93 Section 4.2 Nouns, Pronouns, and Adjectives Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. In some cases, adding an s to a word that already ends in s or an s sound results in an awkward pronunciation for the word. In those cases, the possessive is still formed using an apostrophe and an s. However, the extra s or es sound is not pronounced. Such words are often proper names. Mrs. Phillips’s home is located by the river. The Foxes’s relatives are coming to dinner. The Ganges’s banks were lined with trees. Pronouns A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun in a sentence. They can refer to people or things. Pronouns allow messages to flow smoothly without repeating nouns or noun phrases over and over. For example, you could begin a paragraph with a sentence that refers to Mr. Joseph Patel and then use the pronoun he to refer to Mr. Patel in later sentences. Pronouns should properly relate to the words they replace. When pronouns are not used correctly, the meaning of the sentence will be unclear. Antecedents The word that gets replaced with a pronoun is its antecedent. Most pronouns have antecedents, but some typically do not. The pronoun I, which refers to the speaker, and the pronoun you, which refers to the person being addressed, usually do not have antecedents. In the following examples, the pronouns are shown in italics. In the second example, girls is the antecedent of they. In the third example, ball is the antecedent of it. I am sure that you will win. The girls lost the game, and they were very upset. Shelia hit the ball before it touched the ground. Personal Pronouns Personal pronouns refer to specific persons or things. To correctly use pronouns, you need to consider their properties: number, gender, person, and case. The number of a pronoun indicates whether it is singular (referring to one person or thing) or plural (referring to more than one person or thing). Gender indicates whether the pronoun refers to a male, a female, or an object without gender. Always use pronouns that agree with their antecedents in number and gender. Examples are shown in Figure 4-6. Pronouns Pronouns Number Gender Example she, her Singular Feminine Monica left her coat by the door. he, him Singular Masculine James arrived late, and he missed the kickoff. it Singular Neutral The ball was hit hard, and it went out of the park. they, we Plural Neutral The children played hard, and they grew tired. Goodheart-Willcox Publisher Figure 4-6 Pronouns indicate number and gender.