Primary 4 · English · Language
Pronouns
Using pronouns such as 'she', 'they', 'it' and 'them' to avoid repetition, and making sure readers can tell who or what each pronoun refers to.
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These lessons were written around Australian Curriculum strands and matched to Singapore levels by age (Primary 1 is the first year of primary school). They are not aligned to MOE syllabuses or the PSLE, so check them against the syllabus your child is working towards.
Learning goals
Learners will
- Recognise personal pronouns such as 'she', 'they', 'it', 'him' and 'them'.
- Use pronouns to avoid repeating nouns.
- Check that every pronoun clearly refers to one person or thing.
Success looks like
- I can find the pronouns in a sentence.
- I can replace a repeated noun with the right pronoun.
- I can fix a sentence where it is not clear who a pronoun means.
The big idea
Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. Without them, writing becomes very repetitive: 'Mia lost Mia's hat, so Mia looked for the hat.' With pronouns: 'Mia lost her hat, so she looked for it.'
Pronouns change depending on their job in the sentence:
- Doing the action (subject): I, you, he, she, it, we, they. 'She kicked the ball.'
- Receiving the action (object): me, you, him, her, it, us, them. 'The ball hit her.'
A good test for tricky pairs: take away the other person. 'Dad called Sam and ___.' Remove Sam: 'Dad called me', not 'Dad called I'. So, 'Dad called Sam and me.' And 'Sam and ___ went home.' Remove Sam: 'I went home'. So, 'Sam and I went home.'
Every pronoun must clearly refer to one noun. Look at this: 'Ana told Zoe that she had won the race.' Who won, Ana or Zoe? We cannot tell. Fix it by using a name: 'Ana told Zoe that Zoe had won the race' or by rewording: 'Ana said, "Zoe, you won the race!"'
When editing, draw an arrow from each pronoun back to the noun it refers to. If the arrow could point to two different nouns, rewrite the sentence.
Worked examples
Replacing repeated nouns
Improve: 'The twins went to the pool. The twins swam until the twins were tired.'
- Keep the first 'The twins' so the reader knows who we mean.
- Replace the next 'The twins' (doing the action) with 'They'.
- Replace the last 'the twins' with 'they'.
Answer: The twins went to the pool. They swam until they were tired.
Subject or object?
Choose: 'Grandma gave the tickets to (we / us).'
- The tickets are given to the people, so they receive the action.
- Receiving pronouns are me, him, her, us, them.
- Use 'us'.
Answer: Grandma gave the tickets to us.
Fixing an unclear pronoun
Fix: 'Jack put the vase on the shelf and it broke.'
- Ask: what does 'it' refer to? The vase or the shelf? Both are possible.
- Replace 'it' with the noun you mean.
- 'Jack put the vase on the shelf and the shelf broke.'
Answer: Jack put the vase on the shelf and the shelf broke. (Or '…and the vase broke', depending on what happened.)
Practice check
Have a go, then check your answers. Each answer comes with an explanation.
Answer guide for parents
Which word is a pronoun in: 'Mia lost her hat, so she looked everywhere.'?
she — 'She' takes the place of the noun 'Mia'.
Which pronoun can replace 'The boys' in: 'The boys ran to the park.'?
They — 'The boys' are doing the action and there is more than one, so use 'They'.
Choose the correct pronoun: 'Dad called Sam and ___.'
me — Take away Sam: 'Dad called me.' So 'Dad called Sam and me.'
Which sentence is unclear about who the pronoun refers to?
Ana told Zoe that she had won the race. — In 'Ana told Zoe that she had won the race', 'she' could mean Ana or Zoe.
In 'The cat chased the ball until it rolled under the couch', what does 'it' refer to?
the ball — The ball is the thing that rolled under the couch.
Replace 'Grandma' with a pronoun: 'Give the book to Grandma.' → 'Give the book to ___.'
her — Grandma receives the book, so use the object pronoun 'her'.
Replace 'Leo and I' with one pronoun: '___ built a sandcastle.'
We — 'Leo and I' together are 'we'.
Type the pronoun in: 'Tia waved at us from the bus.'
us — 'Us' takes the place of the names of the people Tia waved at.
Watch out for
- Using a pronoun before the reader knows who it means ('She ran outside' as the first sentence of a story). Name the character first.
- Saying 'me and Sam went' or 'Dad called Sam and I'. Use the 'take away the other person' test.
- Using 'they' and 'it' so often that the reader loses track. Sometimes repeating the noun is clearer.
Tips for parents
- When your child reads their writing aloud, ask 'Who is "she" here?' whenever a pronoun could be unclear.
- Model the 'take away' test in everyday talk without making it feel like a correction.
- Use arrows on a printed page to link pronouns back to their nouns.
Go further
- Rewrite a paragraph that has no pronouns at all so that it reads smoothly.
- Write a confusing paragraph on purpose with unclear pronouns, then swap with a family member to fix it.
- Hunt for pronouns in a page of a novel and colour subject and object pronouns differently.
About 30 minutes
You'll need
- Pronoun cards: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they, them
- A short paragraph that repeats a name many times (see below)
- Coloured pencils for drawing arrows
Key words
- noun
- A word for a person, place, thing or idea, such as 'Mia', 'park' or 'ball'.
- pronoun
- A word that takes the place of a noun, such as 'she', 'it', 'we' or 'them'.
- refer
- To point back to. A pronoun refers to a noun used earlier.
- subject pronoun
- A pronoun that does the action: I, you, he, she, it, we, they.
- object pronoun
- A pronoun that has the action done to it: me, you, him, her, it, us, them.
Still tricky?
For parents
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