What is a Pronoun?
What is wrong with this paragraph?
"Charlie was sad. Charlie had been planning to go on a field trip, but Charlie had the flu. Now all of Charlie's friends would go to the museum and Charlie wouldn't get to go with them. Instead, Charlie was staying home reading Charlie's boring book about the museum. Charlie was missing all the fun and Charlie was mad."
Did it sound silly to say Charlie over and over, even in the same sentence? Think about the books you've read. Do they use a person's name every single time they talk about that person? No, of course no. Most writers would have written the paragraph above like this:
"Charlie was sad. He had been planning to go on a field trip, but he had the flu. Now all of his friends would go to the musem and he wouldn't get to go with them. Instead, Charlie was staying home reading his boring book about the museum. He was missing all the fun and he was mad."
What is different? Sometimes, instead of saying Charlie, the new paragraph uses pronouns. Pronouns take the place of the noun. You have to use the noun first, so the reader or listener knows what you're talking about. After that, you can use the pronoun part of the time. So, in the first sentence, we said, "Charlie was sad." We had to use his name or else no one would know we meant Charlie. In the second sentence, since the reader already knew who the story was about, said, "He had been planning to go on a field trip, but he had the flu.
There is a trick to using pronouns though. You can't see he for the rest of the story, especially if it's really long. People will forget who you're talking about. And if another boy comes into the story, perhaps Charlie's friend Joe, readers will get confused. Does the word he mean Charlie or Joe? When you're writing, read over your work very carefully to make sure readers will know who your pronoun is referring to and that you add in the noun once in a while.
Try rewriting the following paragraph to add some pronouns, just for practice. Remember, use the real noun the first time. Use the noun sometimes so readers remember who or what you're talking about. Use the noun when the pronoun would be too confusing.
Allison's father said Allison could get a pet. Allison's father said the pet would have to live in Allison's room, so Allyson had to be sure the pet would be happy in Allison's room. Allison was so excited. Allison had everything planned. Allison's pet would sleep in Allison's bed with Allison. Allison would take Allison's pet for a walk every day. Allison would never forget to feed Allison's pet. When Allison's plans were made, Allison's father took Allison to the pet store. Allison's father waited outside while Allison went in to buy Allison's pet. Allison looked at cats and dogs. Allison looked at birds and fish. Allison looked at turtles and snakes. Then Allison saw the perfect pet. Allison paid Allison's money and took Allison's pet home. Now Allison was the proud owner of....
an elephant!
(Draw a picture of Allison and her pet on the back of your paper.)