I had a hard time teaching the subject pronoun “I” to my Grade 9 students some days back. Why? Because this pronoun “replaces” something that is almost NEVER used.
So how in the world do we replace a noun that is never used in the first place? The answer: It is a matter of understanding. It is a noun that is hardly ever used and almost always understood.
The pronoun “I” is a subject pronoun. That is, it replaces a subject noun. The subject of a sentence is what we are talking about. Consider the following sentence:
I am going to church this Sunday.
That sentence contains a pronoun: I.
The subject pronoun “I” usually replaces the speaker or writer of a sentence. But, in referring to myself, do I ever say something like:
“Patrick Carpen is going to church this Sunday”?
Would I say “I am having a good time” or “Patrick is having a good time”?
Obviously, the subject pronoun “I” is a pronoun that replaces a subject that is almost always understood and hardly ever used.
