Study guide: Pronoun Case, Emphasis and Added Details
Apply use pronoun case, distinguish intensive and reflexive uses, identify a parenthetical element, recognize word relationships using supplied texts and original responses.
Ideas to explain in your own words
- Subject pronouns such as I and we perform the clause’s action; object forms me and us receive it or follow a preposition. Joined nouns do not change that case rule.
- An intensive self-form emphasizes a noun and can be removed without destroying the core sentence. A reflexive object refers back to the subject and fills a needed object role.
- Nonessential additions can be set off with matching commas, parentheses or dashes. Essential information identifying which person or thing is meant is not removed in the same way.
- Words can relate as part and whole, cause and result, item and category or similar meanings. Recognizing the exact relationship helps interpret vocabulary and analogies.
Useful vocabulary
- Use pronoun case
- Subject pronouns such as I and we perform the clause’s action; object forms me and us receive it or follow a preposition. Joined nouns do not change that case rule.
- Distinguish intensive and reflexive uses
- An intensive self-form emphasizes a noun and can be removed without destroying the core sentence. A reflexive object refers back to the subject and fills a needed object role.
- Identify a parenthetical element
- Nonessential additions can be set off with matching commas, parentheses or dashes. Essential information identifying which person or thing is meant is not removed in the same way.
- Recognize word relationships
- Words can relate as part and whole, cause and result, item and category or similar meanings. Recognizing the exact relationship helps interpret vocabulary and analogies.
Watch your reasoning
- Between takes object forms in this construction.
- Myself is not a fancy substitute for me.
- One comma does not pair off a middle addition.
- Rain and wet ground are not synonyms.
A worked review example
Excerpt A: Jo and ___ arrived; blank refers to the single speaker. Excerpt B: I myself drew the diagram. Excerpt C: Jo, our guide, arrived early. Jo is already identified; analyze the marks around our guide. Excerpt D: Wheel : bicycle. Use pronoun case: Evidence: Jo and ___ arrived; blank refers to the single speaker. Reasoning: I is supported because the blank is the single speaker performing arrived or read, so it needs subject I; in a joined subject, testing I alone confirms that rule. Between takes object forms in this construction. Distinguish intensive and reflexive uses: Evidence: I myself drew the diagram. Reasoning: intensive emphasis is supported because removing myself or ourselves leaves the core clause intact, so it adds emphasis. Myself is not a fancy substitute for me. Identify a parenthetical element: Evidence: Jo, our guide, arrived early. Jo is already identified; analyze the marks around our guide. Reasoning: paired commas is supported because a comma before and after the removable middle addition marks its two boundaries. One comma does not pair off a middle addition. Recognize word relationships: Evidence: Wheel : bicycle. Reasoning: part to whole is supported because a wheel or page is a component of the named larger object. Rain and wet ground are not synonyms.
Make a practice plan
- Practice use pronoun case: Temporarily remove the other noun in a compound phrase and test the pronoun alone. Restore the full phrase after checking.
- Practice distinguish intensive and reflexive uses: Try removing the self-form. Check whether it merely emphasizes, receives the action from the same subject or incorrectly replaces me/us.
- Practice identify a parenthetical element: Use the punctuation form explicitly requested, or recognize essential identification. Make sure a removable middle addition has two boundaries.
- Practice recognize word relationships: Read both terms and state their relationship in order. Reverse-order analogies may change the relation.
- Use the new review case without consulting its answer first. Return to the specific lesson if your explanation misses the distinction.