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Description:

This video defines pronouns—those little words that are in pretty much every sentence we say or write. There are a lot of them, and they make sentences much smoother, so we sound like real humans and not confused aliens. Check out this video for some facts about pronouns, the unsung heroes of all sentences.

Language:

English Language

Subjects:

Grammar & Punctuation / Grammar

Tags:

Common Core Standards:

Transcript

00:00
Edited at https://subtitletools.com
00:04
Pronouns, a la Shmoop
00:06
When Jim's friends told Jim Jim's school cafeteria was serving filet mignon, Jim hauled Jim's butt over to the lunch line...
00:13
Wow. That sentence turned out to be about as chunky as Jim's lunch.
00:17
Yeah, just like there's reason to doubt it when your friends claim there's a five-star [kids making fun of soup]

00:20
meal waiting for you in the cafeteria...
00:22
...there's a reason we use pronouns in English. Pronouns are pretty simple -- they're just
00:26
words that take the place of nouns.
00:28
And there's a ton of them: he, she, it, they, you, this, that, ours, yours, yourself, everyone, nothing...[googly-eyed pronouns appear]
00:35
Pronouns might seem puny and insignificant, but in fact, every sentence in this video
00:39
-- except for that first soul-crushing chunkfest -- has used at least one pronoun. [spoon testing green soup, ghosts appear]
00:44
And if you pay attention, you'll notice that you use a pronoun in nearly every sentence
00:48
you say, too...
00:49
Really, pronouns are like little grammar guardian angels, quietly slipping into your sentences [googly-eyed pronouns sprout halos]
00:53
to make them smoother, flowy-er...
00:54
...without ever asking for anything in return.
00:56
They're like your mom when she makes you dinner and drives you to football practice...[mom appears with pasta and a car]
01:00
...without all the guilt-tripping when you forget to pick up your dirty socks.
01:03
Seriously, imagine a world where you have to say things like "Jim thinks that Jim
01:08
will bring lunch from Jim's house from now on."
01:11
Good ol' pronouns take the place of all those pesky nouns... otherwise you'd have [more googly-eyed, halo wearing pronouns appear]
01:15
to repeat them over and over again to get your point across.
01:17
So instead, we can just say, "Jim thinks that he will bring lunch from his house from now on."
01:22
Probably a smart move. Now maybe he'll start spending less time on that little cot in the school doctor's office...[child in a white coat looks at sick boy in doctor's office]
Full Transcript