Language and Grammar: Make Comparisons

Compare and Share Compare the experience of the Pérez family with the experiences of enslaved Americans seeking freedom. Share your comparison with a partner. Use pronouns correctly.

Ana’s family is afraid of being arrested or killed by the secret police. Runaway slaves were afraid of being caught.

Writing and Grammar: Write About a New Home

Study the Models When you write about personal experiences, you want readers to be interested. Vary your sentences and use pronouns to take the place of nouns. Be sure to use the right pronouns so readers won’t get confused.

Not Ok

Two fears ago, my parents and I arrived in New York. Our relatives met my parents and me at the airport. My relatives took my parents and me to their house. My parents and I stayed there for several months before finding an apartment. The apartment was not very big, but we liked the apartment. The apartment was not far from our relatives’ house. My parents and I got to see our relatives often.

The writer repeats the same words, and the sentences sound too similar. The reader thinks: “I can’t understand this.”

Ok

Two fears ago, my parents and I arrived in New York. Our relatives met us at the airport. Where do you think they took us? To their house! We stayed there for several months before finding an apartment. Our apartment wasn’t very big, but we liked it. Best of all, it was close to our relatives’ house, and we got to see them often.

The writer uses a mix of nouns and pronouns as well as different kinds of sentences. The writing is more interesting.

Add Sentences Think of two sentences to add to the OK model above. Use subject pronouns and object pronouns correctly.

Illustration of a pen icon WRITE ON YOUR OWN Think about a time in your life when you moved to a new place or thought about moving. Write about the experience. Pay attention to subject and object pronouns.

REMEMBER

SingularPlural
Subject PronounsIyouhesheitweyouthey
Object Pronounsmeyouhimheritusyouthem