the inflectional morphemes -er and -est. In addition, because they are function words, determiners do not have other forms or synonyms. Their "meaning" is their function: to signal that a noun will follow. The following examples illustrate the difference:
Determiner + noun tea
Adjective + noun tea
Note that each adjective has a distinct meaning.
In addition, each adjective may add its comparative (-er) and superlative (-est) form
Types of determiners
1. articles (the hat, a hat, an opera)
2.
possessive nouns / pronouns (Mary’s hat, her hat)
3. numbers (five hats, eight hats, twenty hats)
4. indefinite pronouns (each hat ,some hats, both hats)
5. demonstrative pronouns (that hat, those hats)
Native speakers of English learn when to use articles with nouns as they learn to speak.
However, learning when to use articles is often difficult for non-native speakers.
The difference between article use with town and city illustrates the difficulty:
Correct: I walked to the town. (article the before town)
Correct: I walked to town. (no article before town)
Correct: I walked to the city. (article the before city)
Incorrect: I walked to city. (no article before city)
At night class...we learn about :-
JABBERWOCKY
Lewis Carroll
(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and throughOne, two! One, two! And through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
