Chapter V: Pronouns

=16.= When a person makes an assertion about himself he uses for the subject of his sentence, not his name, but the word _I_ instead. Will Dunlap does not say, “Will Dunlap saw a flock of wild geese this morning, and heard them too.” He says, “I saw a flock of wild geese this morning, and heard them too.” The word _I_, which is used instead of a name, or noun, is called a =pronoun=. A pronoun is a part of speech.

What pronoun besides _I_ do you find in the sentence quoted? For what noun is it used?

=17.= Pronouns are used a good deal, especially in conversation, for often instead of using the name of the person we are speaking to, we use the pronoun _you_; and in speaking _of_ persons, we use, provided their names are already known to our listeners, the pronouns _he_, _she_, or _they_.

=Summary.=—A =pronoun= is a word used instead of a noun.

A pronoun can be the subject of a sentence.

By the use of pronouns we avoid the repetition of nouns and the use of clumsy expressions.

=Exercise.=—In the following conversation select all the pronouns. Rewrite a portion of the conversation, using the nouns that the pronouns stand for. In changing pronouns to nouns it is sometimes necessary to make a change in the verb also. After using nouns for pronouns, tell what you think about the usefulness of pronouns.

“What do you think, Tirzah? I am going away.”

Tirzah dropped her hands with amazement.

“Going away! When? Where? For what?”

Judah laughed, then said, “Three questions, all in a breath.
What a body you are!” Next instant he became serious. “You know
the law requires me to follow some occupation. Our good father
set me an example. Even you would despise me if I spent in
idleness the results of his industry and knowledge. I am going
to Rome.”

“Oh, I will go with you.”

“You must stay with Mother. If both of us leave her, she will
die.”

The brightness faded from her face.

“Ah, yes, yes! But—must you go? Here in Jerusalem you can learn
all that is needed to be a merchant—if that is what you are
thinking of.”

“But that is not what I am thinking of. The law does not
require the son to be what the father was.”

“What else can you be?”

“A soldier,” he replied, with a certain pride of voice.

Tears came into her eyes.

“You will be killed.”

“If God’s will, be it so. But, Tirzah, the soldiers are not all
killed.”

She threw her arms around his neck, as if to hold him back.

“We are so happy! Stay at home, my brother.”

“Home cannot always be what it is. You yourself will be going
away before long.”

“Never!”

He smiled at her earnestness.

“A prince will come soon and claim my Tirzah, and ride away
with her, to be the light of another house.”

She answered with sobs.

“War is a trade,” he continued, more soberly. “To learn it
thoroughly, one must go to school, and there is no school like
a Roman camp.”

—LEW WALLACE.