PAPA VINC: Pronouns Quiz | English

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Pronouns primarily replace which part of speech in a sentence?

Answer: nouns

Pronouns replace nouns in the sentence to help make the sentence flow better. For example, "The runner injured the runner's knee when the runner fell on the track." That's awkward sounding. Let's use some pronouns: "The runner injured her knee when she fell on the track." Pronouns can also replace other pronouns in a sentence, but they primarily replace nouns.

2. Which word is the antecedent in the following sentence? "Thomas always eats his cereal in the blue striped bowl."

Answer: Thomas

The antecedent is the word or group of words that the pronoun either replaces or refers to. The antecedent usually comes before the pronoun as in the example given, "Thomas" comes before "his."

3. There are all kinds of pronouns: personal, relative, interrogative, demonstrative, indefinite, reflexive, and intensive. What kind of pronoun is "somebody"?

Answer: indefinite

Indefinite pronouns refer to unnamed people or things. If I am sitting in my living room and I really don't want to get up, I might call out, "Will somebody please get me a bowl of French vanilla ice cream with huckleberry syrup poured on top?" I have not named any of my family members, as that would take too long, and so I use the indefinite pronoun "somebody" in hopefulness.

After 10 minutes goes by and no ice cream appears in my hands I get my answer "No one will get me my ice cream", which uses yet another indefinite pronoun.

4. This, that, these, and those are considered indefinite pronouns.

Answer: False

The words give are demonstrative pronouns, which point out particular people or things. Recently at the farmer's market, a conversation: "Look at all THIS delicous fruit." "I think I want THAT one." "You mean THESE raspberries?" "No, THOSE great looking cherries."

5. Personal pronouns come in first, second, and third person. The first person singular "I", "my", "mine", "me" becomes the first person plural form of "we", "our", "ours", "us". The second person singular "you", "your", "yours" also changes form in the plural.

Answer: False

The second person plural remains "you", "your", "yours", which is one reason why the English language is not so easy to learn (for both native and non-native speakers!)

6. The pronouns "who", "whom", "whose", "which", and "what" can function as relative, as well as what other kind of pronoun?

Answer: interrogative

Relative pronouns will relate an adjective clause back to the pronoun, or noun it modifies. For example, The dessert, WHICH we had looked forward, was disappointing. WHICH relates the adjective clause it begins back to the noun dessert. Interrogative pronouns, like a detective on a case, ask questions. WHO wanted chocolate mousse in the first place? WHAT should we have ordered for dessert, do you think?

7. Now then, let's visit the "who" "whom" topic of pronoun discussion. Which is the *incorrect* sentence of the following choices?

Answer: Who did you see at the beach?

Who is used as a subject. In spoken English, the "who/whom" issue is becoming a non-issue as more and more people are using "who" instead of "whom"; however, in proper and in written English it is important to distinguish between the two.

8. How many pronouns are in the following sentence? "I want to wear my new hat, the one which has a few stripes of blue, that everybody compliments me on since it matches my eyes so well.

Answer: 7

And the pronouns, please: I, my, which, that, everybody, me, it.

9. How about another try? Picking out pronouns has many benefits, as it helps you understand the nuances of the English language, and everybody, or at least many people, okay, a few people, will be impressed with this ability to know what you are talking about. How many pronouns in the previous sentence, beginning in "picking" and ending in "about"?

Answer: 5

If you chose (in order):
"it", "you", "everybody", "this", "you", then you are correct, and are doing well in pronoun picking.

10. Another important aspect of pronouns is making sure that the pronoun agrees with the antecedent in gender and number. Select the correct sentence.

Answer: One of the waiters lost his keys.

The correct choice is "One of the waiters lost his keys" because "his" goes with the antecedent "one" which is singular. The other choices are using plural pronouns with the singular antecedents, which is commonly done, but is still incorrect. Everybody= his or her, One= his or her, Nobody= his or her. Plural pronouns are often attached to singular antecedents, which is becoming more and more accepted, and will eventually be considered acceptable in written standard English, as it has become accepted in spoken English.

At least, some consider it acceptable. How about a grass roots movement to keep our language proper? Any volunteers for pronoun police?

Source: Author 57wordsmith

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PAPA VINC: Pronouns Trivia Quiz

Who is PAPA VINC? It is the acronym for the eight parts of speech. Let's start with pronouns.

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