ENGLISH

LANGUAGE
PROFICIENY
1
Prepared by: Ms. Jeremy H. Tanguilan
1 Pronoun and its antecedent

2 Do, Does, and Did

3 Has, Have, and Had

1. NOUN
- refers to words that are used to name persons,
things, animals, places, ideas or events. Nouns are
the simplest one.

Example:
- Alyssa is very generous.
-Christmas day is fast approaching.
2. ADJECTIVE
- this part of speech is used to describe a noun or a
pronoun. Adjective can specify the quality, the size,
and the number of nouns or pronouns.

Example:
- She studied in big school.
- My friend is beautiful.
3. VERB
- shows an action or state of being of the subject in
the sentence.

Example of “state of being verbs”: am, is, are, was,

and were.

Example:
- They attended the meeting.
- He is tall.
4. ADVERBS
- just like adjectives, adverbs are used to describes
words, but the difference is that adverbs describe
verbs, adjectives, or another adverb.

Example:
- Harlene speaks slowly.
- We write a song beautifully.
- a word that replaces a noun in a sentence.
Pronoun are used to avoid repeating the same
nouns over and over again.
1. PERSONAL PRONOUN
- refers to the self or the people being addressed.

First person Second person Third person

I, me you he, she, it, him,
her
we, us you they, them
2. REFLEXIVE PRONOUN
- A reflexive pronoun refers, or reflects back, to a noun
or pronoun earlier in the sentence. It strenghten the
action performed by the subject. A reflexive pronoun
will end in -self or -selves.
First person Second person Third person
myself yourself himself, herself,
itself
ourselves yourselves themselves

vCardo cooked this dish himself.

vI promised myself that I would practice more.
3. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
- refer to the subject who possesses or has something.

First person Second person Third person

my, mine your his, her, its, hers
our, ours yours their, theirs

vJacob is holding his tablet.

vThis gift is yours.
4. INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
- are used when you are not referring to a particular
person, thing, place, or animal.
someone everyone anything
somebody everybody something
anybody nodody everything
anyone no one nothing

vSomething is wrong with this report.

vNo one came looking for you.
5. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
- are used to point out a particular person, thing,
event, or animal.

this these
that those

vWho is that person?

vThis is my friend Taylor.
6. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS
- are used to ask questions.

what whose
which whom
who

vWhat time is our meeting?

vWhose shoes are these?
7. RELATIVE PRONOUNS
- identify the persons or things mentioned in the
sentence by adding information about them. In form,
they are exactly the same as the interrogative
pronouns but instead of asking questions, they
identify the subject given in the sentence.
who whose
whom which

vHis idea is something which we have to take seriously.

vAt last, I met the man whom I wanted to meet for a long time.
PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT
• Mother Teresa, who was internationally famous for her
work with the poor in Calcutta, India, won ___ Nobel Peace
Prize in 1979.
• A lawyer must research _____ cases thoroughly.
• Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows won ___ Pulitzer Prize in
1962 for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
• Charles Fuller won ____ Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for A
Soldier’s Play.
• A responsible government official listens closely to _____
constituents.
• Many students decided to send ____ college applications to
state colleges.
 PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT

• Pronoun- is a word that is used in place of a noun.

• Antecedent- is the word, phrase, or clause to which a

pronoun refers, understood by the context.

v The students submitted their assignments on time.

v Sky said he doesn’t like coffee.
 PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT

- The noun or noun substitute that a pronoun

refers to is called its antecedent.

- Pronouns should agree in number, person,

and gender with their antecedents.
 Indefinite Pronouns as Antecedents
Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that do not refer to specific
persons or things. When the following indefinite pronouns are
used as antecedents, the pronouns that follow them should be
singular and gender neutral unless the gender identity of the
persons is known.

• each, each one, either, either one, neither

• anyone, anybody, anything, everyone, neither one
• someone, somebody, something, everybody
• none, no one, nobody, everything
 Indefinite Pronouns as Antecedents

v Each of the clerks does a good deal of work

around his or her office.
v Neither of the men looked as if he wanted the
job.
 Two Singular Antecedents
ü Two or more antecedents joined by and usually require a
plural pronoun.
Ø His car and boat were left in their usual places.
ü However, when the antecedents are preceded by each or
every, the pronoun should be singular.
Ø Every family and business must do its part to
conserve energy.
(Every makes a singular pronoun necessary.)
ü Singular antecedents joined by or, either ... or, or
neither ... nor require singular pronouns.

Ø Has either Alyssa or Christian finished his report?

Ø N e i t h e r J o s e p h n o r J a n e l l e h a s co m p l e te d h e r
preparations for the trip.

When a person’s gender is unidentified or nonbinary,

singular antecedents require the singular they pronoun.
 Singular and Plural Antecedents
ü If one singular and one plural antecedent are joined by
or, either ... or, or neither ... nor, the pronoun agrees in
number with the closer antecedent.

Ø Either Alice or our parents will lend us their car.

(The pronoun their agrees with the plural antecedent
“parents.”)

Ø Either our parents or Alice will lend us her car.

(The pronoun her agrees with the singular antecedent
“Alice.”)
ü Sometimes you must write the antecedents in one
particular order to express the desired meaning.
Ø Neither the superintendent nor the workers recognized
their peril.
(The pronoun their agrees with the plural antecedent
“workers.”)
Ø Neither the workers nor the superintendent recognized her
peril.
(The pronoun her agrees with the singular antecedent
“superintendent.”)
Notice that the meaning is different in these sentences. In the
first, the peril is to everyone. In the second, the peril is to the
superintendent only, who uses she/her pronouns.
 Collective Nouns as Antecedents
Collective Nouns- a collective nouns such as class, crew, team,
audience, or family may be referred to as singular or plural
depending upon the meaning of the noun in the sentence.

- A pronoun that refers to a collective noun should be singular if

the collecive noun names a group acting as a unit.
Ø The group presented its resolution.
(The group is acting as a unit.)
- A pronoun that refers to a collective noun should be plural if the
collecive noun names the members or parts of a group acting
individually.
Ø Yesterday the team signed their contracts for the coming season.
(The team is acting as a group of individuals.)
• Mother Teresa, who was internationally famous for her work
with the poor in Calcutta, India, won her Nobel Peace Prize in
1979.
• A lawyer must research his or her cases thoroughly.
• Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows won their Pulitzer Prize in
1962 for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
• Charles Fuller won his Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for A Soldier’s
Play.
• A responsible government official listens closely to his or her
constituents.
• Many students decided to send their college applications to
state colleges.
PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT RULES

Rule #1: A pronoun and its antecedent must

agree in number. They should both be
singular or both be plural.
R u l e # 2 : Eve n t h o u g h s o m e i n d ef i n i te
pronouns have plural meanings, treat them as
grammatically singular.
How To Correct Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Incorrect: When someone has been drinking, they are likely to

speed.
1. Replace the plural pronoun with he or she, or it (or his or her
or its)
Ø When someone has been drinking, he or she is likely to speed.
2. Make the antecedent plural.
Ø When drivers have been drinking, they are likely to speed.
3. Rewrite the sentence so that no problem of agreement exists.
Ø A driver who has been drinking is likely to speed.
Rule #3: Treat generic nouns as singular even though they might have
a plural meaning. Be careful when you use a or any, every, or each.

Incorrect:
• Every boy on the team must try their best if they want their team
to win.
Correct:
• Every boy on the team must try his best if he wants his team to
win.
• The boys on the team must try their best if they want to win.
Incorrect: A nursing student must study hard if they want to succeed.
Correct: A nursing student must study hard if he or she wants to
succeed.
Rule #4: Treat most compound antecedents connected
by and as plural.

Incorrect:
• Joan and Jim moved to the mountains, where he or
she built
a cabin.
Correct:
• Joan and Jim moved to the mountains, where they
built a cabin.
Rule #5: Treat collective nouns as singular unless the
meaning is clearly plural.
audience club committee family troop
class couple crowd jury group
singular:
• The committee granted its permission.
plural:
• The committee put their signatures on the document.
Rule #6: A pronoun and its antecedent must agree in
gender and person.
ü The gender of the pronoun - masculine (he, his, him),
feminine (she, her, hers) or neuter (it, its) must be the
same as the gender of its antecedent. The person (first,
second, third) of the pronoun also must agree with the
person of its antecedent.
ü Gender-neutral pronouns include you, they, their,
theirs, we, us, our, ours, your, and yours. In the case
where the gender of the antecedent is unknown, the
pronoun should be gender-neutral or avoided altogether.
Incorrect: A student should hand his papers in promptly.
Correct: A student should hand his or her papers in
promptly.
Correct: Students should hand their papers in promptly.
[By making the antecedent plural, you can use the
gender-neutral plural pronoun their]
Correct: A student should hand papers in promptly. [Here,
the gendered pronoun has been dropped, but the
sentence is still grammatically correct.]
Incorrect: If a person wants to succeed in corporate life,
you have to know the rules of the game.
Correct: If a person wants to succeed in corporate life, he
or she has to know the rules of the game.
Correct: If you want to succeed in corporate life, you
have to know the rules of the game.
Rule #7: When a compound antecedent is connected by
or or nor (or by either...or or neither...nor), make the
pronoun agree with the nearer antecedent.

• Neither the dog nor the cats could find their way
through the maze.
Auxiliary Verbs
- is a verb that is used as a helping verb along with
the main verb in a sentence to make it more meaningful.
It is used to alter the tense, mood or voice of the
sentence.

NOTE: The main verb of the sentence expresses the action or state of being of the subject. To find the
main verb, first find the subject and ask what the subject does or is.
 How to use Do, Does, and Did
- are used to as auxilliary verbs to ask yes-no questions, to express
negatives and to emphasize an idea.

Note:

ü Do, does, and did require the base form of the verb.
ü The base form of the verb is its original form- no s, -ed, or any
other inflections and suffixes added.

*ate *visited
*taught *drew
*walked *fell
 How to use Do, Does, and Did

a. asking yes-no questions

Ø Do
-use do when the subject is I, you, we or they.

Do I know you?
Do you want to build a snowman?
Do they want to come with us?
 How to use Do, Does, and Did

Ø Does
- is used in the third person singular, present
time i.e when the subject is he, she or it.

Does she work with you?

Does it snow in winter?
 How to use Do, Does, and Did

Past Tense

Ø Did
- is the past form of do and does.

Did he call you?

Did you enjoy the game?
 How to use Do, Does, and Did

b. expressing negatives

Ø Do
- the negative form of do is do not. In spoken English it is
common to use the contracted form of do not which is
don’t.

I do not like you. - I don’t like you.

 How to use Do, Does, and Did

b. expressing negatives

Ø Does
- the negative form of does is does not. In spoken English
it is common to use the contracted form of does not
which is doesn’t.

He does not like me. - He doesn’t like me.

 How to use Do, Does, and Did

b. expressing negatives

Ø Did
- the negative form of did is did not or when speaking,
didn’t.

I did not know you were coming. - I didn’t know you

were coming.
 How to use Do, Does, and Did

c. emphasizing idea

I do love you.
He always does pay his bills so well.
She did recite her poem so well.
 How to use Do, Does, and Did

d. forming wh-questions.

When did you find out the truth?

Who do you think will win the game?
 How to use Do, Does, and Did

2. Do, does and did also function as action verbs.

• Athena did a great job in her presentation.

• Volunteers do a lot of work around the town during
disasters.
• Rigor always does his assignment before bed time.

NOTE: Action verb is “a verb that expresses action”.

Do is used in the first person, second person, and third
person plural.
Does is used in the third person singular, present time.
Did is the past form of do and does.
Making negative sentences using Do, Does, and Did

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

Subject + DO NOT/ DOES NOT + VERB (BASE form)

v I go home early. -- I don’t go home early.

v We love music. -- We don’t love music.

Note: Simple Present Tense is a verb tense used to talk about conditions or actions happening
right now or habitual actions and occurences.
 Making negative sentences using Do, Does, and Did

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

Subject + DID / DID NOT + VERB (BASE form)
ü Singular subjects
ü Plural subject

• It moved. -- It didn’t move.

• You visited Japan last week. -- You didn’t visit Japan last week.
Note: Simple Past Tense is defined as the form of a verb used to describe an action that
happended before the present time and happening.
 DO/DOES/DID

I/You/They/We/Plural Subject Do/Don’t

PRESENT
She/He/It/ Singular Subject Does/ Doesn’t

I/You/They/We/Plural Subject

PAST Did/Didn’t
She/He/It/Singular subject
 Take Note!

ü Main verb.
ü Helping verb.
NOTE:
The main verb of the sentence expresses the action or state of being of the subject. To find the main
verb, first find the subject and ask what the subject does or is.
Helping verb-helping verbs help the main verb in a sentence by adding detail to the main verb.
Ø Has and Have can be used to show possession and
are important in making the ‘perfect tenses’.

Ø ‘Had’ is the past tense of both ‘has’ and ‘have’

Ø Have
Have is used with some pronouns and plural nouns. For
example:

• I have a great Mathematics teacher.

• We have a meeting at 12 p.m.
• You have toothpaste on your chin.
Ø Has
Has is used with the third person singular. For example:

• She has a great personality.

• It has a hole near the door.
• He has a new haircut.

v 'he', 'she', 'it', or a name or noun.

Ø Had

• Rigor had her high school dimploma at 16.

• I had a sumptous dinner last night.
 HAS HAVE
üSingular üPlural
üHe, She, It üI, You, We, They

Example: Example:
• She has a beautiful voice. • They have beautiful faces.
 HAD
üAll subjects.

Example:
• He had a pet dog.
 HAS HAVE HAD
üSingular üPlural ü All
subject doesn’t üI, You, We, don’t subjects. didn’t
üHe, She, It They have

• She has a job. -- She doesn’t have a job.

• They have a job. -- They don’t have a job.
• They had a job. -- They didn’t have a job.
Usage:

Verbs Pronouns
Has He, she, it or any singular noun

Have I, we, they, you or any plural noun

Verb Pronouns
Had He, she, it or any singular noun

I, we, they, you or any plural noun.

 Contractions Negative contractions
I have = I've has not= hasn't
you have you've have not = haven't
we have= we've had not = hadn't
they have = they've
he has = he's
it has = it's
 'Have' and 'Has' in questions 'Have got' and 'Have'
Have you been to Australia? ü Both 'have got' and 'have' mean
Has Andrew left yet? the same thing. There is no
Who has my pen? difference.
Has anyone seen my mobile phone? I have got an i-phone. = I have an i-
phone.
You have got a message. = You
have a message.
She has got no time to sleep. = She
has no time to sleep.
 'Have' and 'Has' verb tenses
"have/has" is an important verb in making the 'perfect tense':
Present Perfect Past Perfect
She has lived here for a long time. I had already decided not to go
We have seen this TV show before. before he asked me.
I have cut my finger. They had finished the race before
it started raining.
She had already left when he
arrived.
• has/have + past participle
• had + past participle
• https://stlcc.edu/student-
support/academic-success-
and-tutoring/writing-
c e n t e r / w r i t i n g -
resources/pronoun-
a n t e c e d e n t -
agreement.aspx#:~:text=The
%20noun%20or%20noun%20
substitute,and%20gender%2
0with%20their%20anteceden
ts.
• scribbr.com
https://stlcc.edu/student-support/academic-success-and-tutoring/writing-center/writing-resources/pronoun-antecedent-
agreement.aspx#:~:text=The%20noun%20or%20noun%20substitute,and%20gender%20with%20their%20antecedents.
scribbr.com